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| Fred Littlepage
Springfield, Virginia
Back | | What's Up:
I have a terrific family, good friends and an excellent job, all of
which are a true blessing. I travel to Colorado from Virginia about once
a month as part of my job so get to frequently touch home. When we have
time, my wife and I enjoy travel by plane or car to the Southwest.
Biggest events in the last couple of years is that we now have our first
Grandchild, Michael, and I had a triple bypass in 2012. The genes
finally caught up with me. That and the love of good food.
My Occupation:
After graduating from CSU, I went into the Air Force and made it a career.
That is something I never anticipated doing back in the sixties when I
was helping to bury internal combustion engine and wearing a ponytail
(the hair is all gone, by the way – probably some sort of cosmic
payback) Regarding my Air Force career, I would not change a thing. I
never had a job I did not like or find extraordinarily challenging. My
career included: Intelligence and Warning officer position at the
Strategic Air Command; a tour in Vietnam and Thailand (tried to avoid
that but failed); Minuteman Missile Launch and Command Post Officer,
Great Falls, Montana; USAF Soviet Awareness Team, Washington, D.C.
(traveled worldwide giving presentations on the Soviet Union to
audiences that ranged from airmen up to the White House); two tours in
the Pentagon; and, the best job, USAF Military Attaché to the American
Embassy, Moscow, former Soviet Union (I drew some kind of demented buzz
from the KGB tailing and harassment game). I retired as a colonel from
the Air Force in 1991 after 21 years, and have been employed since at
Science Applications International Corporation, now Leidos Inc. in the
Washington D.C. area. SAIC split into two companies last fall, SAIC and
Leidos, and my organization is in Leidos. I have been with these
companies almost 25 years as a Vice President and Senior Program
Manager. I still travel to Denver every 4 to 6 weeks managing a team of
extremely gifted analysts in the Greenwood Village area. They are all
math, physics and science whizzes which is why I am the manager. I
barely got out of Mrs. Hayes 7th grade Algebra at Wheat Ridge Junior
High. I don't consider myself good at many things but I excel at faking
it. As long as my analysts think I understand grey or fuzzy math, that
is all that counts. They never know that I immediately slip into a coma
when the word fuzzy or math is first uttered. Perception is everything.
Our work is national defense related and my team continues to make
significant
My Family:
My wife, Sue, formally of Brighton, Colorado continues as the Director of
Information Services for the National Academy of Science, Washington,
D.C. We met at Oktoberfest on Larimer Square, in Denver and are
celebrating our 44th Anniversary in July. I am amazed and thankful for
those 44 great years. We have two daughters: Alison (35) who graduated
from Tulane Law School in 2004 and is a civil rights lawyer with ICE.
Alison and Jason (Walder) married 3 years ago and are very happy. Amanda
(30), continues to try and find her way and settle into a career. Amanda
is a single parent which is a whole other story. Parents and
Grandparents have all passed away. My sister Karen and her husband Bob
continue to live in Greeley, Colorado, and are semi-retired. My brother,
Brad, still resides in Leadville.
Favorite Memories:
There are many good ones, and a few memorable ones that don’t necessarily
reflect my finest moments.
Good Ones: Farmers Barns; the KIMN contest and stuffing envelopes at
Sanzolone’s house; State champion basketball tournament; exchange trip
to Tallulah, LA (despite the unfortunate one day suspension for cutting
class and going skiing); boys ballet; first date; spirited games of
badminton, basketball and football with Chuck Miller, Mike Vinnola,
Bruce Mitchell and Buddy DeArvil on neighborhood fields. Friendships
that carried over to college like Bruce Mitchell (childhood best friend)
and Bruce DeCook.
I continue to hold great appreciation for the teaching staff that
shepherded us through those years. They provided a moral and
intellectual compass that has guided and resonated throughout my life.
Whatever small successes I have had, I owe to them and educators like
them. My favorites were Mr. Bolin (even after the chicken incident) and
Mr. Ellis, but I thought all our teachers were a cut above.
Memorable:
The standouts are still:
• A night in county lockup with Mike Vinnola, Herb Schmidt and Jeff Moore.
Not sure this is a favorite but it certainly stood out.
• Liz Lancaster, Gary Hooper and me conducting the first genetic
engineering and coding experiments on Mr. Bolin’s chicks by injecting
them with grain alcohol. We all felt bad about this one although I not
sure if it was because of the harm inflicted on the chicks,
disappointing Mr. Bolin, or that we got caught. I apologize if it wasn’t
Gary, it might have been Mike Vinnola. Becky Romine might have been
there as well. Memory fails so I will just throw everyone under the bus.
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