Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything. ~Aaron Siskind
… before I take my last breath on my last day on this earth – I want to know that I have made a difference and have left evidence that I was here. A photograph can do that… ~rallenhill
After graduating from High School in May 1969 and while attending College I received my draft notice for the U. S. Army. Not caring for the color green I chose to follow in my Uncle’s footsteps and I joined the U. S. Navy in January 1971…40+ years later…
From 1971 to 1978 I served in a variety of assignments which took me to, places like Istanbul, Turkey, Barcelona, Spain, Athens, Greece and 40 of the 50 United States.
Sensing the “grass was greener on the other side” I was released from active duty in August 1978 and immediately joined the Naval Reserve and drilled in a variety of assignments in Minnesota and Iowa .
While I was “tasting” civilian life I was the Director of Marketing for Ark Books Publishing Company, President of Landmark Books, Inc. and owner of Providence Printing. During this time frame I also wrote and had published four books and taught professional writer’s seminars in Minnesota and Iowa . In May 1985 I was recalled to active duty as a Canvasser Recruiter and I held a variety of positions in Iowa , Illinois , Louisiana and California .
After my retirement from the Navy in 1998 I went to work for IBM’s Catapult Software training company as the Operations Manager for the Minneapolis District. In January 2000 I went to work for a new “Dot.com” company, Vetjobs, where I was a regional sales manager. Falling victim to the “dot.com” bust in 2001 I was laid off from Vetjobs and returned to school to complete my education. While attending school I also went to work as a part-time Church Administrator for Trinity Episcopal Parish in Waterloo , Iowa .
I was awarded my Bachelors Degree from Upper Iowa University in Human Resources in 2003. Upon my graduation I went to work as a Staffing Associate For City & National Employment in Waterloo , Iowa . In August of 2005 I left City & National Employment and I was the CEO/CFO for Midwest Utilities Credit Union a small credit union located in Waterloo, Iowa. In 2011 the credit union was merged with UNI Credit Union in Cedar Falls where I filled the position of Senior Management and Director of Marketing. In 2014 I moved to Cedar Falls Community credit Union where I served as Assistant VP doing marketing, IT and Collections. I retired from the credit union world in 2018.
I am a life member in the Disabled American Veterans (DAV).
I am married to the former Helen Kirk of Waterloo , Iowa . We have five children, Andrea Houk and husband Robert, John Cummings, Stephen Cummings and wife Cheri, Jennifer Drobinski and husband Robert, Jessica Gallagher and husband Tom, and eleven grandchildren, Ania, Abigail, Emily, Ellie and Alina Drobinski, James Cummings, Katharine Cummings, Daniel Cummings, Samuel Gallagher, Finnegan Robert Gallagher and Joseph James Gallagher.
Through it all photography has been my interest and has provided a freelance income.
Robert Allen Hill