Moving to Arizona

STURGIS 58 Reunion Sturgis Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 58 Bios Yearbooks 1958 37 55 56 57 59 60 61 62 84 85 86 JrHi59 57 Reunion 62 Reunion SHS Newspapers Calendars 56-61	FOWLER 57 Yrbk: 1957 48 50 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 1 (People) 2 (Mix) 3 (Brochure) 4 (Houses) 5 (Missouri Day) Reunions: 57 Booklet 55 thru 59 61 Reunion 1961 FHS News 54-61 news 1958 Page 1928 pics/notes Colo Interactive Map
Pueblo College: Yearbook 58-59 59-60 Arrow 58/59 Don's College/Jobs Ann's College/Jobs Army & Yrbk	Ann's Pottery/Art	Perfect Marriage (or not)	Uptown Theater	La Veta
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Ancestors MAIN MENU Cully, Eunice, Fred, Casey, Hazel, Donald, Verna, Buck, Inez, NY/SD Millers, Joens Research on Utters	Dennis/Wright Slideshow Scotty Wright Stewart Ferguson 1 Ferguson History 1935 Attica KS Book

With three of the kids either in or ready to go to College, it was a good time to move to a city with a great college. In 1982 Don, who was then working for Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, took a leave of absence and the family went to Tempe, Arizona and bought a house. They'd left Fairbanks on January 2nd with the temperature at 49 below zero, and arrived in Tempe where it was 75 degrees above zero. Heaven!

Todd Donald Dennis

Todd making a "grass angel".

Todd had never lived where there was darkness and warmth at the same time and was astounded. He had been born in Fairbanks where it is basically dark all winter and light all summer.

The older boys had stayed in Alaska to complete the school year, but eventually joined the family. Don continued to work in Fairbanks, commuting back and forth winters and the family would go back to Fairbanks in the summers to work for the baseball team.
Wherever Don worked, he would come home on the weekends. When the family moved to Arizona he worked two weeks in Alaska and came Outside for two weeks. Sometimes he'd have a month at a time in Arizona. His job was to keep the businesses running smoothly, and with good employees, he could do it from either end. He must have logged a million miles on airplanes, but it gave him more quality time with the family than a lot of fathers had.

While waiting the month for the house to close in Tempe, they first lived in former Goldpanner coach Ben Hines' apartment as he was out of town... then rented a temporary place as Don had to get back to Fairbanks. A long month!

Ann had taken Teena and Todd to school, gone back to the temporary rooms, and noticed someone trying to get into the door.... it was moving slightly as someone tried to jimmy the latch.   She was basically trapped!

She ran across the room, and just as the latch popped open, ran towards the door and hit it with all her might.    Boom! it flew open, and knocked the "bad guy" across the opposite room.    He was all splayed against the far wall and he looked DEAD! Really Dead! People came running!

Not quite sure what the protocol is when you kill someone, she went to a shopping center to call Don in Fairbanks and tearfully told him she'd just killed an old man.                  "Nah.. he probably isn't really dead... go back and see".     Not wanting the kids left alone in a strange city, they all went back together after school was out.    They learned it was the owner of the building trying to fix the faulty door latch, he survived of course, but the next time they wanted to fix something they gave notice first!

Finally their house closed escrow and they could move in! Who Loves Ya, Baby!

The family lived in the house on Cottonwood, Tempe, from March 17, 1982 until July 1990. They added three more bedrooms to accommodate all the kid's friends who lived with them while going to college....and a few grownups who stayed a year or two. Extremely fun years!!

Steve Dennis, Don Dennis, Todd Dennis

Left: Jim Turner, Teena and Leroy the Dog Right: Steve, Don and Todd

In 1984, a banker in Fairbanks asked Don if Ann would like to sell four condos in Arizona they'd had to take back. Sure... and thus began several years as a Realtor. Scott and Ann went to real estate school, became licensed and both worked in real estate but in different cities. (Steve also went to real estate school in Denver). The four condos turned into a complex of 154, plus all the other selling. When real estate got so it completely ate up her life, it was time for a change.

