She's Pat, I'm Kay

By Kay Fisher and Pat Fisher

Pat and Kay Fisher document their life together. Fifty plus years starting in Minnesota, going through the Navy in Whidbey Island, Washington and Virginia Beach, Virginia, working for thirty years in Massachusetts on computers and finally retiring to Arizona.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9780359332502

Book preview

She’s Pat, I’m Kay

Cover Photo

Pat and Kay high school photos and more recent photos.

She’s Pat, I’m Kay®

Copyright © 2018 by Kay R. Fisher, V5

All rights reserved.  No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the express written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Warning and Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and accurate as possible.

ISBN = 978-0-359-33250-2

Reviews

I really loved reading about a couple always looking out for each other and seeing how much they were able to accomplish together.  This is a wonderful example of what a loving and happy marriage is!  My daughter loved it too!

Angelique Randall

Awsome book!  Super fun to read.

Catania Randall

Fascinating!  Young love, committed to each other; then to their children; then to their grandchildren and now to their great-grandchildren.  And in between, a myriad of experiences, adventures, challenges, vacations and much, much more enrich their lives.  It’s truly amazing what they have seen and done in the last 50+ years!  A fun read!  We are blessed by their friendship.

Margaret Gjerstad

She’s Pat, I’m Kay is a great title, a much repeated phrase, as well as a good read.  Kay writes his stories as he tells his stories.  His writing style is fluid and flows comfortably through events, thoughts, relationships, commitments, interests, and accomplishments.  I enjoyed reading about Kay’s life and his love for Pat, their early years, their kids, their grandchildren, their great grandchildren, and the joys and challenges faced along life’s journeys.  I’ve gained insight into Kay and Kay has inspired me to write some of my story.

Dawna Jean Wiens

She’s Pat, I’m Kay is wonderful love story in so many ways.  It is their love for each other, their love of family and the love of their life’s journey together.

Pat expresses her love of being Kay’s wife, the mother of their children and the joy of being a grandmother.

Kay’s love for Pat is evident throughout the book.  He is a devoted family man and very proud father and grandfather.  I was also impressed with his love of his work.  Such a pleasure to read about someone who loved all aspects of his life.  His family and also his work.

I feel privileged to call these two wonderful, caring people my friends.

Barbara Howard

Acknowledgements

Reviewers

Pat Fisher, Catania Randall, Angelique Randall,

Margaret Gjerstad, Dawna Jean Wiens

Photo Credits

Unless otherwise stated all photos and images are by Kay Fisher.

The Fargo Forum newspaper,

Apple Maps

Information Credits

The Fargo Forum newspaper,

Wikipedia,

Battleship Cove Maritime Museum,

www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Huxhold.htm

Dedication

To my wife Pat and our daughters Wendy and Kathy.

Many of our friends mentioned in this book have since passed away.  This is also dedicated to them.

(1964…)      Intro & Whidbey Island

For more about me, see my first book One Town Kid.  This is about us Pat & Kay.

My wife’s maiden name was Patricia Jeanne Lofgren.  My name is Kay Ray Fisher.  My dad named me after the famous band leader Kay Kyser.  Kay Kyser’s real name was James Kern Kyser.  My life would have been a lot simpler if Dad named me James Kern Fisher.  Fortunately, all through my school years my nickname was Corky.  After I joined the Navy I got used to using my given name.  After Pat and I got married we started experiencing a problem with folks getting our names mixed up – hence the phrase I have used a thousand times, She’s Pat, I’m Kay.

My brother always had license plates that said Dick & Carol.  They were inseparable.  Pat and I are the same way but, it always struck me as strange that Dick put his name first.  Pat is my thread to life and she always comes first.

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Our 2018 Arizona License Plate

But, this license plate is 51 years older than the beginning of our marriage.  Let’s start over.

