Getting to know cousins - Drew S. Rider

There are numerous benefits from being the baby of the family, but one drawback of that position is that older cousins were mere legends to me. One of these legends that I don't ever recall meeting face to face was my cousin Drew Rider, the son of my mom's sister, Ruby. 

I held a childhood fascination for him because of the tantalizing tidbits that I heard. He was a single, handsome military man who raced motorcycles and spent a lot of time in Japan. Those were distinctive differences from my Idaho farm boy cousins.

Drew's life began similar to my other cousins in a small Idaho town. The "Parma High School Panther Tales" documents that he was involved in basketball and worked on the newspaper staff. Can you pick him out in the photo just left of center on the front row?

His love for speed began during high school on the track team, where he is again pictured just left of front center.

Drew enlisted in the Air Force, which ultimately became his career and when he retired he held the rank of TSGT (Technical Sergeant).

This is the 6th rank in the U.S. Air Force, above Staff Sergeant and below Master Sergeant and is known as the second hardest promotion to acquire. It takes an average of 11 years of service to qualify for this rank. Drew must have been capable of dealing with highly complex technical duties. 

I hope that achieving this rank left room for Drew's high school goal of leisure time.

Before I ever got to meet him, Drew passed away in 2011, at the age of 72, in Wichita Falls, Texas.