Lu started life in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada with the not very popular name of Luther Hintz.
“I was the youngest of six, three girls and three boys. In the family, Papa was a preacher. And Mama was a teacher. Money was tight so I joined the Army and the GI bill and my wonderful wife, Mary, put me through school as an electrical engineer at the University of Minnesota. I worked at Westinghouse in Baltimore building submarines; at Minneapolis Honeywell on the Apollo moon shot; at semiconductor design at Signetics in Sunnyvale, CA; at Siemens Germany Memory design; and finally at San Jose Intel Corp, doing Microprocessor design.
“Mary and I took a thirteen-week trip around the world for our seven-year sabbatical vacation. We visited four continents, including eighteen countries, each with one suitcase as a carry-on.
“We have four children, eight grandchildren, and a great-grandchild with another one due in November. The grandkids asked so many questions about us growing up, so I decided to write a book about it. It’s available as “Northern Exposure” and covers life as growing up in the most dangerous times. My most exciting experience was flying barrel roles in a WWII P51 fighter plane at the Santa Barbara airshow. I also enjoyed singing in the “Note Worthy Four” barber shop choir where I have been a member for 32 years. Mary and I are enjoying our retirement here at the Ventura Townehouse. We are enjoying making new friends.”
Mary is a retired pediatric nurse from Minnesota. She married Luther when he was an engineer, they traveled extensively with his job, living in twenty different locations, from Minneapolis, Pittsburg, Baltimore, Buffalo NY, San Jose, Munich, Germany, Santa Monica, and now Ventura. Mary said Ventura is by far the best place to live.
Mary also wrote a book titled “Mary Ellen Kitchen” filled with lessons learned while creating dishes from the foods they had. Growing up in farm country, they had a wood range for cooking. Many recipes in her book are handed down from her grandmother and cooked on a wood-burning stove. Although Mary has a passion for cooking, and according to Lu, she is a great cook! Mary said she is now enjoying life at the Townehouse where she doesn’t have to cook or clean.
Another one of Mary’s hobbies is quilting. Mary and Lu are celebrating 67 years of marriage, they are happy they chose the Ventura Townehouse to continue life in their golden years.