The massive Oakland Community College campus has long served as a gathering place for its Waterford and West Bloomfield neighbors, but last year the college announced it was closing the campus and looked to sell the 160-acre parcel.
Christopher Stratford
Christopher Lionel Barkly Stratford was born in 1940 on the Isle of Man. He spent his early childhood there with his Nana Eva and Grandy George. He adored them both. He often said that they spoiled him rotten and it was wonderful. When Chris was about 10, he joined his mother and her new husband, and two new siblings in England. He met his future wife, Mavis Castle at a Jazz club in England. They married and had three children. After seeing a small ad in the newspaper for Aeronautical Engineers at Boeing in Seattle, Chris and his family set off for quite an adventure. He thought he would stay a few years in America then return home. The USA soon became his home and although he went back to visit many times, he never went back to England to live.