10 and Lawrence Street, N.E. Washington D.C. 20017
Perhaps you remember me; I went to St. Anthony's grade school with many of
you in 7th and 8th grade. This past summer I received a letter from Tom Reed
wondering if the Paul Lafranchise at my address was the same one who went to
St. A's in the 1960's, since there couldn't be that many people in the world
with that name. Thanks Tom for putting me back in touch with all of you.
After reading some of your very interesting bios on the reunion web site (TG
your's was especially well written) I thought I'd give you a brief update on
my last 35 or so years. It took me so long to finally do this because I have
7 children (more about them later), I'm a trial lawyer by profession and
trials and judges wait for no man, and shortly after Tom wrote me I switched
firms, causing me to have to spend even more time keeping all the clients I
took with me happy.
In 1964 I left D.C. for the Maryknoll Seminary in Clarks Summit, PA, outside
Scranton. I lasted there two years before the school closed and they offered
us a transfer to one of their other two seminaries, in Glen Elen, IL,
outside Chicago, and Mt. View, near Palo Alto, CA.
Instead I transfered to Gonzaga where I had a lackluster career academically
but did manage to learn how to drink beer. From there no school would have
me so I decided to join the Army. My grandfather "Pappy" Merkle thought
college would be a better option than the Viet Nam war so he took me to PGCC
and "helped" me enroll. After two years there I transfered to Catholic
University, largely on the recommendation of Dr. Cain, the Dean of the
School of Arts and Sciences then. I owe him a great deal of gratitude for
taking a chance on me.
Because I still considered being a priest, I majored in Philosophy at CU, a
subject Aristotle said should be taken up only when one reaches 50 years
old. Now that I'm 50 I tend to agree since it didn't do me much good then.
My mom worked for the university so I received free tuition but in exchange
my parents had me turn over to them the wages I earned working 2 to 4 days a
week as a roofer for a company my brother Johnny married into. Naturally
this caused some friction in our relationship, but they did give me $20 per
week spending money.
In 1971, after one year at CU, I went to Spain for summer school with a
conservative group, some of whom eventually formed Christendom College in
Front Royal, VA. In San Lorenzo del Escorial (St. Lawrence of the Trash Heap
is the translation I'm told) I am eternally grateful to say I met Mary
Frances Walsh from Camarillo, CA. Eventually we got married (but more on
that below.)
After the summer ended I went back to CU, and Mary went back to Mount St.
Mary's in L.A. When she graduated a year later as a nurse she moved to
Georgetown and worked at the hospital there. When I didn't propose after a
year, she moved back to California. I graduated from CU in 1974 (on the 6
year plan) and went to Graduate School in Philosophy at CU. At a Christmas
party in 1974 I saw Jaffe Dickerson's mother who told me Jaffe was a lawyer
and living in California. This changed my life; I figured if Dickerson can
do it, so can I.
I managed to get accepted to the School of Law at the University of Georgia
(which beat Tennessee last night I might add). I concentrated in labor and
employment law. Athens was and is a fun place to live and study and I had a
great time there, graduating last in my class in 1978, after being kicked
out for bad grades in 1977 and talking my way back in by one vote of the
full faculty (at least that's what they told me.) Former Secretary of State
Dean Rusk taught international law there at the time and one night at a
cocktail party I got up the nerve to ask him a lot of questions about Viet
Nam, which he politely, patiently, and very eloquently explaned was an
effort to draw a line in the sand and to make a stand against communism.
In 1978 I returned to D.C. as a new "Attorney Advisor" for the U.S.
Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, a job you could sleep walk
through while wearing a three piece suit. Nevertheless they did agree to pay
my way through Georgetown Law School for an advanced degree in labor and
employment law. I started in January 1979.
In February 1979 Mary and I were married. After she left D.C in 1974 she
spent some time as a volunteer on a Navajo Indian reservation in Arizona,
and then spent 3 years in Kenya, Africa as a nurse with the Lay Mission
Helpers of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. During my three years in Georgia,
Mary was in Africa. When I graduated and got my first job in the fall of
1978 I called her, visited her in Lancaster CA, where her family had moved,
and proposed during that Christmas 1978 visit. We were married in Camarillo
on February 3, 1979.
