My wife and I have lived in Newport since 2007, and have enjoyed both the small town aspects and the richness of nationally recognized institutions. As a small town, I’ve been able to serve in a variety of ways, and have gotten to know people across the spectrum. We see each other at the grocery store, at arts events, and walking the beaches and trails along the coast. As a nationally recognized region, we are fortunate to have the Oregon…
Melody and I have been fortunate to visit places throughout the United States and Europe. Each visit brings us a new appreciation for our rich and diverse world.
John Lavrakas is a retired aerospace engineer who lives in Newport, Oregon with his wife Melody Shipherd Lavrakas. He graduated from Harvey Mudd College (1974) and Claremont Graduate University (1975) with degrees in Mathematics. He taught mathematics and physics at Indiana Vocation Technical College in South Bend, Indiana for three years, then spent forty-two years as an aerospace engineer, with forty years of it on the Global Positioning System. This work took him through all aspects of GPS, from the…
Melody and I had been looking at buying an all electric vehicle, and finally purchased one in April, but we really didn’t get to drive it for at least four weeks. We test drove a beautiful blue Audi Q4 electric vehicle April 19, and really liked it. The only problem was the one we were driving had been already sold and the only other ones on the lot were black, white, or gray. So we told them no deal. We…