I was a war baby, born 9/2/1943. Homer & Peg Higbee were my parents. I was conceived in Big Spring, Texas (I think) but missed being born there by a couple of days and arrived on the scene in Detroit, Michigan instead, the home of my maternal grandparents.

I did not stay there long as the war brought me to Boise, Idaho, where Dad trained bombardier pilots. After the war Dad and Mom returned to East Lansing, Michigan to continue their schooling at Michigan State College. My vague recollections are of the "barracks" housing, which was hastily constructed for the returning veterans under the GI Bill. Early school was a blur at a country school house, a newer facility and lastly Marble School at the edge of town. I was active in Cub Scouts, achieving the Arrow of Light rank. I also recall being recognized for a ceramic elephant I molded by hand. My 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Tuttle, gifted me and a few friends with a weekend at her Higgins Lake cottage as I was soon to leave for Saigon, Vietnam with my parents.

Just before we left for Vietnam, we needed housing for a few weeks before departure, so we were offered dormitory rooms on the MSU campus and meals at the "quad". What an experience for a 12-year-old.

When we left, we were told that there would be no school for the two years we were to be gone. Even as a good student, I couldn't help but cheer. That did not last long as there was a large influx of Americans at that time and after a short summer recess, school started again with the Calvert System (commonly used for diplomat's kids in remote assignments) taught in a classroom. My class was comprised of eleven students for 7th-9th grades. We shared our teacher with the senior high students, of which there were seven. School was hard, the curriculum excellent, and despite missing four months of school travelling to and from Vietnam, I returned to the States ahead of the Michigan school system.

We lived in a three-story colonial mansion on the last paved street, at the edge of town, near the Tan Son Nhut airport. We had a WWII vintage bomb shelter amongst the landscaping in the front yard. Out back there were two two-car garages and servant's quarters for three. We had both an indoor and an outdoor kitchen. My brother and I shared a huge bedroom. Coming from a two-bedroom miniature duplex, this was palatial. We didn't even have to wash dishes or scrub the floors. Of course, all that changed when we got back into the States two years later.

Probably the only downside was the lack of an organized sports program. However, we made up for some of that with a membership in the local sports club (Cercle Sportif Saigonnaise). We played a lot of tennis. We had access to the swimming pool, which was great, but it had no filter, so throughout the week the chlorine thickened until they drained, cleaned and refilled the pool, which meant that Monday and Tuesday we had nothing to do. Poor kids.

We were picked up by limo for school early in the morning and dropped back home at noon. School was over for the day; after lunch and "siesta", off we were to the pool, at least on most days.

We formed our own Boy Scout troop with the help of interested parents. We had our outfits and badges custom made locally (cheaper than the Sears Catalog). We camped along the Cambodian border, booked passage on a ship up the coast to a beach resort area and twice camped in the Dalat highlands. Pretty heady stuff for a budding teenager.

We traveled to Vietnam by air, stopping to refuel at Minneapolis, Helena, Seattle, Anchorage, Kobe and Tokyo, where we spent two days. On to Hong Kong for a couple of days and lastly to Saigon. While in country, I had the opportunity to spend a week in Hong Kong and another week in Bangkok, Thailand. When we returned home the plane refueled in Bangkok; New Delhi, India; Abadan, Iran and Athens, Greece. We then spent three months traveling to Rome, Italy and Munich, Germany where we picked up a car and drove through Bavaria and up the Rhine to the Mosel, over to Luxembourg and then to Paris. We flew to London for five days and finally three days in Copenhagen, Denmark before going home through New York City.

What an eye-widening experience for a 13-year-old!

We moved to Mason, Michigan for my freshman year at high school, while our new home was being built in East Lansing. I played Junior Varsity football (not well) and enjoyed tennis (a bit better). The last three years of high school were at East Lansing High, where I was on the swim and tennis teams, finally lettering in my Senior year (1961). I did well academically and started college that summer. My major was Political Science with a minor in Sociology & Anthropology. A year later, I met and married Kay Louise Gallap (1963). We moved into married housing, producing two children, Laurie (1963) and Christina (1965).

Laurie has twin daughters, Samantha and Courtney (1990). Chris has a daughter Cayley (1992) and two sons, Joseph Jr. (Jan, 2001) and Parker (Dec, 2001).

I worked odd jobs, went to school, spent time on active duty for training with the Navy Reserves and borrowed money to continue my education.

I graduated in 1965, taking a job as Administrative Supervisor with REA Express (a package delivery company) in their Grand Rapids office. Shortly thereafter, the marriage did not work out and the former wife moved to Arizona with our children. I transferred with REA Express to the Detroit offices to run their regional accounting system.

I met Lynn Ellen Thomas, dated for a while and decided to marry (1969). At the same time, I left REA Express for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan as a senior systems analyst. I stayed with BCBSM for 23 years, rising through the ranks to a Supervisor, to a Manager, then Director, Vice President of Government Business and ending as VP of Information Services. I was a member of several professional associations and held leadership positions in a number of them. I also was active as an officer of our homeowner association for several years.

This marriage produced six children, Denise (1971), Cheryl (1973), Joanna (1975), twins David and Dennis (1976) and Jeffrey (1986). The year I left BCBSM (1992) my marriage was dissolved. Youngest son, Jeff stayed with his Mom. The rest of the children finished school and went on with their lives.

Denise had two boys, Frederick (Fritz) (2003) and Luke (2007). Cheryl has one daughter, Eleanor (2006) and a son, Nico (2013). Joanna has twin sons, William and Robert (2007).

During the divorce process, I re-met Judi McClure. We had dated between my first and second marriages, after originally meeting at my brother's and her best friend's wedding. After a year and a half of dating, we married. We have no children together. At last count we have 11 grand-children.

Following an extensive job search, I accepted an executive internal operations role at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota in Eagan, Minnesota. After a year there, I moved to Health Risk Management (a publicly held health benefits company) as their VP and Chief Information Officer (CIO).

Five years later, I moved to Fort Worth, Texas as Sr. VP and CIO for United Benefit Managed Care Corp., a private insurance company. This company ran into financial difficulties, resulting in my searching for another position. While in Fort Worth, I was active as an officer on the board of the homeowner association.

I accepted the position of CIO for AvMed Health Plans (a private regional health services company) in Miami, Florida, a position I held nearly 10 years until I retired in 2010. I was active as a board member of the Managed Care Executive Group, a healthcare industry technology professional organization. I also was President of our homeowner's association for several years.

Judi and I chose The Villages, Florida (a 55 plus community) as our retirement locale. We have access to three downtowns, over 80 swimming pools, 12 country clubs, over 660 holes of golf and many other recreational facilities. We travel extensively both in the US and internationally with over 80 trips outside the US. I have visited over 140 countries to date.

I am an active photographer, typically capturing over 1,000 images per week when traveling. I am an avid world traveler, averaging six international trips per year. I am a frequent presenter at our local travel club on both recent trips as well as off-beat subjects like "Cats Around the World" and "Birds, Bees & Butterflies". I continue my interest in technology, in part by creating and managing a web site for the Village Ringers... www.villageringers.com  ...a local semi-professional group of handbell and chime ringers, where I also am a member of the Board of Directors.

Note: See the Personal Docs page for more details on my work history.