Question: What is your favorite activity here and why? Answer: “Wood shop is my favorite activity and I spend a lot of time in the shop here. We were very busy just before the last Bazaar because I wanted to make a lot of stuff. We sold it and the proceeds went toward shop supplies and tools. I make toy cars, back scratchers, toaster tongs, bird houses, etc. It isn’t work to me. If it was work, I wouldn’t do it. Making small toy cars and trucks are the most […]

Question: Do you remember what you did on your first date with your husband? Answer: Yes. We didn’t know each other very well. I was a sophomore in high school and he was a junior. He had invited me to the junior/senior prom, but he had thoughtfully said maybe it would be nice if we went out a few times before prom so we would know each other a little better. On our first date, I wasn’t swept off my feet immediately, but he was easy to talk to and […]

Question: What made you choose the career path that you did? Answer: “I worked for 30 years as a nurse and I worked in psychiatry. I was initially going to retire at 65 but I stayed on part time until I was 77. I always wanted to be a nurse and I’m not sure why. My mother tried to talk me out of it for a long time. She thought it was dirty and hard work with a lot of walking. I just liked coming into work and got along […]

Question: What is something you always liked to do when you were younger? Answer: “If anybody would ever say ‘Let’s go out and do some shooting,’ I would say ‘Yeah! Okay! I’ll get my gun and we’re gone!’ I was an outdoorsman. I hunted pigeons, rabbits, squirrels, snakes…anything! Pow pow! I loved to shoot from the day I was born. I started with my dad. And I’ve been hunting all over the world. I’ve been to South America, Bolivia, all over the United States and Canada. I’ve been all over. […]

Question: Why did you get involved with education? Answer: “Like my wife, I read a lot, and I read a lot of history and nonfiction. When I realized the magnitude of the second world war at a young age, I knew I’d eventually be drafted so I wanted to be a little bit more informed as to where we could be going and what was going on. I went to a little one-room country school which was very tiny. I remember one of the first things I learned was when […]

Question: What was your favorite thing to do when you were a girl? Answer: My favorite thing was to ride a bicycle. I felt like a bird flying up and down the streets. I lived in the city and I used to go down to Bailey Farm Dairy on Meramec and get milk for my family and put it in my basket and maybe have a homemade ice cream cone while I was there. Ice cream was probably a nickel. Usually I liked to ride my bike by myself. I […]

Question: What values have been important to you? Answer: “I’m more family-oriented than anything else. As each of my children had an addition to the family, we were there. My one daughter married a Navy man, so we were all over. She had five children too, so that kept us busy. My husband travelled with his job all over the world. In fact, I think what my kids remember most, and I’m sorry, is going to the airport to pick him up and drop him off! I think being so […]

Question: Some people like to be scared by things like rollercoasters, do you? Answer: “Oh, I love rollercoasters. I’ve always gone on the rollercoasters. One time my husband and I were in Virginia at Busch Gardens and think they had five different rollercoasters and we started on the smallest one to build up to the biggest one. And by the time we got to the biggest one, there was an electrical storm and we couldn’t take it and I’ve never forgiven that storm! I like rollercoasters because they’re exciting. I […]

Question: What’s something you’ve enjoyed throughout your life and why? Answer: “I read a lot…I read too much. All I do is read! I started reading as soon as I learned how. My father read to me when I was a child and I’ve enjoyed it ever since. I was raised very isolated in the country with no friends, so for me, it was an outlet to learn about the world. I grew up in the 40’s and 50’s and the countryside was isolating. My parents didn’t have any money […]