James G. McMorris

James G. McMorris lived much of his pre adult years in rural Southeastern Washington State. Often on a family farm with the usual farm livestock, chickens, pigs, cows, etc. Normal farm chores, feed the pigs, feed the chickens, collect the eggs, were assigned and completed. Often these rural farm houses had no indoor plumbing, going to the bathroom required a trip to the outhouse behind the barn. The first, fourth and fifth grades were attended in a one room school house with one teacher for grades one through eight. By the time he was eleven he was working in the wheat fields with his grandfather, at thirteen he was working in the apple orchards and at sixteen the pea fields that dominated the summer for six to eight weeks. During the school year there was often a job as a delivery or stock clerk at a local retail store.

At eighteen it was off to the big city and a job with Boeing Air Craft Company. The first position offered was accepted with the hopes of transferring into the design department, for designing things was the dream, but Boeing would not allow anyone under twenty-one to work in the design department. Just over a year later James McMorris was working for Westinghouse designing transformers, both the large ones you see in sub stations and the smaller ones mounted on the power poles. After a four year tour in the Air Force, were electronics was the focus, he was back designing; small castings, sheet metal boxes, printed circuit boards, schematics, etc.

Natural progression took this to Department Supervisor, Department Manager, and Project Manager. Through different companies exposure to assorted Black box designs, Satellite design, Power Plant design were the company supplied thermal insulation for both nuclear and fossil plants. This career ended with the position of Lead Instructor for a paperless design process at a company that was building weather and communication satellites.

Now in his late seventies, after two marriages, two children, three step children and a total of 18 grand children plus four great grand children it is time to document some of the learning experiences and hopefully pass on the acquired knowledge of a very full and eventful life.