In the summer of 1963 I was spending every spare moment working on my car, and helping friends work on their cars.  I got to know Pat’s brothers, Marv and Ron.  We shared auto repair adventures together.  A few times I went out to their farm outside Hitterdal, Minnesota to work on putting a floor shift into an old car and removing the column shift.  One day I noticed this pretty girl in shorts mowing the lawn.  Who’s she? I asked.  Ron told me it was his sister.  I asked Ron to ask her if she would be interested in going out with me.

Little did I know, Pat never mowed the lawn but when she saw me with her brothers she put on her shortest shorts and volunteered to mow the lawn.

Somehow, we got together and started dating.  In those days my idea of a date was to pick up Pat, drive out into the woods some place and make out till it was time to bring her home.  Worked for me.  That summer it rained every weekend.  I got to love rainy days.  It always reminds me of those first days of owning a car and dating.  Pat doesn’t like rain.  That spring I took drivers training.  Two of us already had our driver’s license so our instructor just had one of us drive out west of town to see the flood on Highway 9.  The other drove back.  The only thing our drivers training instructor told us was:  Always signal to change lanes and be very careful at railroad crossings because that is a Hell of a way to die.

Time passed and I dated a couple other girls but Pat was always on my mind.  I joined the Navy and during my first leaves we dated.  Then I made a six-month cruise aboard the USS Oriskany.  When I came home on leave the first thing I did was look up Pat. 

I remember being in my Mom’s house unpacking my sea bag and asking Pat, Well – are we gonna get married this time?.  Not very romantic or well thought out.  Her recollection of that moment is much different.  But she said yes and that was the beginning.

The next day we drove out to her parents’ farm and the goal was to ask her father’s permission.  We sat around the kitchen for what seemed like an eternity before I finally got up the nerve to ask.  Pat’s father, Ralph, said yes but I could tell he wasn’t too happy with Pat’s choice.

In Minnesota there was a waiting period and I was only home on leave for a short time.  So, Pat, Pat’s mom, my mom and I went to Sisseton, South Dakota where we were married by a justice of the peace on 21-Nov-1966.  My dad had died when I was a senior in high school.  Pat only met him once.  Mom had remarried.  She took us to the same justice of the peace that had married her and my new step father, Bud Purrier.  I was 19 and Pat was 18.  My mom had to sign for me but Pat’s mom did not.  I guess they knew even back then that I would never mature. 

The honeymoon consisted of – well nothing.  We stayed in my Mom’s house for a few days.

Pat’s church held a shower for us.  It was a small church and I didn’t know anyone.  I remember thanking them and promising them all that I would love and cherish Pat for the rest of my life.

We went to a jewelry store in Moorhead, Minnesota to get a wedding ring.  I had been wearing my dad’s diamond ring after he passed away.  The diamond was from his mother’s wedding ring.  We had this diamond mounted in a wedding ring/engagement ring set and also purchased a gold wedding band for me.  The total cost for both rings was $54.

Soon we were on our way to the Navy base in Oak Harbor, Washington on Whidbey Island.  We had everything we owned including a console TV packed into a 1960 VW Beetle.  The VW didn’t have an adequate window defroster so we had a little fan with rubber fan blades mounted to the windshield and powered by the cigarette lighter.  It had no clock so we kept a small wind up alarm clock mounted on the dash.

(1966) Whidbey Island

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Whidbey Island and Naval Air Station      Images from Apple Maps

I brought this beautiful Minnesota farm girl into my life and Navy life.  I asked her to read the Blue Jacket’s Manual to give her a better understanding of what modern sailors do and what they are responsible for.

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Navy Mandatory Reading for New Recruits

My boss at the time and mentor was John Sumner.  He and his wife Joy helped us find a place to stay.  We rented a trailer house in the Wagon Wheel Trailer Park in Oak Harbor, Washington.  They also gave us a dog.  After a few weeks we gave the dog back.  I was working a night shift at the time and would arrive home just after midnight every night.  Pat was scared in the trailer at night so she shoved the couch in front of the door so nobody could force their way in.  She slept on the couch till I got home.  She was surprised to find that the door opened out the first night I came home and scared the heck out of her.

