Meet Cliff Eppard

and Rambo

If you think your last game was a disaster, talk to Cliff Eppard to get some perspective. He spent five of the last eight months at an official disaster site. (Keep reading to find out more.)

Cliff was born in Goodman, Missouri when its population was approximately 250. As history proved with Frank and Jesse James and the Quantrell Brothers making an honest living there was not easy, so his family relocated to California when he was ten.

He grew up in the San Jose area where he loved to play sports; especially baseball until meeting his first left-handed curve ball pitcher in the youth leagues just before starting high school. After 3 consecutive strikeouts where he never came close to hitting the ball he decided he would specialize in football (quarterback), basketball and track.

Working at Safeway allowed him to complete his education at San Jose State University majoring in Public Relations. His first job after graduation was in sales with American Cyaminid providing surgeons and hospital operating rooms with equipment. After about 5 years he landed his dream job with Ampex International. Cliff says that his time with Ampex provided him with an education that you could never buy.

He traveled all over the world for the next 5 years appearing at trade fairs where he would showcase the company’s educational videos and electronic equipment. This was during the Cold War era and he would be working right next to the Russians, Chinese and other communist countries in trying to earn the business of developing nations. He remembers one time in particular in Ceylon. It was the custom for the different trade pavilions to host a cocktail party each night and his boss insisted that he attend the party that night at the Polish pavilion. But he said, “Let me do the talking.” That night as they approached the dignitaries the boss introduced him as “Cliff Eppard from Washington”. Immediately two muscular men in suits appeared at his side where they remained throughout the evening. They even followed him back to his hotel when the party was over. The boss laughed for weeks.

After returning to the states Cliff settled in the Silicon Valley providing public relations services to various electronic start-up companies. His job was to enhance the value of the company’s stock through marketing and publicity.

It was around this time that he discovered that you don’t have to be able to hit the curve ball in slo-pitch and began to play ball again. His fondest memories are of playing level “C” unlimited pitch slo-pitch where the pitcher can throw the ball as high as he likes and it’s a strike if it hits the plate or passes through the strike zone of the batter. He enjoyed pitching in this Mountain View league; especially his 19-0 shutout in the championship game.

In 1979 while working at Versatec he met Dottie Colvis and while it was obvious to everyone that he was attracted to her, she made it a policy not to date co-workers. After months of being friends only at the office, it was taken out of their hands. Their colleagues told them individually that a bunch of them were going to the movies to see “Nine to Five” the next evening did he/she want to join them. Shortly after Cliff and Dottie arrived at the theater it became apparent that it was a fix. They were the only two that showed up. This was the start of their 27 year relationship.

This was the last corporate job Cliff held; while Dottie stayed with the company after it was bought out by Xerox and enjoyed being an event planner. While waiting for Dottie to retire Cliff became involved with the National Council of Aging in community outreach programs to find employment for the elderly and for those people who had been on welfare. He thoroughly enjoyed this work and eventually began working with the mayor and city council of San Jose as a member of the Senior Citizens Commission; being its president a number of times.

When Dottie decided to retire they were ready to downsize and she wanted to be closer to her grandchildren in the Rocklin area. Her daughter owns a beauty salon called Hues there and both of her sons are local. She began to scout out retirement communities throughout Placer County. Her son, the concrete contractor, said “Come on out and look, but don’t buy anything yet. They’re going to build a Del Webb in Lincoln and it’s going to have contours. I think you’ll love it.” When the models were built she visited them several times and drove around looking at lots. Then one day she called Cliff and said, “I’ve found the lot I want to buy. Do you want to see it?” He drove right over. And while he didn’t think the 1/3 acre lot was much of a downsize, Dottie promised to make it user friendly with plenty of drip lines and careful choices of plants. They made the purchase and moved here in 2000 and still love the location.

As they were preparing for the move Cliff talked to the National Council on Aging about finding a similar program that he could participate in part time from his new home in Lincoln. They put him in touch with the Small Business Association Reserves; a group that is called in whenever there is a Presidential declared disaster. In short you will find them wherever you find FEMA. His job is to provide low cost loans to businesses and homeowners to cover uninsured losses stemming from these disasters.

When he first started working for them he was called out only occasionally; and Dottie found that there were a few fringe benefits. After spending several weeks in American Samoa after a typhoon Cliff sent for Dottie to vacation in Fiji and other Pacific Islands. She loved it and thought maybe it was going to be fun going to the areas where Cliff went. That thought ended with his last trip. It was Bakersfield. Since hurricane Katrina when he spent 4 months in New Orleans it seems as if he’s being called out constantly. While he enjoys being able to arrange loans for those whom disaster has struck; it is very stressful and makes planning his personal life difficult, as he is expected to be on a plane within hours of being called.

Cliff has 2 children and 3 grandchildren that he enjoys spending time with and he loves living in SCLH. He has excellent neighbors one of whom hosts a Village 28 garage party on the 28^th of every month. He has made many wonderful friends playing in the recreation league and playing for the Sun Eagles for 6 years. Dottie puts her event planning background to good use organizing many social get-togethers for the Sun Eagle players and their sweethearts. She also works hard organizing the food booth at the Sun Eagle Classic Tournament every fall and helping with various softball raffle fundraisers.

Last but not least is the family pet. He is a Westie named Rambo and according to Cliff and Dottie he’s a ballpark kinda guy.

Ps: If you see Cliff or Dottie around the park and want to be entertained ask them about the Rats.