WELL-TRAVELED PAIR HAS FOCUS ON CARS, KIDS.

Byline: Bettie Rencoret Senior columnist

Edward Vancil has retired three times, but these days he's too busy restoring antique cars.

``I retired in 1971 from the U.S. Air Force after 25 years on active duty, then spent 16 years at North American Rockwell before I retired again in 1987. I spent eight more years with McDonnell-Douglas before I retired for good in 1995,'' he said. ``Now I'm totally into doing the cars.''

He owns two 1931 American Austin cars - plus a 1933 Austin converted into a tractor - and loves nothing better than to show them off.

``They're lightweights,'' he said, rocking one from side to side. ``They only weigh about 1,100 pounds, so you don't want to get them out in a real strong wind. But they get 50 miles to the gallon and go about 50 miles per hour.''

About 800 or so of the cars still exist in the U.S. Originally they cost about $495, but today could go for $15,000 to $25,000, depending on how badly a would-be purchaser wanted one, he said.

Vancil graduated from Topeka High School in Kansas and then studied auto mechanics at the Topeka Trade School before he entered the U.S. Air Force in 1947.

In 1948 he was sent to Anchorage, Alaska, to do automotive maintenance. In 1949, he was shipped back to Mount Clemens, Mich., just outside of Detroit, and then to Kansas City, Kansas, in 1951.

He met his future wife, Barbara, there when they were both 23 on a ``kind of'' blind date.

Barbara's friend had a date with a young man who didn't have a car. The date was friends with Vancil, who had a car.

As a favor to her friend, Barbara agreed to go as Ed's date so that he would drive.

They were married Oct. 27, 1951. In July 1952, Vancil was returned to Alaska by the Air Force, and Barbara followed him in September.

``It's beautiful there,'' she said. ``We loved it. Of course we didn't have children at the time, like some of the other service personnel. It was hard for them. They had to stay cooped up inside with active kids for six months at a time.''

In 1954 Vancil was transferred to Lake Charles, La., where their first daughter, Susan, was born in the base hospital.

Their second daughter, Beth Ann, was born three years later in Kansas City, Kan.

The Air Force still wasn't through moving Vancil around.

He went to Goose Bay, Newfoundland, and Thule, Greenland, then spent from 1958 to 1965 in Little Rock, Ark., where he worked as a support equipment mechanic on B-47 and B-58 bombers.

In 1965, he was assigned to Edwards Air Force Base and the SR-71 program, followed by the F-111. They lived on base for six years.

When he retired from the military in 1971, he went immediately to work for Rockwell as an engineer on the B-1 at Edwards.

After 16 years, he retired from Rockwell and went immediately to work for McDonnell-Douglas. An additional eight years elapsed before he retired for the last time in 1995.

Barbara spent most of those years working at preschool teaching occupations.

She served as an adjunct teacher at Antelope Valley College and instructed parenting workshops at the Lancaster United Methodist Church and the Palmdale Library.

``I called them my arm-chair mornings,'' she said.

She taught preschool classes, presented lab school training for Sunday school teachers and conducted workshops at statewide early childhood conferences. She used her talents as a puppeteer and storyteller to good advantage for all those activities.

When called upon by other teachers, she still does programs for special occasions, such as birthday parties.

And she regularly plays piano to entertain patients at the Lancaster Health Care Center.

LANCASTER - Afternoon dancing sponsored by the Friends of the Center will be held 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. July 14 and Aug. 11 in the multipurpose room of the Antelope Valley Senior Center, 777 W. Jackman St.

Music will be provided by Charlie Sciame, refreshments will be furnished by the FOTC, and there is no charge.

If attendance for these two afternoons shows enough interest, the dances will be continued on a regular basis.

LANCASTER - Menus for the week at the senior life nutrition sites in Lancaster, Palmdale and Pearblossom have been announced. All meals include bread, margarine and coffee, tea or milk for the suggested donation of $2.

Monday: Southwest stew, Brussels sprouts, garden salad, cornbread and cookies.

Tuesday: Beef parmigiana, Spanish rice, corn, coleslaw and banana.

Wednesday: Teriyaki chicken, sweet potatoes, cooked cabbage, tossed salad and pears.

Thursday: Fish sandwich, baked beans, spinach, lettuce and tomato salad, and tapioca pudding.

Friday: Swedish meatballs, parsleyed noodles, Normandy vegetables, tossed salad and Jell-O with fruit.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO Ed Vancil of Lancaster shows off one of his two 1931 Austin motorcars, which he says can tool along for up to 50 miles on a single gallon of gas.

Bettie Rencoret/Special to the Daily News