It was with some trepidation that he watched the passing countryside. He was going to the home that he had left years before, to a family of parents and sisters. There would not be the easy relationships of his fellow Sailors and Marines. He was now leaving that behind. Not to be completely divorced from that part of his life, he had joined the Inactive Navy Reserve, his reasoning was that if there were truly a national emergency he would go any way, and by joining, he would retain his petty officer status.
Now, he was to change his lifestyle, to that of a civilian. In all of his living memory, he had wanted to be a doctor and he had joined the Navy to be a corpsman. The transfer to the Fleet Marines had been unexpected with more emphasis on trauma and combat that actual illness. Now, he would go to college and medical school. He was commencing a new life.
During his earlier school days, Everett had worked in the local print shop to earn necessary money for his educational expense. As he made his round of visiting old friends, he was offered a job running a printing press while waiting for the opening semester. He was happy to have something to do. Even after he commenced school classes, he continued with the printing and after the first year, he realized that he actually enjoyed the printing work, even more so than the science classes. It was in his second year that he changed his major from pre-med, to business administration and economics.
One of his sisters was attending a nursing school near Boston. One weekend she brought home a classmate, Gerda Reinhardt to visit. Everett quickly became interested in Gerda, and by the time both had graduated in the summer of 1949, they were married.
Now it seemed that life was on a roll. He had a wonderful wife and a permanent position of press-room foreman. They had a home that he had built with his fathers’ assistance. Suddenly, the casual decision to join the inactive reserve caught up with him, as the North Koreans attacked the South, and he was called to active service in November 1950. He received orders for duty aboard LST 551, operating out of Little Creek, Virginia. So he spent the next year mostly cruising up and down the East Coast and Puerto Rico, transporting Marines for training purposes.
It was in December 1951 that he was returned to civilian life and he never considered further relations with the Navy.
Things were not as rosy as previously. His oldest son, Robert, had been born in October 1950, and a second child was to be born in January 1952. The position of press room foreman was no longer available, though some lesser positions were vacant. Several factors combined to encourage Everett to apply at Carnegie Institute of Technology’s School of Printing Management. Not only would he become knowledgeable in the most modern printing techniques, he would gain that desirable Bachelor’s Degree in Printing Management. With his wife’s full backing, he was accepted and commenced classes that summer. He was also fortunate to obtain employment as a compositer at Herbick and Held, a well known printer in Pittsburgh. In October 1954 a third son was born, and in the Spring of 1955, Everett obtained his degree in Printing Management. He accepted a position as manager of Amherst Printing Company in Buffalo, New York.
This printing plant was one of three owned by the Clarkson family. The other two were Clarkson Press Inc. and Technical Charts Inc. Clarkson produced continuous business forms for the fast-growing data processing systems. Technical Charts produced all type of recording charts, both circular and strips, both of which required critical accuracy in printing position. After some time, a new corporation, Graphic Controls Corporation. was created, and Everett was named general manufacturing manager. During that time, his fourth and last son was born
In this new position, he became deeply involved in the development of high speed equipment for the production of recording charts, working with equipment manufacturers in developing the latest printing techniques, and earning special process patents. He was promoted to vice president of engineering.
His wife’s health, however, had been deteriorating due to a severe arthritic condition. In 1971, the medical specialists urged the Kelloggs to move from the severe conditions of Buffalo, to a more moderate climate. As fate would have it, he was offered a position as General Manager at Diamond National Corporation near Exeter California. They moved to California in the Spring of 1971.
Everett’s new challenge was to train and supervise employees drawn mostly from an agricultural community. The plant equipment included large multicolor lithographic sheet fed presses and smaller multifunction web presses. The processes used were primarily lithographic. He found that since the plant was so far from industry suppliers, it was necessary to become as self-sufficient as possible. He organized a modern ink making facility and a machine shop manned by skilled machinists. When the plant reached full potential, it employed 350 workers, and occupied over 350,000 square feet. It’s major products were multi-color paper labels for cans, bottle and box ends, snap apart and continuous forms for business functions. He also developed specialized equipment for the production of tabulating card ballots.
Despite the move to a more temperate climate, his wife’s health continued to deteriorate, and in May of 1979, she died after a severe bout with an arthritis-caused illness.
The Exeter plant was purchased from Diamond, an eventually became known as Sequoia Pacific Corp. Everett became Vice President of Engineering, where he concentrated on specialized production equipment and processes for ballot manufacturing. Sequoia became the largest and best in the industry, setting the standard for the manufacturing of ballots.
In 1992, Everett retired to a mountain home near Fresno that he and his wife designed many years before. Between his four sons, Everett is the proud grandfather of eight grandsons and two granddaughters. He looks forward to and enjoys their visits. He lives with his faithful Boxer companion “Major,” who frightens the wildlife away.