Ann and two friends went to America West's Airline School, and the three couples had an absolute blast taking advantage of free flying for a few years. She also graduated from Tempe Citizen's Police Academy after a winter of training.

ID Picture...Ann

Practicing and studying in Az in February.

In 1982, Ed Merdes, who had been World President of the JC's, invited Don and Ann to go to Taiwan for the JC's World Convention. Ann wanted to meet with jewelry wholesalers, Don set up meetings with Olympic and baseball officials, a Juneau man joined the party to buy merchandise for his businesses, and they spent two weeks in Tokyo, Taipei and Hong Kong.

B.J. Hall, who was living with them in Tempe to work in the sports insurance business, agreed to oversee Teena and Todd, who didn't really need a babysitter, just a responsible adult in the house. BJ was a bachelor who'd never had children, and even though the kids were eleven and seventeen, he was pretty nervous.

The airplane had barely cleared the runway with his parents aboard, when Todd got a brilliant idea to whip up some excitement. He cut some little holes in his jeans, poured ketchup on the spots, laid in the hall outside BJ's room, and moaned loudly. BJ opened his door and in his mind saw a kid with at least two bullet holes. He grabbed his pistol, leapt over Todd's body and went hunting for Teena, positive someone had grabbed her..... on his watch!

Todd, laying in the hall, was horrified realizing BJ was running through the house with a loaded gun, and BJ when he found Teena studying outside, was furious at the kid for scaring him out of his wits.

BJ had no more trouble... Todd knew he'd used up all his chits and laid low for two weeks!

B.J. Hall

Don's father passed away in 1975. A few years later his mom
Florence married Jim Turner. Florence's mother,
Grandma Mary Wright,
came to live with them in the 80's.

Because they traveled so much and left the house vacant, they decided to put bars on some of the most vulnerable windows. The company installed them without enough cross bars for strength, and argued they were perfectly safe, when asked to take them down and reinforce them. Mom (Ann) told them that if she could get through one within 5 minutes, then the job was free.... there would be no payment. The company's owner looked at 110 lbs of determination and ordered his men to remove and reinforce them.

(click pictures to enlarge)

Steve and Deb Dennis, Teena Dennis, Don Dennis

Stephen Dennis, Florence Turner, Deb Dennis, Donald Dennis, James Turner

Teena Dawn Dennis, Stephen Dana Dennis, Todd Donald Dennis

	Left: Todd's Youth Group adopted the kids who lived at a garbage dump in Mexico. They would gather clothing and food and go down about once a month for the weekend. They had such adventures!	Visiting Disneyland, Hollywood, Universal Studios, Knotts Berry Farm, Magic Mtn, and first trip to the OCEAN! 1982	. Everyone ended up in the water, clothes and all!
Ann and Donna Hebard, Fairbanks dear friend.	Barb & Les Aras. Fairbanks friends who moved to AZ also.	Karen, Steve and Sheri came to Tempe and all went to the Rose Bowl Parade.	Reconnecting with Sherrol Ellefson Barbour a good friend from Sturgis High School.
Lots of Mexico trips.	Todd's Youth Group	New Member of Family.
	Teena moved to Ann Arbor, Mi to go to school. When she was done, Karen and Ann drove her home and stopped in Memphis to see Elvis's house.	Teena and Todd	Scott and Todd

Disneyland	Gram Florence and James Turner visit Heard Museum.	Steve moves to AZ.	Trip to Tokyo, Taiwan, Hong Kong 1983
Steve and Leroy, new family member.	Scott and Leroy who ended up being a girl and became LeeLee thereafter.	Teena bathing Tom T.	Scott in boy's store, their ASU years jobs..
Sheri Kuiken	Steve Kuiken	Dad, Casey had a bad heart attack during these years but thankfully recovered well. Casey, Ann and Karen.	Mom, Gen - Ann and Marlene. Difficult to leave with Dad ill.

