Mike Marston

Mike Marston

I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. I lived in Bush Hills until age 11, then we moved to Forest Park.  I attended Woodrow Wilson School for grades 1-4, Elyton School for grades 5-8, then went to Ramsay High School.

Things changed after my father died suddenly in 1970.  In ’72 my mother was accepted to Harvard, and moved with my younger siblings to Boston.  I, being 18, decided to see the country, and ended up in San Francisco.  With only a few brief exceptions, I’ve lived in northern California almost all of the last 40 years.  I’m currently in San Jose.

As a kid I was fascinated with electronics, my uncle and a friend’s dad taught me a lot, but what I didn’t realize then was that I was being prepared for a career.  I’ve worked with radio communications equipment almost all my adult life, currently working with Wi-Fi systems for Motorola.  I consider myself fortunate to be able to do work I enjoy.

I never had kids of my own, but my wife’s adult offspring have given me six wonderful grandchildren.

While most of my family from Alabama is gone, in recent years the Internet and Facebook have allowed me to find many classmates and friends from my years there.  I am pleased to find that many of them are doing well.

“In church no less.”

I was standing on my grandparents’ front porch in Norwood when I heard the blast at 16th Street Baptist. I remember my immediate thought was “that was a big one.” Sad to think that a 9 year old would be accustomed to explosions. But from our house in Bush Hills I had already heard several. Shotgun blasts were not at all uncommon.

When the news came out, my thought was, “Great, they’re killing us kids now. In church no less.”