Today's Featured Biography

 
Steve Kotrch

I joined the U.S. Navy before graduation and left for boot camp in September of 1966. After that, I was sent to Bainbridge, MD for training as a Communications Technician, Administration. My first duty station was London, England where I spent almost two years. Then I was sent to San Diego, CA to finish my enlistment contract.

I came back to GR, joined the Naval Reserve and got a job with Interstate Motor Freight. That turned out not to be the best job as I kept getting bumped whenever layoffs were needed. I wanted to get back in the Navy, but they said they would have to drop me two pay grades from E5 (Petty Officer Second Class) to E3 (Seaman) if re-enlisted. A friend who had enlisted and re-enlisted in the U.S. Air Force talked to his recruiter and I came back on active duty as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. Eventually I was promoted to Master Sergeant and retired with a total of twenty years active service in October of 1987.

While on active duty, besides my Navy stations, I served at Luke AFB, AZ, Korat RTAFB, Thailand, Cheyenne AFB, WY, Headquarters European Command in Stuttgart Germany, back to the Pentagon in Arlington, VA and finally Wright-Patterson AFB, OH where I retired. While on active duty, I received my Bachelor's Degree in Business and Management.

After retirement I held a number of administrative positions with various government contractors in the Washington DC area. While living there, I met George who would later become my husband.

We got tired of all the traffic, high taxes, high cost of living and retired to Dover, DE. We moved here to still be close to family and friends back in the DC area as well as being close to a base as we are both military retirees.

We became heavily involved in politics shortly after moving here and fought many battles to win legal recognition of our relationship. We both worked with our local state senator and representative on the following bills and their passage:

Adding LGBT people to the State non-discrimination bill; worked on the Delaware Civil Union bill and saw it’s passage and finally the Delaware Marriage Equality bill. We had our Civil Union in February of 2012 and twenty months later on October 22nd 2013, we were legally wed on our 34th anniversary.

I have two stepdaughters, one stepson, five step granddaughters, one step-grandson and two step-great-great granddaughters. Life is good.

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