The road around Oak Harbor, Washington on Whidbey Island was called Flintstone Freeway.

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Pat and Me in Flintstone Car on Flintstone Freeway

Pat didn’t have a driver’s license so Joy Sumner taught her to drive and helped her get a license.  John and Joy lived in Navy housing and their house was very nice.  We only lived in the trailer park for a short time and moved into a small apartment in a little alcove called the Cliff Dwellers. 

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Pat, Me, Mom, Step Dad Bud, & Dog Joley Visiting Our Cliff Dwellers Apartment

Early Pictures from Whidbey Island

At the time we got married I was a third class petty officer.  I had extended my enlistment when I graduated from technical training A School.  At the time I was one of the youngest third class petty officers in the Navy.  Shortly after we were married, I was promoted to second class making me one of the youngest second class petty officers in the Navy, something I was pretty proud of.

To get to Whidbey Island you either have to travel over the Deception Pass bridge on the north or take the Mukiteo ferry from the south end.

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Here is Pat Looking for Sea Shells by the Deception Pass Bridge

It is rumored that one of our pilots flew an A3D Skywarror under the bridge and was reprimanded for it.  He probably only got a slap on the wrist.

Pat was pregnant now and we were busy trying to pick out baby names.  If it was a boy I wanted to name him Darrell, after my uncle who I thought a lot of.  Good thing for me it was a girl because Pat didn’t like the name Darrell at all.

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Pat Reading a Book Between Morning Sickness.

We made the aquarium stand out of bricks.  Twice the Navy moved it across country for us.  We also made our book cases and shelves out of boards and bricks.  We couldn’t afford anything else.

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Me Proudly Displaying a Plastic Model of the Famous Clipper Ship Cutty Sark

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Me Reenlisting in the Navy

We decided that the Navy would make a good career.  During the mid 1960’s the Navy was giving a variable reenlistment bonus (VRB), which was designed to keep critical rates in longer.  For Aviation Fire Control technicians, we received the max bonus of $10,000 for reenlisting.  Additionally, if you did this while you were deployed in Viet Nam, it was tax free.

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Working on Model Train Set

My hobbies have always included model making.  While waiting for the birth of our first child, I was busy building an N-gauge train set/coffee table.

Note in the above picture the 12-string guitar was a Kay and I picked at it for years.  Below that was a Knight Kit Short wave radio that I built while in high school.  While staying in Mom’s house during our first days of marriage we heard on that radio two songs that will stick in my mind forever.  First was Snoopy vs the Red Baron by the Royal Guardsmen.  The second was Happy Together by the Turtles, which I adopted as Our song.

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Happy Together by the Turtles      Snoopy vs. the Red Baron - 1966

The group of technicians I was working with were on a four and two shift, 24 hours a day.  That meant we worked four days then took two days off.  There were three shifts, Midnight to 8:00 AM, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and 4:00 PM to Midnight. 

I was working the midnight to 8:00 AM shift repairing the AN/ASQ-61 ballistics computer.  I would typically sleep when I got home from the midnight shift, then we would spend the afternoon together.  One day I arrived home ready to go to bed but when I opened the door Pat was standing there with her suitcase ready to go to the Hospital.  So, in panic we hopped in our VW Beatle and drove to the Navy Hospital that was at the Seaplane Base on Whidbey Island.  They would not allow me in with her so I sat in the waiting room for further word.  I sat and I sat and I sat.  Eventually they told me it would probably be a few more hours so I went home to sleep.  The next morning, I arrived at the hospital and still no progress.  I waited and waited and waited.  Then more doctors were called into the labor room to help.  I was scared to death.  It turned out she required what they called a mid-forceps rotation. 

