Monte Kobey
    Monte Kobey was one of a kind. He and I met in 1965 when we both sold radio advertising at KRUX in Phoenix. We were in many businesses together and enjoyed each other's company.
    In the 1970's he started Kobey's Swap Meet in San Diego which became a huge success, and is still going strong to this day under the capable leadership of his daughter, Kim.
    Monte was irrepressible. Nothing could keep him down; business, personal, health failures, he took all with a cheerful spirit and would do what it took to win. The only thing he couldn't win was his battle with his blood transfusion caused AIDS and he left us much too early in 1989.
    I will never forget his raucous laugh, his love of family, and his non-judgemental acceptance of all people regardless of their station in life.
    I learned much from Monte and I miss him. 
Ray Lindstrom

Ray Lindström

In Memoriam
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    Monte and I at his 50th birthday party in 1985. Those were good times,
soon to change.
Don Howard
     Don Howard and I met in the early 1990's. He had just retired from a great radio career as one of San Diego's leading disc jockeys/announcers. He might have "tried" to retire here to the Laughlin area with his wife Sharon, but because of his talent, he was busy all the time.
    He worked for a radio station I owned and was the host of "The Laughlin Experience," a program I produced.
    While we enjoyed reminiscing about radio and TV "in the old days," (and we could do it and laugh for hours) we had much more than that in common. We shared some of the same tragedies and had a rare, very honest relationship. He was certainly my best friend in this area.
    He left us in 2000 and I surely miss him. He was a great announcer. But, more importantly, he was an even greater friend.
Bob Hering
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    Bob Hering and I went to school at the University of Arizona together. He and I shared a house with Chuck Finster and Don Kamarata. We also shared the same political views. In those days I was a rabid right wing Republican.
    Bob was from Burlington, Wisconsin and was a law enforcement major. He was also in ROTC and was gung ho to get to Viet Nam and "beat those commies."
    He was best man at my wedding 1964. (See him at the left adjusting my tie on the nuptial day.)
    He graduated in 1965 and went in the Army, and became a helicopter pilot. Captain Robert Hering was killed in action in 1968.  What a terrible waste.
    I often think about his whole life that he missed, and that I had. It doesn't seem fair.   
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Left: High School photo. Above: 1959 in San Diego. Below: Burt Schneider, Wendy,and me at class reunion in 1979.
Wendy Cring
Dungan
    Wendy was my high school girlfriend. She followed me timidly after class one day and asked me to go to a "girl asks boy dance."  I agreed and we spent the rest of the year going together, even after she went off to college.
    She helped me work on my Zoom Records productions. We had lots of fun. After graduation she went to California with her parents and I followed; sleeping in my car until I couldn't stand it any more.
    After she started college in San Diego I would visit her on weekends. I dropped out of school and her mother told me she didn't want me to see her anymore because I was going to be a failure.
    Eventually she dumped me, broke my heart, and got married. It didn't last long and she ended up having a sad life until she met someone shortly before she passed away in 1995. She had many health problems and they finally beat her..
    Through the years I managed to stay in touch with her. In 1979 Burt and I took Wendy to the high school reunion. It was like the old days.
    We never were romantically involved like 1959-1960, but hardly a day goes by that I don't think about her and how much she meant to me during that short time.
Also...(pictures not available)
JACK GOOT
    A good friend and business partner in the retail shoe business. Jack was the owner, along with his brother Henry and son Bob, of a chain of shoe stores in Phoenix, called appropriately, Goot Shoes. We originally met when I sold him TV time on KTAR-TV in 1970. Then he became a client at my advertising agency, Lindstrom and Jett. Finally, he was my partner in a company called Fashion Shoe Liquidators.
    He was originally from Chicago. First he was a rubber goods salesman. Then he sold shoes in a store on Chicago Avenue just a few bblocks from where my mother lived. We figured he probably sold her a a few pairs of shoes. His first shoe store was in Ottawa, Illinois.
    Jack was a fine man; probably 40 years older than me. Yet, we could sit and talk and I enjoyed his company like he was buddy, my age. He was a good promoter and a real positive thinker. We both were a lot alike. I have always felt a real loss since his death.
GENE ADELSTEIN
    Gene and I worked together at KTKT in Tucson. He was a newsman while I was a disc jockey. After I left town, he became the Public Information Director for the City of Tucson. Later he was the General Manager of KZAZ-TV, Channel 11. I would always stop in to visit when I was in town and I bought quite a bit of advertising from him for various promotions.
    I was shocked when he passed away, in his forties, while playing tennis. He was a real good man. Smart, compassionate, and filled with integrity. Most of all, he was a guy you enjoyed spending time with and just passing the time of day. It was time well spent.
VERGIE LEE BEHRENS
