Jeremia Venter was born to Afrikaans (Dutch) parents in South Africa. His best adventures occurred while growing up on Mashutti farm, perched on the steep slopes of the mountains surrounding his home town, Tzaneen. He learned Sotho from the tribal people on the farm and English in elementary school. On this lush and sprawling avocado farm, Jeremia contentedly tinkered with old farm equipment and energetically chased monkeys away from the fruit trees. Sometimes, the monkeys chased him instead! After completing his Chemical Engineering degree at Potchefstroom University in South Africa, he moved to The Pennsylvania State University in 1984 to complete a PhD (ChE). He joined Rohm and Haas Company in 1988 and worked in the Chemical Industry for 31 years. He travelled extensively visiting approximately 40 coutries on five continents. Jeremia married Kathleen McClure and had three children: Daniel, Maria, and Nancy Elise. Jeremia enjoyed telling stories to his children over many years, and was encouraged to document some of the old and some new stories. All these stories are dedicated to his wife, children and family.