Above The Law reminds us that “If you have a Dad who didn’t beat or molest you, didn’t embezzle money from you or your family, and kept his whoring enough on the down-low that he has never had to address it in a press conference, you better be getting that man a present.” Well, I got my father a pretty lousy present (he doesn’t need more stuff) but I should take this moment to briefly explain what an amazing and special man my father, Mark M. Sandefur, really is.
He was just shy of his 22nd birthday when I was born, to his 20 year old wife, Julie. At that time, he was driving a beat up Volkswagen bus (which had only recently replaced the Model A in which he’d commuted to Pasadena High School) to attend college, which he alternated with his night work at Hoffman Electronics. In 1977, at the age of 23, with a 1 year old son to support, and still three years from getting his degree (B.S., Cal Poly Pomona, class of 1980), he began working at Lockheed Skunk Works in Burbank. There he worked as an electronic warfare engineer on the SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest, and certainly the coolest, airplane ever built, as well as on the F-117 Stealth Fighter and other planes. (My grandfather, Kermit Sandefur, also worked on the SR-71 and other planes for Skunk Works.) After the cancellation of the SR program in 1996, he worked on the U-2, and now works on surveillance satellites.
Mark Sandefur, at about 30, with some SR-71s.
It’s amazing to think of the immense responsibilities he had put upon him at such an early age. By the time he was as old as I am now—I, who am still just a big kid at play in the fields of the law—my father was raising a 15 year old and a 12 year old; was a homeowner for the second time, and owner of several investment properties, and would soon be moving the whole family to a new town when he transferred to a new office.
He is the hardest working, most reliable, and the most patient man I’ve ever known; his basic competency and knowledge still seems practically limitless. He’s built a house and renovated a half dozen; restored antique cars and rebuilt engines; taken care of his aging parents; managed the family finances to a state of success—even brought them back from some pretty nasty downturns—and helped raise a happy, stable family, and managed to do all this while being a completely lovable man—one of the few people in the world from whom bitterness would be almost unimaginable. His record of decency and honesty really is without the slightest blemish. He is the person we all turn to when we need help or guidance on anything. That isn’t really fair, when you think about it, but he always comes through.
Most people you encounter, it’s possible either to like or to respect; combining the two is unusual. My father so far exceeds those categories as to make him absolutely unique among the people I know. Happily married for 36 years, he’s been a magician, managed a collection of antique manhole covers, met two U.S. Presidents on professional business, driven across the country in a Model A, been officially certified to use a military chem-suit in case of attack and to portray Santa Claus, made elderberry jam in the woods, taught a class at Harvey Mudd, ridden on a blimp, driven through a hurricane, overseen construction of a billion dollar satellite, retained for forty years the entire comedic repertoire of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, and appeared in movies with Angelica Houston and Leonardo diCaprio. (Okay, that last is an exaggeration; his elbow appeared in a movie with Leonardo diCaprio.) And he helped raise and a happy, successful, comfortable family, where he is a pillar of reliability and strength. Not bad at all for a 22 year old kid finishing up his college degree.
Mark Sandefur, last winter, crank-starting his Model T
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