On September 3, 2010, Rosie Mares introduced Robert Granger to present his craft talk.

Robert Granger is the Owner/Director of Chyten Educational Services of Arcadia.  Chyten has 31 centers in 11 states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Pennsylvania).  In California, there are four centers (in Arcadia, Irvine, Palos Verdes Peninsula, and Westlake Village).

Robert came from a Michigan pioneer family which entered Michigan in the early 1800s.  Those were times of log cabins and fur trapping.  Robert’s father was one of three brothers who lived in Grand Ledge, Michigan, a city not far from East Lansing where Michigan State University was located.

[After all those years in Michigan, in the 1970s Robert’s family finally migrated to California in search of a warmer climate.]

Robert’s parents went to Michigan State University, where they met.  His mother was from Grand Rapids. His father was in the Air Force R.O.T.C.  After they graduated, they got married.

Robert’s father then entered Flight School at Lackland Air Force Base in Lackland, Texas. It was in Lackland that Robert entered the world.

After flight school, Robert’s father was stationed in Newfoundland, along with the family. While there, Robert’s father flew C-54s in the Arctic.  Robert’s sister was born in Newfoundland.

When Robert’s father finished his time with the Air Force, the family moved back to Michigan.  Robert’s brother was born in Michigan.  Robert’s father started a company in Grand Ledge.  He also joined Rotary.

In 1963, Robert’s parents moved to Montserrat in the British West Indies, one of the “10 vacation spots you never heard of.” In Montserrat, the family was engaged in farming and cattle-ranching.  At that time Robert was eight years old.  He attended school in a one room school house.  His teacher was a disciplinarian who kept a leather strap within reach.  If he reached into his drawer, it would be a bad day for the offending student.

Robert passed his “eleven plus” exams, allowing him to be admitted to secondary school. Robert then returned to the United States to continue his education.

Robert continued his schooling first in West Virginia (eighth grade).  Then he attended Saint Andrews School in Boca Raton, Florida, and graduated.

Next Robert was admitted to Sewanee University (the University of the South) located atop the Cumberland Plateau, between Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee. [Another Arcadia Rotarian, Jim Helms, also attended this school.]  Robert graduated with a degree in economics.  However, this did not translate into immediate employment.

While at Sewanee University, Robert met his wife Kathy.

For graduate work, Robert entered Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.  As a result he was awarded his MBA in Finance and Accounting.

Robert was then recruited by a major corporation. This brought he and his family to California.  [This went against advice that he should seek residence somewhere “east of the Mississippi and south of the Mason-Dixon line.”]

Robert’s wife Kathy is a math major who is Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources of the Walnut Valley Unified School District.

Robert and Kathy have four children:  Aaron (who went to the Air Force Academy – where he met the Parrilles’s son); Megan (who went to the University of Kentucky, and is now in the insurance business in Louisville, Ky.); Jonathan (who is studying at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla); “Becca” [i.e., Rebecca] (who still lives at home while attending studying at U.C., Riverside.)

Robert’s interests include soccer, scouts and venturing, backpacking, fly-fishing, and sailing.