Maurice De Young
    I was born in New York City, NY and raised in the Grand Hotel Oloffson, Port au Prince, Haiti. At the age of 14, I moved to Gainesville, FL to continue my education. I attended Las Vegas High School and my interests at that time were art and architecture. I entered the U.S.N.R. "Seabees". Soon after boot camp I signed up for Builder School (1963). In 1964 I joined MCB 11 in Okinawa. The operations office saw my drafting/office knowledge and the OPS Team showed me the rest. I ran the office till 1966. In Vietnam, because I spoke French, I was the Chaplain's and Operations Interpreter.
    After the service I spent one year with my parents who lived at that time in Ethiopia. Since 1967 I moved to South Florida to continue my education and graduated from the University of Miami School of Architecture in 1977. I worked as a graduate Architect for the past 30 years. Soon after my retirement I started to get involved in art and developed a desire to paint using water colors as a median to express my experiences in the Caribbean and South Florida.
    I live with my wife, Rachel, of 36 years. We have 2 sons, Kevin, Phillip and his wife Heather their son Will (3 years).