Newspaper Clippings

Galesville, Wisconsin: 1955

Debbie's grandparents, John and Alette Schilling, were contestants on Bert Parks' game show, "Break the Bank." Unfortunately, they did not break the bank, as they were unable to answer the question: "Which state is known as the Treasure State?" (Answer: Montana)

(Click on the newspaper clippings to see a larger version)

Waukegan, Illinois: 1956

Debbie's mother revealed her math geek tendencies in this clipping. Not only was she a member of her high school's Slide Rule Club, she was the program chairman, whatever that means. No wonder this woman went on to meet her husband in a college math class and produce two computer programmers.

Seattle, Washington: 1971

Debbie made her big media debut in 1971, when she and three other Girl Scouts of varying ages were asked to pose for some photos for a Seattle newspaper promotion of the Girls Scouts' annual cookie campaign. A few days later, this picture appeared in the paper, with the other three girls edited out. As if having a photo published with crossed eyes wasn't humiliating enough, Debbie's teacher posted it on the bulletin board for all to see!

Connersville, Indiana: 1972

Tom's grandmother, Laurena Burkart, was active in local politics for many years in Connersville. Here's a vintage advertisement from one of her reelection campaigns.

St. Paul, Minnesota: 1980

After giving up her modeling career in grade school, Debbie turned her sights toward an acting career. In her senior year of high school, she was cast as Emily Webb in Thornton Wilder's "Our Town." It was this role that led to Debbie's Kevin Bacon number of 2. After playing the lead role in her favorite play, she figured it would all be downhill from there, so she gave up her thespian dreams and turned to computer programming instead.

St. Paul, Minnesota: 1984

Debbie's father was featured in an advertisement for 3M. The clipping featured here shows several different 3M employees, but he was also featured in a full page ad that focused on him alone.

Englewood, Ohio: 1985

Near Dayton, Ohio, Tom was a high school athlete with newspaper clippings of his own. Here's an article featuring Tom, his identical twin brother Ken, and their father, who coached their baseball team.

Englewood, Ohio: 1986

Tom and Ken were also on Northmont High School's gymnastics team.