I was born may 1st 1929 in Little Falls New York to Edward Nelson Congdon and Martha May Smith. My father was killed in an old car accident in 1930. Mom was pregnant with my sister, Violet May Congdon. After the funeral, mom moved us in with my grandfather, Edward Smith, out in the country, where my sister and I walked 1 mile each way to and from school. This was a little two room school.

Grandpa got sick. We think he had cancer, so we moved to fort plain New York. Mom got a job working in a factory, and grandpa died shortly thereafter. Mom was our main support as kids. She got sick when I was 17 years old.

I never graduated high school. I had to go to work to help support the family. I got a job in a glove skin mill in Johnstown, New York. Degreasing skins a real dirty job but we needed the money. Mom was sick with ulcers and could not work. Later on, I went to work as a janitor in the Canajoharie Central School, and a school crossing guard. I was appointed to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department for extensive training in 1954 to 1962 as a full time Deputy Sheriff. I was offered a job and accepted at State Bank of Albany as a Field Representative. After about a year, I had an offer to work for First Manufacturing Housing Corp., a strictly mobile home finance company. After working there for 17 years, I was promoted to work in the marketing department for New York, Vermont, and Connecticut. This was a very difficult and demanding job, and so I went to full retirement in 1995.