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Pat and Wendy Rae Fisher 7-Feb-1968 Born in the Navy Seaplane Base Hospital

Twenty nine hours in labor was more than I could take.

(1968…)      Wendy Rae Fisher

They had all the babies in the maternity ward on display behind a glass pane.  Wendy was easily the cutest baby of them all.  Pat stayed in the Navy hospital for a few days and all the new mothers would go to the cafeteria together.  You could spot them a mile away.  They each carried a small inner tube to sit on.

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First good picture of Wendy

Wendy was a delightful baby.  We had a crib pushed up against Pat’s side of the bed.  If Wendy started fussing in the middle of the night (which she seldom did) Pat would just roll over and put the pacifier in her mouth.  For the most part, Wendy would sleep through the night and just sit there playing in her crib till we woke up.  We couldn’t afford a porta crib so on trips we would wrap her up in soft blankets and put her in an open dresser drawer.

But soon after her birth I was deployed with VA-52 aboard the USS Coral Sea for a six-month cruise, leaving my new bride alone to raise a toddler and take care of the apartment, car and whatever else might go wrong.  Fortunately, the Navy Wives Club and all the neighbor Navy wives all helped each other out.  The officers Navy Wives Club donated a bassinet to us filled with necessities for a new infant.  This was charity and we were sure grateful.

I wrote Pat nearly every day while on board ship.  My good friend Alvarez didn’t think I could make the cruise and be true to my wife.  We made a $5 bet on it.  Six months later I collected from him.  The Navy was hard on families.  As ships deployed to support the actions in Viet Nam in the Western Pacific (West Pac) they used to joke that the Navy wives were west pac widows.  Unfortunately for many families this was true.  Being young and separated is very difficult and I was incredibly lonesome and homesick during this cruise.  Many marriages did not survive the separation.

There were a few things we could do aboard ship during our time off.  There was a photography dark room that I spent some time in.  Also, I would go up to the seventh level of the island structure which had an open deck where you can observe flight deck operations.

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On board the USS Coral Sea.  The planes in the center are our A6A Intruders

The area is called Vultures Row.  The previous shot shows our squadrons aircraft with the wings folded.  They would move all the aircraft that had just landed to the front of the ship to make room for more incoming aircraft to land on the aft section of the ship. 

The Coral Sea was 978 feet long and 228 feet wide on the flight deck.  During a prior cruise the Coral Sea logged 10,000 combat sorties (maneuvers) – more than any other carrier in the history of the Navy, on a single cruise.

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Me on Vultures Row taking pictures.

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This is me in the Fire Control shop.  Shortly after I made First Class

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Me changing audio tapes while in port.

We packed all our personal effects in nooks and crannies throughout the shop.  The above picture is the SACE (Semi-Automatic Checkout Equipment) bench.  I worked on this all day every day to keep the bombing system working on the airplanes. 

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Another view of the SACE bench with our tape decks mounted overhead.

The big round balls are an RCA (Actually Victor Company of Japan) Nivico Globe Speaker system.  It came with stands but you could also hang the globes from the ceiling.  The speakers were mounted inside in opposing positions such that, if the left woofer pushed the right woofer pulled.  This caused the entire 13-inch globe to move which gave it better bass response.  I wish I had never sold those speakers. 

We also had turn tables and tape decks mounted above our SACE bench.  We would record records and share music with each other.  While at sea during aircraft launches off the flight deck, the whole deck would bounce.  We had to install special spring-loaded phono cartridges in the turn tables to survive the catapult launches so that our songs wouldn’t skip if we were recording music.

It is a Navy tradition that the salute cannon gives Presidents a 21-gun salute.  When the Coral Sea returned home to San Francisco and passed under the Golden Gate Bridge the captain had them give the Coral Sea (CVA-43) a 43-gun salute.  We were all glad to be home but nobody was happier than me.

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Back home again after cruise to see Pat & Wendy

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Wendy at 10 months