Approximately 9 months and a day later (December 21) our son Andrew was
born. He'll be 21 in December. He is currently in computers in the U.S.
Marine Corps as a Corporal at Camp Pendleton, CA. He has a part time job in
a bike shop and spends his off time competing in mountain bike races, and in
surfing and snowboarding. (I wish I was 20 again, sometimes.) Anyone who
knows a corporation that wants to sponsor a Marine mountain biker, please
email me.
Ann is 18 and a freshman at the University of California at Irvine in the
Information and Computer Science Department. As my wife told me the other
day, they help you apply, get them accepted, and pay for college but they
don't tell you how to say good-bye. She's on the women's crew team and we
hope she can pull it all off.
Laura is 16 and a junior at a new public H.S. that just opened near our home
in hot, dusty Bakersfield, CA, a town made "famous" by Steinbeck's Grapes of
Wrath. It was to Kern County that the so-called "Oakies" went when they left
Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas during the dust bowl days of the 1930's.
Anyway she is a champion diver and excellent student so we hope she can go
to the U. of Cal. too.
Julia is a freshman at the same school, another good student, and a very
good basketball player. She's short like her dad so she plays point guard.
Peter is new to Middle School, in the 7th grade, a good student, and caught
his first pass yesterday in his first season of tackle football. He's also a
heck of a drummer in the band.
Theresa is in 5th grade, a good student (though she and I struggle with her
math homework every school night), and preparing for her 4th performance in
the local nutcracker ballet this Christmas. She's worked her way up from
soldier, to mouse, to officer, to party guest. I forgot what she'll be this
year.
Lucy is in first grade (Mary and I just found out what was causing all these
kids the other day), takes gymnastics, and is reading at a second grade
level. She's everyone's favorite in the family and seems to take the
attention well, though she is mature beyond her years because of the
influences of so many teen-agers going on 30.
Just to wrap this up, Mary and I left D.C. after I graduated from Georgetown
and moved to Ventura to live with her 90 year old grandfather while I worked
for the feds in Santa Barbara and struggled to pass the California Bar exam.
Two years later, in 1986, we moved to Salinas, in Monterrey County
(Steinbeck's home town coincidently) where I was on loan from the feds to
the state of California, working for the Agricultural Labor Relations Board.
My duties consisted mostly of pursuing ranchers and unions so they'd pay
fines and penalties for unfair labor practices. I learned a lot about rural
California and how some people live (under bridges, in gullys) so they can
plant and harvest our vegetables and fruit.
If you ever make it to Salinas, the artichokes and lettuce are unlike any
other.
In 1986 I passed the California Bar exam and was hired by a law firm in
Bakersfield, a place where we could afford our first home. By this time we
had 4 children. Bakersfield's at the bottom of the central San Joaquin
Valley, which is hundreds of miles long and scores of miles across, and
where most of America's winter crops come from. We have two planting seasons
here because of the mild winters; summers are brutally hot but dry. Besides
ag, we are famous for oil production, the Kern River Field being one of the
biggest finds ever.
I spent 14 years at my old firm, defending employers and
supervisors/managers in wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and
employment discrimination lawsuits in state and federal courts in
California. In July I moved to a smaller firm made up of expatriates from
the old firm. It's a better deal as well. To reach me at work email me at
plafranchise@lebeauthelen.com. At home I'm at paulafr@igalaxy.net. I would
really like to hear from each and every one of you to catch up on the last
few decades.
We learned at Mass today that Mary and I are in that 10% of American
marriages where the husband is the sole breadwinner and the wife is a stay
at home mother and spouse. We did this on purpose 21 years ago because we
wanted our kids to have a mom to come home to after school. We are fortunate
we could afford to do it, although it has been a sacrifice giving up her
nurse's salary all these years. Mary and I are 50 this year (as I imagine
are most of you), still married, still Catholic and weekly if not sometimes
daily communicants, and still struggling to raise our children is today's
environment. (Remember our 8th grade graduation when we sang "Kids! What's
the matter with kids today?") When I recall some of the boneheaded things
I've done in my life (and I apologize to each of you if I ever offended any
of you) I can't be too hard on them.
I look forward to future emails and a visit if your wanderlust takes you out
this way - 2 hours straight north of L.A.
Paul