Stephen Dana Dennis

Teena, always singing and
performing...her first love!

Teena Dawn; Todd Donald Dennis

Teena ASU recital.

Christmas in AZ.

Marlene, Casey,
Steve & Sheri Kuiken

Fairbanks in the summer.
June Lucas had died;
Ann visiting her grave.

Running the Food Service
at the ballpark, summers.

Steve always planting.
Apple trees in AZ
he put in.

The kids start getting
married. Todd was first.

Scott was second to
get married.

	Steve and Deb were third to get married. The dogs wouldn't sit nicely and he had to hold them during the ceremony!! Note the dog tails thru his elbows, above!	Casey	Teena, back in ASU for her Masters.
Windows on the World. New York City, World Trade Center.	Mark and Gloria Poole Don and Ann Dennis at Windows on the World	Windows on the World was an elegant restaurant in NY City on floors 106 and 107 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. It operated between 1976 and Sept 11, 2001.	Teena, Ann
Deb & Teena	Todd	No such thing as TOO HOT for a bunch from Fairbanks.	Jeslie & Julia Kaleak

A favorite pastime in Phoenix during the kid's high school years, was the Dennis version of a "progressive dinner".

This "progressive dinner" usually included appetizers at Don Jose Restaurant on Guadalupe for their very special green chili quesadilla. The next stop was Grandy's Restaurant for what would pass as a salad before moving onto Bill Austin's BBQ for the main course. Dinner was topped off with a stop at the old-style Dairy Queen on Country Club Drive or Bill Johnson's on Apache Trail for deep dish apple pie ala-mode. Sometimes Don would do them backwards....dessert first....

Don pulled a variation of this on the kids. On a very hot day in Phoenix the family was returning home from a long drive, and the kids were grousing that they were hungry. Don pulled into the first drive-in he saw and ordered ONE burger, and passed it to the back seat. Then he pulled into the next drive-in and ordered one more thing... this continued for miles, one thing at a time, as they drove across town, and soon the back seat was full of food and the kids were begging for mercy. Thank goodness for freezers!

Casey and Gen Miller, Marlene Kundel, Karen Kuiken, Ann Miller Dennis

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STURGIS 58 Reunion Sturgis Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 58 Bios Yearbooks 1958 37 55 56 57 59 60 61 62 84 85 86 JrHi59 57 Reunion 62 Reunion SHS Newspapers Calendars 56-61	FOWLER 57 Yrbk: 1957 48 50 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 1 (People) 2 (Mix) 3 (Brochure) 4 (Houses) 5 (Missouri Day) Reunions: 57 Booklet 55 thru 59 61 Reunion 1961 FHS News 54-61 news 1958 Page 1928 pics/notes Colo Interactive Map
Pueblo College: Yearbook 58-59 59-60 Arrow 58/59 Don's College/Jobs Ann's College/Jobs Army & Yrbk	Ann's Pottery/Art	Perfect Marriage (or not)	Uptown Theater	La Veta
	Classmates	Baseball	Silly Stories	Songs
Ancestors MAIN MENU Cully, Eunice, Fred, Casey, Hazel, Donald, Verna, Buck, Inez, NY/SD Millers, Joens Research on Utters	Dennis/Wright Slideshow Scotty Wright Stewart Ferguson 1 Ferguson History 1935 Attica KS Book

1. HOME (The early years)	2. Pueblo, Gr Junction,	3. Fairbanks 1	4. Fairbanks 2
5. Arizona	6. Rural San Diego	7. Mixed Pictures	8. Family Album
9. Extended Family	10. Dupree Ranch	AAU Basketball Denver	Articles 1 2 3 Lefse

1. HOME (The early years)	2. Pueblo, Gr Junction,	3. Fairbanks 1	4. Fairbanks 2
5. Arizona	6. Rural San Diego	7. Mixed Pictures	8. Family Album
9. Extended Family	10. Dupree Ranch	AAU Basketball Denver	Articles 1 2 3 Lefse