MY CLAIM TO FAME IS THE FACT I
CAME TO PASO
Robles High School in January 1946 as a sophomore. I left home in San
Luis Obispo to come to Paso and live with my grandparents in River
Grove, 12 miles east of Paso on old Highway 41.
Life at Paso High didn't improve from my downhill
slide in school in San Luis Obispo. I continued to fail to the point I
quit school at the June break and joined the U.S. Marine Corps at 10
days into my 17th year. Big mistake. I soon saw my mistake and after a
year in the Corps was honorably discharged and returned to Paso High. My
school work improved, albeit, with a lot of shops and remedial courses.
In September of 1947 I went to Cal Poly and took the
GED test "cold." Somehow I passed it. I continued on at Paso
High for the remaining junior and senior years and graduated (on the
WWII GI Bill).
I went to San Luis Obispo Junior College for a short
time then quit and went to work. The Korean War came along and I was
back in the armed forces again. Home in 1952 to the SLO Police
Department as a patrolman, 1956 found me back in the Air Force as an air
police investigator; 1960 cut to civilian life, and then two years as a
Solano County deputy sheriff. In 1961 I jointed
the California Highway Patrol.
During these periods I maintained my affiliation with
the armed forces. I was also doing continuing education at the
University of San Francisco. I got my B.A. in public administration in
1975, my Masters in physical education in 1977 and Doctorate in criminal
justice in 1982. I retired from the C.H.P. in 1984. I then finished my
Air Force career and retired as a chief master sergeant from the Air
Force in 1989 at age 60.
I guess the moral to the story is - if you keep on
plugging, you can get there regardless of how you started out. And I had
a real bad start. So from a failure in school in 1946, through a life of
public service, to Dr. Adams Ph.D. in 1996.
I only wish my sophomore English teacher, Miss Martha
Swanson, would know of my success.
ELDON ROOT'S
STORY 