    She was a Phoenix psychologist and therapist who dedicated her life to helping people with a myriad of personal problems like marital difficulties and alcoholism. She helped me tremendously. She passed away in 2001 after many different illnesses. I am just one of many who miss her. She was a professional and had a way of getting to the problem without a lot of B.S.  We need more like her. She was young, in her 50's.
Susan Chambers McGregor
    Susan was an exceptional person. She passed away in 1999.  I became friends with her when she lived near us in Tucson. She never went to my high school; she went to private school, but we met in 1958 and remained friends. She was brilliant and creative, and tolerated me, even though I was a clod. My word, not hers. She would never have been so cruel to call me that. I went to various "coming out" type society events with her or her friends in the early 60's.
    Susan was an artist and created fabric. She was a Life Member and Founder of Arts Genesis, Inc. whose purpose is teaching kids about the arts in Tucson. To quote the organization, "Her work was done with the finesse, sparkle, wit, wisdom, and generosity that were Susie's trademark."
    A perfect summation of a good life and a truly good person.
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Susan working with 5th graders.
BILL MEYERS
    He was the sax player for the group The Pastel Six who had a big hit in the 1960's called The Cinnamon Cinder. I used to play that record when I was a disc jockey. He stopped in the watch store one day and we became good friends. He had a problem with booze, like me, and we would go to AA meetings together whenever he was in Laughlin. He beat alcoholism, but he couldn't beat lung cancer, which he got 10 years after quitting smoking. Bill was a nice guy and I miss his visits.
    Ron was about as close to a brother I could ever have in my life.  Friends, business partners, confidants, companions, and many other words could only begin to describe our relationship. 
    We met in 1966 when I was a struggling radio time salesman in Phoenix and I went into a hobby store to sell the owner some advertising. He was the owner. We hit it off immediately and shared each other's ups and downs of wives, families, and personal fortunes for 35 years,
    He was born in North Dakota, had full blooded Scandinavian background, like me, and moved to Arizona while in grade school. His Dad ran the Phoenix Indian School. He went to Princeton for a year, then returned to Arizona and finished up at Arizona State.
    He eventually was the owner of the Acme Fence Company and dabbled in other entrepreneurial enterprises. Ron is a brilliant person. Smart and creative, too. But, even more important, he is a wonderful, giving person. Always happy to help someone in need. If more people were like him, this would be one terrific world.
    Ron died Jan. 1, 2013 after a long bout with cancer. Rest in peace old friend.
Ron Lundeen
  This page is dedicated to those who are no longer with us. This does not include relatives who are featured on other pages. These are people who were good friends mine who had a profound effect on my life. I miss them all.
    I knew Linda for about 15 years.We first met when she was the manager of some local radio stations, the ones I used to own, but this was after I flew the coop. I told her that some day she would come and work for me. And, she did.
    She was  Vice President and General Manager of The Watch Man, Inc., and ran all of our businesses. From the many Nevada casino stores to the intenet center, her stamp was on every operation.
    Linda had a great career in many management positions in addition to raising two boys and two girls.
    She left the business after we sold.
    In Oct., 2013 she passed away of cancer. 
Linda Welch
    Mac and I met in 1965 when we were both struggling advertising guys in Phoenix. We both had just graduated from college, Mac from Arizona State University, and me from the University of Arizona. He was Assistant Advertising Manager for the First National Bank. I was a salesman for KRUX, Phoenix #1 Top Forty radio station. Eventually we became business partners first in Lindstrom and Jett, Inc. a retail advertising agency in Phoenix in the 70's. Most recently we teamed up to create The Watch Man, Inc. with stores in Nevada casinos.
    Mac and I clicked as business partners, mainly because we are so different; we complement one another. We have an honest, no bs relationship.   Most important, we put up with each other's idiosyncracies. Truth be told, I'm the guy with the idiosyncracies- he's the easy guy to get along with.
    He was a terrific guy, with a lovely wife Sarah who he was married to for over 53 years, and 2 great kids now up and grown. It is an honor to call Mac one of my best friends. Without him, my life would have been very, very different, and probably very, very difficult.
He died after a valiant 18 year battle with prostrate cancer at 76. The night before he died we were on the phone laughing and joking, remembering "the good old days". The next day he was gone and my life will never be the same. I miss him.
RIP old friend. You were the best.
Mac Jett
    I met Tommy in 2007 when I moved back to Tucson to retire. He was a memeber of the old broadcasters group that met twice a week. Called "Jolly Boys" or "Coffee Crew" we were a bunch of guys who worked in radio and TV in the 50's, 60's, 70's in Arizona. Tommy was a director at KGUN-TV, Channel 9, but years after I worked there in the early 60's.
    Tommy did not have an easy life. He was a quiet guy but very meticulous and you could always count on him. I hired him in 2010 to work with me in posting to the internet in our watch business. He did a great job. But, more importantly, he was a really nice guy. He passed away in 2018 and he is missed by his friends and family. 
 
Tommy Gallego