Why “Dad’s House”? I think because all of the friends of my two sons refer to me as ‘Dad’ when they come by the home shared by me and my wife Pamela. My name is Edson Blair Waite Jr. (1943). My sons are Edson Blair Waite III (1964) and Daniel Steven Waite (1969). I was born in DuBois , Pennsylvania on the western slopes of the Allegheny Mountains. My wife Pam (1945) was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. We met in 1963 and were married in 1964.

My father (Edson Blair Waite 1895-1975) drove a gasoline delivery truck for the Atlantic Refining Co. and retired in 1961 after 38 years with the company. My mother (Mary Lavina Holt 1904-1968) was a homemaker and did some outside house cleaning and took in laundry to help make ends meet. I was the last of 8 children that included 5 girls and 3 boys. My brothers were 10 and 20 years old when I was born. All of the sisters were in between.. My oldest brother Harold Raymond Waite (1924) was in the Army and was on duty in the South Pacific, fighting the Japanese, during World War II at the time I was born, he did not return home until 1946.

I graduated from DuBois High School in May 1961 and went on active duty with the U.S. Navy on December 7, 1961. Exactly 20 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. I had enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve while still in my senior year of high school (2 November 1960).

My first duty station in the Navy was aboard the USS Independence CVA 62. I was assigned to the Photo Lab and soon became a photo mate 3rd class. During my tour on the Independence, I was able to make a Med Tour for six months and then shortly after return to CONUS, the ship and I were to take part in the Naval Blockade of Cuba. This occurred in October-December of 1962. I was aboard ship off the coast of Cuba when, on October 22, 1962 (my nineteenth birthday), President John F. Kennedy made his speech that all ships headed to Cuba would be stopped and searched.. What a birthday present!

My next duty assignment was a volunteer group going to the Antarctic. This unit was called AirDevRon Six (VX-6) While with this unit I traveled to New Zealand and the Antarctic continent. It was with this unit and while stationed in New Zealand, that I met my lovely wife, Pam. Also while on duty in New Zealand/Antarctica, President Kennedy was assassinated. I attended a Memorial Service in Christ Cathedral, Christchurch, New Zealand.

My final Navy duty station was the Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Va. My duty there was as a PH2 (Photo Mate 2nd Class). I was discharged from the Navy on Dec. 5, 1965.

Upon leaving the Navy, I worked several small jobs while awaiting a position as an aerial photographer with Data Corporation, in Dayton, Ohio.. I began work there in the spring of 1966. I worked there for six years during which time the company was bought out buy Mead Paper Corp. Part of the work we did was aerial photography research for the USAF. We worked closely with personnel at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Oh. All the years at Data Corp. were the years of the Vietnam War and there was a great deal of research being done, so we were very busy.

In 1972, I left Data Corp. to take employment with Eastman Kodak Co. as a Field Service Engineer. I have since retired with over twenty-eight years, and continue to live in Dayton, Oh.