Neil Paul Cartwright, Autobiography

Written: Augest, 2025

 I was born on July 6, 1946 in Fairview, Utah.  I was the first born child of Neil Burke and Helen Rigby Cartwright.  I was delivered by grandfather, Dr. Samuel B Rigby.  In addition to my birth my parents received a one thousand dollar gift.  It was a prize offer by the aforementioned grandfather for the first born grandchild.  My parents both possessed qualities unlike anyone that have ever known.  My father was the most humble, kind and intelligent man and my mother was the wisest and most compassionate woman. They were and are still today shining role models for my sisters and me.

I spent the next ten years in Bountiful Utah.  My days in Bountiful were some of the happiest days of my life.  Times were much different then.  No electronics, no internet.  I was seven years old before we had a TV.   Despite this, my family, friends and I had no problem finding fun and exciting things to do.  At a very young age a became fascinated with mechanics, electronics and photo darkroom.  I was in the right family as my father was an expert in all of my fascinations.  My dad and I spent countless hours in his darkroom and building lots of amazing gadgets.  My friends and I created our own outdoor adventures.  It was a great life.  While living in Bountiful my parents gave birth to three of my wonderful sisters Elaine, Mary and Margaret. My father, a chemist, worked for a small pharmaceutical company in Salt Lake City.  My mother worked part time as a registered nurse in Salt Lake City.  


At the age of ten my father accepted a job with Westinghouse Electric a subcontractor for the Atomic Energy Commission now the NRC.  We then moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho.  Idaho Falls was a very nice community, approximately thirty two thousand residents.  My parents built a beautiful new home and my sisters and I soon made friends and adjusted to our new surroundings.  Beginning at age of thirteen I worked several part time jobs and at fourteen I bought my first car, a 1953 mercury.  In 1964 the family welcomed my fourth wonderful sister, Lisa.

In 1964 I married my beautiful high school sweetheart, Candice Ogata.  Candice came from a wonderful family.  We spent a lot of time with her family. I loved them dearly.  We eventually bought a home in Idaho Falls and lived there for eight years.  During this period we were blessed with our first beautiful daughter, Kellie Jo.  We then moved to Utah where I worked for Kennecott Copper as an offset press operator.  We soon bought a home and were blessed again with our second beautiful daughter, Paulyn.  We stayed in Utah for about nine years.  We then moves to Phoenix Arizona for three years where I worked construction with Candice’s three brothers Gib, Brett and Marty.  Marty and I have remained close friends. He is a great guy.  We then moved to San Diego. A good friend, Peter Stark and I started a commercial printing and graphic design company, Photomation West. Co.  It was a very successful company.  We sold it after fifteen years of operation.  In addition to the printing we also ran a company that manufactured and sold photo darkroom equipment.  This equipment was engineered and patented by my father, Neil Burke Cartwright.  The years that I spent working on these devices with my dad were truly the most enjoyable years of my career.  During our time in San Diego Candice had a very successful career working in the interior design industry.  Also, after moving to San Diego I met my dearest best friend, outside of family, James M. Hall, Esq.  I once said this to Jim and he replied, “Outside of family, what are you talking about, I am family:   He was right.  Jim and I have remained close friends for nearly fifty years.

To be Continued

 Children & Grandchildren