A recently retired dentist, Dr. Dennis Scharer was born in San Pedro, California. He is a BA graduate of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, and holds a doctor of dental medicine degree from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts. He served with the U.S. Army for two years after his dental school graduation, with assignments at both Fort Riley, Kansas and Camp Long, Korea. Returning to California, Dr. Scharer practiced dentistry in the El Cajon area for over forty years. An experimental aircraft builder he has also been a private pilot for over forty years, holding commercial, multiengine and instrument licenses.