Tom and I were high school sweethearts and married the week after graduating from college – he from Penn State and me from The University of Michigan. A Religious Studies major, I came to the attention of a fellow Michigander who was married to an Episcopal missionary, David Reed, in Rapid City, SD and he wanted a young couple to live with them every summer to work with their Dakota Sioux youth group and help out with families on Pine Ridge Reservation. We jumped at the opportunity and had an amazing experience there.
Two years later, while I was serving as a Religious Education Director at a large Episcopal church in Pittsburgh, PA and Tom was teaching high school chemistry, we took 40 high schoolers on a bus across the country for a work camp on the Navajo Reservation in Ganado, AZ. Native American culture remains a passion of ours!
After living in Pittsburgh for six years, Tom was recruited by a high tech firm in the San Francisco Bay area and we moved to Silicon Valley with our two sons, both under two years old. Our daughter was born two years later. We were very active in Christ Church, Los Altos for 41 years. After working in high tech for many years, Tom started his own construction firm, and I served as a Career Consultant for a Denver-based firm for many years, while getting my master’s degree in Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University.
We retired and moved to Leland in June of 2014, immediately joining the choir. We have loved being part of our amazing St. Paul’s family ever since. In 2017 we were part of the choir’s residency at Chichester Cathedral in England and so look forward to our upcoming choir trip to Wells Cathedral next July.
I served on the vestry several years ago, chairing Parish Life, and this year co-choir Pastoral Care. Tom currently serves on the vestry, offering his contracting talents in the area of Building and Grounds. He also is a loyal member of the Gentlemen of Noble Poverty (GNP).