Ricky Howard Seaman

Mary's Family

Rick's Family

Ricky Howard Seaman

Birth Date: June 15, 1948
Life Activity: Web Entrepreneur
Residence: Gilbert, AZ
Number of Children: 2
Number of Grandchildren: 14
Interests: Fishing, Travel

The life and times of Ricky Howard Seaman

I have had a wonderful life. God had blessed me richly with an amazing wife and a wonderful family of five kids, their spouses, and fourteen grandchildren. Who could ask for anything more?

I was born in Portland Oregon, in 1948, to fantastic parents Vern and Lois Seaman. I was the second of eight children, and the eldest son. I lived in Oregon for a couple of years, moved to my mother’s home town of Aberdeen South Dakota for a year, then moved back to Oregon for a year, where we lived in the Sellwood area.

In 1953 we moved to Phoenix in a 1911 Model-T Ford and a 1947 Hudson. The Model-T had a hand crank for starting and acetylene headlights which required lighting with a match. When we arrived in Phoenix, dad sold the Model-T for $500 so we would have money on which to live. We lived in the projects on 35th Avenue near Roosevelt Street (which is where Carl Hayden High School now exists). We then moved into a house at 29th Avenue and West Polk Street. The home was owned by the church we attended. It was old and small for our family of six. I slept in a screened-in, back porch which had several monsters residing in and around it. It scared the snot out of me when the wind blew and howled through the screens as shadows of the trees danced on my walls.

Dad found work as a machinist and before long we were able to move to a new home in South Phoenix. The address was 1709 East Nancy Lane. I went to Roosevelt School, at 7th Street and Southern, for first grade. I then attended Sierra Vista grade school, at 16th Street and East Alta Vista Road, for grades two through eight. I took a real interest in art during the third grade. My third grade teacher, Mrs. Stevenson, was a big influence on me as she encouraged me to pursue art.

During the time we lived on Nancy Lane, we attended South Mountain View Baptist Church. It was here that I learned about the God who loves me and the importance of having God as an integral part of my life. My mother volunteered helping with church activities and dad was leader of the boys group. It was great fun and a very positive influence on me and my siblings.

While my dad was a machinist, he built me several go karts. He and I would work late into the night until mom would make me go to bed. We created a banked track in the back yard and had a blast. Through this activity I learned a lot about tools, motors and mechanical devices. I am eternally thankful to my father for the time he invested in me, preparing me for life.

My dad had gone to commercial art school after high school and learned how to make hand-lettered signs. In the early 1960s, dad left the machining industry and opened a sign shop. With my interest in art, I quickly took to the sign painting and within a year, I was helping dad paint signs. I enjoyed the work and it helped feed the family, so I went to the sign shop after school each day and worked into the night. Our family now had seven kids. The house became extremely crowded when my uncle Tommy (dad’s brother) moved in with our cousins Danny and Debbie. Tom’s wife, my aunt Lilian, had suddenly died from pneumonia. They stayed with us a couple of years while Tom went to Bible college.

My dad, who had damaged lungs from a car crash in his early twenties, began having bad reactions to the paint and fumes in the sign shop. As a freshman in high school, I bought the sign business from dad. Dad went to work at Motorola as an engineer.

I attended South Mountain High School, at South 7th Street and East Sunland Avenue, for my freshman year and half of my sophomore year. Our family then moved to the community of Maryvale in West Phoenix. We lived at 4908 West Verde Lane for the remainder of my sophomore year and my junior year. The next year, my parents and family moved to Scottsdale. In order to graduate from Maryvale High, I lived with my friend Garry Thorn and his parents, Chester and Martha, for part of my senior year. I then moved into the home of my friend Paul Lindblad and his parents Dean and Esther. I worked after school at a car stereo shop and painted signs. I graduated in 1966 with art scholarships, which I sadly never took advantage of.

After high school I continued the sign business, worked in the animation department at Legend City (an amusement park), and worked nights at Motorola delivering solvents and acid throughout the plant.

In 1967 I married my high school sweetheart, Kathleen Shields. We moved into an apartment at 517 West San Juan Avenue in Phoenix. When Shannon was born we moved to a bigger apartment at 2330 West Orangewood Avenue. In 1968 I went to work at Roadrunner Signs in Sunnyslope. Six months later I purchased half the company and became a partner. Six months later I bought out my partner and moved the business to 3611 North 7th Street in Central Phoenix. In 1970 The Subia Corporation bought my business as an incentive for me to work for them. I worked for Subia until 1985.

