George David Burgess left the farm following high school in 1954. In six years he served two years in the Navy, graduated from Kansas State University, and was commissioned an Air Force 2/Lt. He later earned a Masters Degree from The George Washington University. He served at sea, and in Japan, Greenland, and Australia, and throughout the U.S. As a writer, he served as an associate editor of THE MAC FLYER, a monthly safety magazine. He commanded units in South Carolina and New Jersey, and achieved the grade of colonel. He retired as a USAF pilot after 28 years of service. His wife, the former Carol Ann Minturn, and their three boys accompanied him on most of his assignments. From his youth, George has taken part in church and community activities. He’s currently a Faith Alive Representative and a hospital spiritual care volunteer. He sums up his life’s experiences since he left the farm as…“I've been scared, cold, hungry, sleep deprived, and supremely tested, but throughout it all, I’ve gained strength and perseverance from what I have learned from my childhood family, from our trust in God, from our rural community, and from my wife and children.”   John Frederick (Freddy) Burgess, raised on a crop and livestock farm, attended a one-room schoolhouse across the Eastern Kansas prairie. He attended Wamego, KS high school and then earned a Journalism degree from Kansas State University. After serving in the Army in Italy, he joined the financial services industry, including being Asst. Supt. of Agencies for Northwestern Mutual in Wisconsin, where he edited the publication Field Notes. He later managed offices in CA and in Portland, OR. John, always active in faith-based and civic programs; served on the vestry and Senior Warden of his church several times, as a long time Bible instructor, chair of a Diocesan program, trustee of the church hospital, national vice president of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew and Faith Alive, and as an officer in Rotary and later in Sertoma. In the 1970’s he earned a Master of Business Admin., a Master of Public Admin., and a Doctor of Business Admin., and became a professor at Concordia University in Portland. There he co-authored the text, Small Business Management Fundamentals. John and his wife Susan have two sons and six grandchildren. They live in Central Oregon during summers and Surprise, AZ, in the winters where John leads the musical group “Strings N’ Things.”