Arleigh's Web Bio

My Personal Biography

I grew up on a Southern Minnesota farm, at a time when music was part of everyone's life. We listened to old-time music from radio station KNUJ, in New Ulm and KDHL in Faribault, Minnesota . Country music was available only at night, from station XERF in Del Rio. When I was eight, a neighbor gave me a very old one-row, button accordion. A few years later, my younger sister took up piano accordion, which I borrowed and figured out how to get some polkas out of it. My main instrument was the trumpet and I played in the Claremont High School band. During my Junior year, I took an Electronics home-study course, from DeVry Technical Institute and graduated before my senior year. I worked in local TV repair shops as I possessed a strong interest in Electronics. Also, while attending high school, some friends, of my brother and I, formed a dance band. For about a year, we played for high school and for local occasions.

After high school, I acquired a TV service business, in Kasson Minnesota. At the same time, I gave beginner level accordion lessons and played both trumpet and accordion in area bands. About a year later, I sold the store and became a Factory Service Representative for Admiral Corp., in Minneapolis. In the same time period, I was Sound Engineer for TV station KTCA-TV in the St. Paul, MN. A year later, I attended Mankato State for two years. I added Electric Bass to my suite and continued to play with local bands. Then, I served two years in the Army Signal Corps (in Asia) and returned to college. While attending college, I began designing radio equipment with E.F. Johnson Company, in Waseca Minnesota, where I eventually became Manager of Business/Industrial Radio Development. In 1973, we moved to Orlando. I joined Martin Marietta as Manager of Pager Development and became a co-inventor of message display paging systems. Later, I transferred to radar and radio system design and worked in that technology until my retirement in 1998.

Since retirement, I have rekindled my musical hobbies with special interest in playing the trumpet and keyboard as well as creating MIDI arrangements which are electronic musical sequences. With the personal computer and a good sound card, the process has become very interesting and rewarding. Over my lifetime, I have played several instruments including the trumpet, accordion, guitar, bass guitar and keyboard. Presently, I specialize in polkas, waltzes, Christmas hymns and 50's style country music. The background music to this page is called "Princess Waltz" which I wrote for Diane, my wife, for our 30th wedding anniversary. We have two sons and four granddaughters.

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