Rick & Jodie Gwinn - Homepage

My wife, Jodie, and I have been happily retired since 2001 from teaching careers at Newark High School in Delaware. Jodie taught Spanish and was a reading specialist for 19 years. I taught Biology and coached boys tennis and a variety of other athletic teams for 33 years. I have also been a performing musician for forty years and have worked as a mobile DJ for the last twenty-two years. I have retired as a DJ and I am currently working on singing act of original songs to keep me occupied in my retirement and complete my bucket list.

Jodie & I play a lot of tennis, some golf and we do local volunteer work in Delaware and Florida.  Jodie is a site leader for the Read-Aloud Delaware Program and captains three Delaware U.S.T.A. tennis teams.  In Florida she volunteers at the Bartow Public Library and is on the Board of Directors for the Polk County Senior Games.  She teaches Line Dancing and Conversational Spanish classes in our retirement community.  I created and maintain our Floral Lakes Retirement Community website (florallakes.org) and I lead bi-weekly tram tours at a nearby wildlife area (Circle B Bar Reserve).   Our favorite hobbies are traveling, hiking, birding, biking and tennis.  We have traveled and camped all over the United States and we have been to Europe five times - spending two summers in England as part of a House Exchange.  Our primary home is Wilmington, Delaware. We spend five months every year in our winter home in Bartow, Florida.  Jodie is a great cook with extensive special recipes. 

We have three children. Our oldest son, Dave, played football for the United States Naval Academy, graduating in 1994 as a computer science major. Dave went on to Medical School and was the staff Physician at Ft. Meade and team doctor for the Naval Academy baseball and 150 lb. football teams. He took a one-year fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in spinal surgery and is currently Chief Orthopedic Spinal Surgeon at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Dave’s wife, Amy, is also a Naval Academy graduate. They live in Crownsville, Maryland. Dave and Amy blessed us with our sixth grandchild, Griffin, on April 14, 2011.                                                                   *         ^  

Our daughter, Merin Shekitka, graduated from Virginia Tech in 1995 as biochemistry major. She became certified to teach Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics during a three-year stay in Hawaii. Merin received her M.S. degree in Kinesiology From Texas A&M - Kingsville.  She is currently a full time wife and mother. Merin’s husband, Kelly, is a class of ’94 Naval Academy graduate and was a P-3 pilot for four years in Hawaii. Kelly crossed over to become an F-18 pilot and for six years his squadron was based at Lemoore Naval Air Station in California - assigned to the Aircraft Carrier Lincoln. Kelly is now assigned to Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia Beach, Virginia - where he and Merin have their home.  He is currently doing a tour in Afghanistan.  They have blessed us with three grandchildren - Mya Gwynne Shekitka (December 1, 2003 ), Piper June Shekitka (April 30, 2009) and Bohdan Ray Shekitka (November 29, 2010). 

Our youngest son, Steve, is a Class of ‘99 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. After spending a year in Japan, Steve became a KC-10 pilot at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey for three years. He served for four and a half years at Scott Air Force Base in O’Fallon, Illinois, flying the C-21A (Lear Jet). He is now living with his wife, Sarah, in Simsbury, Connecticut. He currently flies a C-21A (Lear Jet) for the Air National Guard at Bradley Air Base near Hartford, CT.  Steve is a veteran of both the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns. His wife Sarah is a Registered Nurse working part time. Steve and Sarah blessed us with two grandsons, Wyatt Evans Gwinn (September 19, 2005) and Tyler Jeffery Gwinn (March 31, 2009).

                             Rick    Steve   Merin    Jodie    Dave