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I am writing this series of articles to somehow save memories about my father and mother and their place in history.
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[[File:Rob-0400.jpg|thumb|right|200px|{{bc|Gerry and Shirlee Roberts}}]]
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== Gerry's Career ==
When my father, Gerry, got out of the US Navy in 1945, he worked his ass off to provide for his family and get an education. He went to many schools, but he called William and Mary (of Virginia) his alma mater. 

He took many jobs: from being an engineer to a Test Pilot, from Quality Control Engineer to upper management in aerospace companies. Between career jobs, he worked as a gas station attendant and was the captain of his own commercial tuna fishing boat, the "Ida Mae II." He took many jobs because that is what fathers used to do to care for their families.

I will try to add other stories about him as I go, but that will be for later.

While working for Huggins Laboratories in Hollister Ca in the later 1950s, he traveled a lot between northern and southern California facilities. He was making quite a few trips per month for Huggins. My mother, Shirlee, started having anxiety attacks whenever my dad would travel south. Consequently, my dad started taking her with him. He went to the company management and brokered a deal: instead of driving from Hollister to San Jose, flying to Los Angeles, and then driving to Riverside, my dad would simply (?) drive from Hollister to Riverside via the Pacheco Pass. Please remember that this was at a time before Highway 152 became a real highway. (For those of you who have never driven across Pacheco Pass, it gets up to a hundred degrees plus in the summer and the pass is often closed each winter due to snow.) Driving 350+/- miles still cut three to four hours off the HLI-SJC-LAX-RIV trip, and he could take Mom with him. The per diem mileage paid for a brand new Thunderbird in less than a year (and expenses) AND he saved the company money.

He made many trips in the T-bird with the top down and Mom with her headscarf. They would stop at Casa-de-Fruit on the way down and Bakersfield on the way back for lunch or dinner.

Somewhere along the way, Gerry picked up a nasty virus of some kind and went a-bed for several months. While he was down, several of his friends and colleagues at Huggins contracted something similar, and several died. It was suggested that the Huggins products (explosive bolts) or working around exotic, hyperbolic rocket fuels might be to blame but nothing was ever proven.

== Race car racing ==
To make ends meet, he would work on Sports cars in his garage and backyard. Before he got sick, Gerry was an avid Sports Car racer. During this downtime, He repaired and race-prepped Triumph sports cars.

The backyard started looking like a [[parking lot]] for British sports cars. Pop decided to start a sports car repair business on De Anza Boulevard at Rainbow Drive in Cupertino. Mom, as she often does, suggested the name: "Automobilia". 

{{Main|Race car}}

Several months later, CalTrans (California Dept of Transportation) decided they needed the ground under his shop to make an on-ramp from Highway 85 to De Anza Boulevard. Again a meeting between Mom, Pop, and Stan. 

== Robalee Setters ==
While he was recuperating, my folks thought it would be a good idea to get a companion dog. They investigated many possibilities and thought: if a dog, why not the best? Mom's grandparents owned Irish Setters; one question was answered. 

After much research on AKC Journals (and some serious computer time using IBM punch cards), they decided to get a Thenderin-bred Irish Setter. Gerry got his companion and so started the "Robalee-Thenderin" Irish Setter breeding program.

After several months of "getting well," Pop wore his business suit and got ready to return to work. According to my Mom, he got as far as the car before he returned to the house crying and said, "I can't do this anymore!" 

After a meeting between our family attorney ("Uncle Stanley"), Mom, and Pop, he applied for disability and went into semi-retirement. They bought several other male and female Irish Setters and continued breeding them, using the "Robalee Setter" name. "Robalee" is a [[portmanteau]] of "Rob-" from Roberts and "Lee" from Shirlee. 

== (Kahluah Kennels) ==
Kahluah (sic) Kennels on Mathilda Boulevard in Sunnyvale was in danger of being forcibly closed by the County due to multiple problems and health violations. My parents took over the kennel, and now they had a new home and kennel space for all of their Irish Setters. Gerry and I rebuilt the dog runs, and I rewired the place bringing it up to code.

The place was a mess, to say the least. About a month later, the county inspector walked in, and in the midst of it all, he gave them a Grade A. Every year after that, he would make Kahluah his last stop—he didn't want to compare them to Kahluah.

My partner Candy drove to CoCo County to address personal, family, and monetary issues. On the way back, she was involved in a major auto accident and ended up in Kaiser Hospital in Oakland. After she was released from Kaiser, the two of us moved into my dad's motor home. Once again, I worked for my father.

A Memorial Day weekend a few years later, my father and mother bought a kennel in Mountain View from David and Barbara Packard of Varian / HP fame and named it Robalee Kennel. They expanded their breeding line to include English, Irish, Gordon setters, and German Shorthaired Pointers. Barbie, (AKC registered name <u>"American and Canadian Champion Gemody's Barbara Gal of Robalee</u>") became my companion (Stories to be added later.)

My parent became good friends with Jake and Sally Huizenga of Oxton Kennels in Salinas.

{{sa|Oxton Kennels and The Piano}}

Over the years, they bred over 250 AKC Champion setters. At an Invitational Show at "The Cow Palace" in San Francisco, of the sixty-three setters entered, fifty-eight were Robalee Setters. They exported setters all over the world. After years of inbreeding in Australia, the "Aussie Setters" no longer conformed to Kennel Club standards. Several Robalee Irish Setters were exported to Shelomith and Taraglyn kennels in Australia to "help improve the Australian breed baseline." 

They also bred German Shorthaired pointers. One of these pointers and her granddaughter won Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Show.

Pop bought an old Dodge RV and stripped the chassis interior. He rebuilt it into what became a "Mobile Kennel." He would drive to most of the West Coast dog shows, taking dogs and dog food to the shows and bringing dogs and medals home. 

I installed mobile radios in the RV and the Kennel so he and Mom could communicate with each other. 

If you have a few hours, do a Google search for "Robalee Setters."

They lived and worked together all of their lives and until their deaths at Robalee Kennels, Mountain View, CA. 

I was there for each of them, as they were there for me.

{{sa|Vet medicine}}

== The Passing of a Generation ==

I feel that it is important that you read the next chapter: '''''[[The Passing of a Generation]]'''''
== External links ==

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