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Pasadena, California

December 1977

For many years, Bob and Daphne Beer joined us for Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners. Daphne was the personal secretary to Margaret Udall, a Christian Science teacher who mom and dad studied with. Bob must have had a career, but the only thing we knew about him was that he was a Dwight D. Eisenhower look-alike who loved to share the stories of how we made people do a double-take (including a White House tour guide, if I recall). He also had a few bit parts where he played the president in movies, including The Right Stuff. But we will always remember him for an off-hand comment he made once when we needed to move his car. "Have you ever driven a Cougar?" he asked, as if this Ford vehicle was different from any of the dozens of other cars that Jerry and David had driven. It was a fair comment, probably said by Bob out of pride for his car. But we've never forgotten how ridiculous it sounded - and it probably gets repeated by one of us at least once a month.