Thanks!!! It is working now.
After I determined your solution worked, I wondered if I missed something on the() documentation page.
--https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/EEPROMUpdate
That web page says the value parameter is type byte
e.g., "value: the value to write, from 0 to 255 (byte)", which should have been my clue.
At least for the Mega 2560, Version 1.8.3 IDE, (and I am not sure which version of EEPROM library I have), EEPROM.update() will accept both integers and bytes.
At any rate, I am not complaining, and again, thanks for your quick answer!!