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NIGHT THEREIN. HOWEVER, THEY DIDNT GET MUCH SLEEP AS AFTERSHOCKS OF VARYING INTENSITY
OCCURRED EVERY FEW MINUTES ALL NIGHT. WITH FIRES AROUND TOWN, FATHER WASN'T THERE AS
HE WAS OFF TENDING TO URGENT FIRE DUTIES.
AS PETER KREIDER RECALLS THE QUAKE AFTERMATH, THE NEXT MORNING PETER MCLAREN
ARRIVED UNEXPECTEDLY IN HIS CAR FROM HIS HOME IN WHITTIER 20 MILES TO THE NORTH.
WHITTIER WAS MUCH LESS HARD HIT AND HIS HOUSE HAD NO DAMAGE, SO HE HAD COME TO TAKE
US TO HIS HOME. MANY STREETS IN AND AROUND LONG BEACH WERE LITTERED WITH RUBBLE FROM
COLLAPSED MASONRY AND BRICK BUILDINGS, AND GRANDDAD HAD A DIFFICULT TIME REACHING
US, BUT WE WERE HAPPY HE DID. MOM, GRANDMOTHER KREIDER, FRANCES, AND PETER ALL PILED
INTO THE GRANDDADS CAR AND WENT TO WHITTIER. DAD HAD TO STAY IN LB ON FIRE, RESCUE AND
OTHER EMERGENCY DUTIES.
AFTER ABOUT A WEEK THINGS IN LONG BEACH HAD PRETTY WELL STABILIZED, AND GRANDDAD
TOOK MOM, GRANDMOTHER KREIDER AND FRANCES BACK HOME. HOWEVER, I STAYED IN WHITTIER
AND ENTERED A GRAMMAR SCHOOL THERE TO FINISH THE 2ND GRADE.
WITH THE LB SCHOOLS DESTROYED, BUT SO SCHOOLING COULD CONTINUE, LONG BEACH
QUICKLY BUILT A LARGE NUMBER OF TEMPORARY, 2 CLASSROOM, FRAME BUILDINGS AND A
NUMBER OF TENT HOUSES. ALL LB SCHOOL CHILDREN, INCLUDING PETER AND HIS SISTER, HAD
MUCH OF THEIR EDUCATION IN THESE TEMPORARY STRUCTURES FOR 5 TO 10 YEARS FOLLOWING THE
33 QUAKE.
PETER ATTENDED GRAMMAR, JUNIOR HIGH, AND HIGH SCHOOL ALL FROM HIS HOME AS ALL 3
WERE IN EASY WALKING DISTANCE. PETER KNEW HE WANTED TO BE AN ENGINEER. HIS GREAT
UNCLE GEORGE CHAFFEY, GRANDFATHER PETER MCLAREN AND UNCLE GEORGE MCLAREN ALL
WERE ENGINEERS SO PETER FELT IT WAS IN HIS BLOOD.
WITH WW II UNDERWAY WHEN PETER GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL IN JUNE, 1943, HE
IMMEDIATELY WENT OFF TO THE NAVY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS IN AUSTIN. HE HAD ENLISTED
PRIOR TO GRADUATION IN THE NAVY V-12 ENGINEERING AND OFFICER TRAINING PROGRAM. HE
WAS ACCEPTED IN THE ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING CURRICULUM, HIS FIRST CHOICE. HE WENT TO
SCHOOL ALL YEAR LONG TAKING UNIVERSITY COURSES. THE WAR ENDED IN 1945, BUT PETERS
NAVAL EDUCATION CONTINUED. AFTER 32 MONTHS OF CONTINUOUS SCHOOL, WHICH WAS
EQUIVALENT TO 4 YEARS OF COLLEGE, HE GRADUATED IN FEBRUARY 1946.
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AWARDED HIM A BSEE DEGREE, AND THE NAVY MADE HIM A
COMMISSIONED OFFICER, AN ENSIGN. HE HAD 5 MONTHS MORE OF DUTY, AND THE NAVY
DISCHARGED HIM IN JULY,1946. HE RETURNED TO HIS HOME IN LONG BEACH.
ALREADY HAVING HIS COLLEGE ENGINEERING DEGREE IN 1946, PETER WENT TO WORK AS AN
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER FOR THE BECHTEL CORPORATION WORKING ON THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
EDISON 50 TO 60 CYCLE FREQUENCY CHANGE PROJECT. PETER LEFT BECHTEL AFTER A YEAR AND
ENTERED STANFORD UNIVERSITY TO WORK FOR HIS MASTER’S DEGREE. IN 1949 AFTER 2-1/2 YEARS
OF GRADUATE COURSES AND LABORATORY INSTRUCTING, PETER WAS AWARDED HIS MSEE.
IN LATE 1949 PETER WENT TO WORK AS AN ELECTRONIC RESEARCH ENGINEER FOR NORTH
AMERICAN AVIATION IN DOWNEY, CALIFORNIA, ON AEROSPACE PROGRAMS. HE REMAINED WITH
NAA AND ITS SUCCESSOR COMPANY, ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL, FOR 33 YEARS RETIRING IN 1981.
HE STARTED AS AN ENGINEER. AFTER 3 YEARS HE BEGAN THE CLIMB THROUGH THE RANKS OF
SUPERVISION AND MANAGEMENT THAT INCLUDED POSITIONS AS DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH,
ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER, AND VICE PRESIDENT. HE WAS IN UPPER-MIDDLE MANAGEMENT
AT RETIREMENT.
PETER TOOK UP FLYING IN 1969 AND OBTAINED HIS PILOTS LICENSE. HE SUBSEQUENTLY
QUALIFIED FOR AN INSTRUMENT RATING, AND WITH THEIR OWN AIRPLANE, PETER AND BARBARA
FLEW AROUND MUCH OF THE UNITED STATES ON PLEASURE AND BUSINESS. PETERS FLYING WAS
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