In 1969 Kathi and I had our first home built at 2409 West Altadena Avenue – two bedroom, one bath with a screened in patio for $13,000. We lived here for six years, during which time, Rod was born. We then moved to a bigger house at 3521 West Yucca and had a pool built for the kids. In 1978 we had our second new home built at 3958 West Sunnyside Drive. Rod and Shannon completed grade school, middle school and high school while we lived here.

In the mid 1970’s I took an interest in bass fishing and became very involved in fishing tournaments. I had considerable success and soon had sponsors. I fished approximately 120 days per year until 1985 when I gave up tournament fishing all together. In 1986, along with a partner, Don Doty, I acquired the second largest fishing organization in the United States. We published a fishing magazine and newspaper, and held sixty major bass tournaments per year from coast to coast. In 1988 the organization closed due to a sponsor (Mercury Outboards) breach of contract. This forced me and my partner into personal bankruptcy in 1991.

Kathleen and I divorced in 1985 and I moved to an apartment in Mesa at 730 South Extension Road. Two years later I moved into a rental house at 2714 S Paseo Loma in Mesa. In 1989 I moved to another rental home in the Foothills area, at 3319 East Dry Creek Road in Phoenix. In 1991 I bought a townhouse at 6520 South McAllister Avenue in Tempe. I worked for Woods Lithographers as sales manager for a little over a year, then a year or so in sales, at Hogue Printing in Mesa, during which time I started my graphics business – The Guru Group.

In 1991 I met the love of my life, Mary Lent. We dated for six years and were married on July 12, 1997 at beautiful Lake Tahoe. We went on a Caribbean cruise for our honeymoon and have done lots of traveling since. Until the violence escalated in Mexico, one of our favorite places to travel was Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco, Mexico) where we visited fifteen or twenty times. I continued to grow The Guru Group and worked out of the house while Mary worked at State Farm Insurance corporate offices.

During 1999 and 2000, my friend Patrick Lyons and I invented a golf club. We called it the Up & Down Club. We raised $200,000, got a patent, created prototypes, and set up manufacturing, assembly and packaging. We also produced a 30-minute infomercial to sell the clubs. Our host was singer, Glen Cambell and the program aired on The Golf Channel. The test marketing sold clubs, but not enough to make it a viable business venture. We learned a great deal and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

On October 12, 2000 Mary and I moved into the new home we built in Chandler, which included a separate office for The Guru Group. It was located at 245 West Teakwood Place. In 2001 Subia offered me a position to help expand their internet endeavors. I took a keen interest in Search Engine Optimization and helped acquire SEO clients for Subia. In 2002, working after hours, I built the first of our Guru Group family of websites, The Employee Handbook Store offers for sale a template for creating an employee handbook, for small business. In 2005 Subia downsized (from once 200 employees) to only two - myself and one other. I worked part time from home for Subia, did work for The Guru Group clients, and continued growing the network of our personal websites. In 2008 I left the ranks of Subia, as an employee. I then started doing limited work for Subia where he purchased my services through The Guru Group. The focus of The Guru Group had now changed from graphics and commercial art, to web development, search engine optimization and web marketing. Most of my efforts became directed at our personal websites, and I began to do less and less client projects.

In late August of 2001 I had a kidney removed, because of cancer. I was re-cooperating on my couch as I watched on TV the horror of 9-11-2001.

In 2007 Mary and I took a motorhome trip to Whistler, Victoria, and throughout British Columbia. We visited friends in Washington and Mary’s brother, Charlie in Fresno, as well as toured amazing scenic country throughout the west.

In 2008 I rekindled my interest in fishing and bought a used bass boat. I reconnected with some of my old fishing buddies and started going fishing almost once a week.

In 2009 we took a three-week road trip covering 28 states and worked our way northeast to New England and back through the south. Along the way we visited Shannon, Courtney, Cody, Carly and Caleb in Iowa. We also visited Wesley (aka Butch, aka Mac – my mom’s youngest brother) and Ann McBurney in Rhode Island. We also got to meet their kids and extended family.

Since 2006, we have taken numerous road trips with our neighbors and best friends, Michael and Carol Ensminger, to Greer, Bisbee, Tucson, Four Peaks, Prescott, Payson, Crown King, Alamo Lake, Roosevelt Lake, Pinetop and other fun places.

In 2010 we took a trip to Oregon and Washington with my sister Merri Nelle and her husband Curt Eubank, and my sister Heidi. Along the way we met Heidi’s daughter Crystal, husband Kevin and their daughters Lorelei and Gretchen. Crystal and the girls joined our journey from White Salmon, Washington to Port Townsend, Washington.

In 2013 we downsized to a home at 944 E Encinas Ave in Gilbert, AZ 85234.

Currently I am attempting to spend more time traveling with Mary, spending time with family and fishing more often.

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Ricky Howard Seaman

The life and times of Ricky Howard Seaman

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