Everyone has a story …
JOHN & LINDA TARVIN
By
Robin Shepherd
John hiking on the Bumpass Hell Trail in Lassen Volcanic National Park .
John holding a 90-pound sack of dry concrete when he ’ d lost an equal amount of weight .
Linda & John posing at the entrance to Glacier National Park
There ’ s something about John and Linda Tarvin that makes you want to linger a while longer in their company . Chances are they ’ ll share another little gem of everyday wisdom or a funny anecdote from their life and travels . They are one of those happy couples who have not only done well in life , but they ’ ve done life well , together .
“ Linda and I met in the 1960 ’ s in a college English class ,” said John . “ She was this cute girl in the front row with a cast on her leg . I decided to sit next to her . Next thing I knew , we were on our first date , listening to jazz trombonist Jack Teagarden and having a great time . I had a feeling that Linda was going to be ‘ the one ’, and I was right .”
The Engineer And The Teacher
The Tarvins both attended Texas Tech , where John earned his bachelor ’ s degree in Electrical Engineering and Linda earned hers in Elementary Education . “ We used to joke that we were both double Es ,” said Linda , referring to their majors .
After graduation , they went to Dallas , where John began work as an electronics engineer and earned an MBA from the University of Dallas while Linda taught fifth grade . When the Tarvins ’ children Jay and Jennifer were born , Linda took a hiatus from teaching , returning to work after they entered elementary school .
In 1979 , John received a job offer from Avantek , a California defense electronics company . He called home and said , “ Linda , how would you like to move to California ?”
“ John mentioned something about San Jose ,” said Linda , “ I ’ d never been , so I had no idea what it would be like to live there . The company flew us both out to San Jose as part of John ’ s interview process , and afterward , we decided it was a good idea to make the move .”
The Tarvins considered buying a home in San Jose , but chose Morgan Hill instead . While the commute to work was significant , Morgan Hill housing prices were more reasonable . The family arrived on Easter weekend in 1979 and found it easy to settle in to community life .
In 1988 , John talked with Linda about making another change . He felt it was the right time to leave the defense electronics industry , which was slowing down , and he had always wanted to own a print shop . Linda was in favor of the change , so the couple bought a Kwik Kopy franchise .
“ After about a year and a half ,” said John , “ we decided to leave the franchise and operate our business as Hot Spot Printing in Morgan Hill .”
“ I decided to leave teaching and help John run the business ,” said Linda . “ It made more sense that if we were going to work hard ; we ought to be able to do it together .”
“ Linda ’ s a whiz bang in marketing and I ’ m the technical guy ,” said John . “ Our skills complement each other . We even had the kids help out occasionally when they were in high school . They got to see firsthand how hard we worked to make the business successful .”
Over the years , Hot Spot Printing received many requests for complimentary printing services . The Tarvins decided rather than taking a scatter-shot approach , they would pick one non-profit and offer to handle all of its printing needs . They “ adopted ” Morgan Hill ’ s Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center ( WERC ) as their pro bono printing client .
“ We went to their annual events , met a lot of great people and learned about their work ,” said John . “ On one occasion they invited us to come along on a bobcat release , which was exciting .”
Both John and Linda have been active members of a number of business and community service organizations , including the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce . Linda was an Ambassador of the Chamber for 19 years . John served for two years on the board of directors and for one year as board chair . In 1998 , the Chamber recognized Hot Spot Printing with the “ Small Business of the Year ” award .
John served for a number of years on the Mt . Madonna YMCA Board of Managers , and on the Board of Directors of the Rotary Club
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