After moving to L.A., Bob attended L.A. City College and it was while he was there that he met Babette. Bob majored in electrical engineering and Babbette was studying to be a dental assistant.
Babette is originally from Chicago and is the oldest of three girls. Her father was in real estate and her mother in retail clothing and the family spent about six months of the year in Chicago and six in Florida, later adding Beverly Hills to the mix, before finally relocating to West L.A.
He moved to Kalispell, Montana where his wife’s family owned a store and John opened up his own men’s store and ran it for four years, referring to that time as one of the most fun career experiences in his life. He loved Kalispell with its fishing and hunting. In 1950, the family moved back to California so John could go back to school to pursue his music with the goal of writing for the studios.
Bob went to work for Levi Strauss in San Francisco and they moved to Walnut Creek. He later was recruited to go to work for Levi Strauss International in their information systems division and was based out of London for a year. Babette went with him to London and traveled extensively throughout Europe while Bob was working, often on her own and on weekends dragging Bob along. He said after a year he wanted to come home, as he was exhausted from the combination of business and recreational travel. But the experience gave them wonderful opportunities to see much of Europe. When they made the decision to return to California, they decided to come the long way home and see more of the world. They left London for Paris, then on to Italy and Greece, before working their way through Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, a foray into Red China just after Nixon opened the doors for travel there, on to Taiwan, and finally Hawaii before returning to the Bay area.
Back in the Bay area, Bob worked in the Santa Clara area doing information systems consulting but tired of the 84 mile one way commute after about 1-1/2 years. So they moved to Marina Del Rey and he went to work for Hughes Aircraft/Raytheon and eventually retired from Raytheon in Virginia.
Babette also worked along their journey together, first as a dental assistant, and later as a travel agent and her favorite job, real estate broker. Bob and Babette have two sons. Howard lives in San Antonio with his wife and three daughters, who are 18, 16, and 14. Jeffrey lives in San Diego and has custody of Rocky, the seventeen year old Shiztu who lived with Bob and Babette here at Blacklake for several years. Bob and Babette’s newest addition to the family is a miniature black female schnauzer named Alie.
The Koppelman’s have been in Blacklake since April, 2000. They had not planned to come back to California from Virginia when they retired, but came to visit a friend in Pismo who brought them out to Blacklake. Bob saw the golf course and with his passion for golf, decided this might be a good spot to settle. There was one house still available in the Legends and so they bought it.
Bob and Babette also have a home in La Quinta, California and make several trips to the desert each year to spend time there.
They love to travel (although Bob not as much anymore) and have traveled extensively. Among the more recent trips are an Alaska cruise and a Scandinavian/Baltic cruise. Babette is going to Japan and Korea in April with a girlfriend, flying to Japan and then taking the bullet train to Tokyo before catching a cruise through the Japanese Islands. The combination land/cruise trip will be about four weeks in duration.
When asked about their favorite places in their journeys, Babette says everyplace is so different it’s difficult to choose. Together they agree Hawaii is at the top, but Babette also loved Prague and Bob likes Scotland, although they both thought St. Petersburg was very interesting and Scandinavia is up there as well.
When they aren’t traveling Bob loves to golf, and together they enjoy playing cards and going to movies.
They belong to Newcomers as well as our Blacklake Gyros. Babette also walks a lot at Blacklake and with the new puppy, both are out and about frequently (that is, when they aren’t off on one of their adventures or sunning on the desert at their other home).
