Jo and Bill Gazda

One of the couples we got to know from Church was the Gazdas - Jo and Bill. In many ways, we had much in common. We were in  the same age range and both families had two children, one girl and one boy. Bill was not in the University community, but he had a doctorate in an engineering field. He was a section head at Great Lakes Research, and I was a consultant in another section there during the summer months. Most importantly, Bill and I were very interested in basketball. He played just like I did, always the best we could! We were serious and it was exhausting! Another important point is that Jo and Janice started playing bridge together with several other women in 1972. In 1973, we made a decision to buy a cabin together on Watauga Lake. The deal was later nullified, luckily as it turned out. Because of a problem with the deed on the original document, we were forced to back out of the sale. Not long afterwards, Bill was reassigned to another position, and the family moved to Niagara Falls, NY. We had a family Christmas party together in 1973. The pictures below show how close we were, and how a life time of family friendship was started at the time.