We had three children while he was Staff Veterinarian at Guide Dogs for the Blind.  We lived on campus.  The year our son entered Kindergarten Mike went into a private practice and we bought our home   I went back to teaching in ‘77,  part time at first and then full.  Mostly, I’ve taught 7^th & 8th grade science, a job I’ve greatly enjoyed. 

We both retired in ‘04. We now have five delightful young grandchildren. Our children have become: a coffee broker, a botanist and a nurse/research coordinator.  They have married people we have found easy to love.

We’ve lived in San Anselmo, a small suburb north of San Francisco, for the past 35 years.  Being retired I have time to pursue my passions.  I love a good book,


gardening, haunting plant nurseries, hiking with friends & our Portuguese Water Dog, eating great food and lap swimming.  My favorite magazine is “the Economist,” my favorite TV show “Washington Week.” If we travel with a group, it’s usually the Sierra Club.  Life is good.





Looking forward to reunion; appreciate committee's efforts.

I was a homemaker until my youngest was in second grade.  In 1974, I started working outside of the home as an aide in elementary schools.  I finished my career as an elementary school secretary in 2003.

We have two sons, one daughter, three grandsons, two granddaughters, two great-grandsons and one great-granddaughter.





We enjoy family life and vacations.  Ed taught me how to travel.  I travel by myself, with family, with high school friends.

I am very blessed to be involved with my church.

After leaving Franklin I had a couple of part time office positions, eventually spending many years working at Security Bank on North Figueroa near Avenue 56.  It was a block north of the Miniature Golf Course, (I believe that’s where B of A is now).  Do you remember playing golf there for a quarter and the big windmill at the 18^th hole that ate your ball?  Or for that matter, how about the yummy Burritos at “Ralphs Burritos” across the street?  Then there was “Vileta’s Men’s Clothing”, “ Cortland ’s”, “Iver’s Department Store”, the pool, the library and so many other memory spots on Fig.  Sorry, I got side tracked with memories.


I married my high school sweetheart, Joe, (Franklin Class of W’58).  He was also the boy next door.  We would talk to each for hours each night from our homes windows across a driveway between our homes.  Pretty romantic stuff in the late ‘50’s.  We married in 1965 when Joe was done with school and had a position as a buyer with May Co.   Our honeymoon was a trip to Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole Wyoming in our new 1965 Chevy Pickup and 11’ slide in, self contained camper.  We enjoyed camping in it for many years.  We lived in Glendale near Glendale High until we bought our home in La Crescenta, above Foothill Blvd. , where we lived for 9 years and I gave birth to our two children, Daniel and Sabina.  While my mom baby sat for us I took a secretary position at Pasadena 1^st Church of the Nazarene, our home church.  Joe was now an outside sales representative and traveled in the So. Cal area.   Joe reached some high sales goals and won a fantastic voyage to the islands of Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Cuba .  Seeing Cuba and Havana in the mid-‘70’s was eye opening.  We were under tight security but still saw what life was like under Fidel and no, we did not see him.


One evening when Joe came home from the usual slow 5 M.P.H. drive home on the freeways, he said, and I quote, “we have to move”, and I said, “Praise the Lord, I have been praying for that for months”.  We went to work packing, expecting The Lord to direct us as to our new home.  After a great amount of research and a week vacation to Grants Pass , Oregon , we decided that was where we wanted to live.  The house sold a year after we listed it but we were all packed and ready to go.  Our new town had 19,000 people and the whole county was only 89,000.  A new pleasant, slower pace for life.  Our daughter is now 36 and lives a few blocks away and our son, 39, is in Portland , about 235 miles north.  They are both married but since we never told them where babies come from, we have no grandchildren yet.





I am a cancer survivor and so is Joe.  It is felt that my cancer was cause by a pickup truck that hit me in a crosswalk about 12 years ago.  It nearly took my life and has left me in a constant world of dizziness.  Through therapy, I am able to walk a straight line now and move about in a somewhat normal way.  The blow to my body has also cause fibromyalgia.  A great piece of news is that after 10 years of cancer meds, I have now gone off them and can concentrate on getting rid of the excess weight they caused.  I hope some of the weight will be gone by reunion.

I am so looking forward to see everyone Friday night at Ernie’s and Saturday at the reunion.





I welcome contact with classmates via my email, and look forward to hearing from you. Please drop me a line at jowama@charter.net and say hello. 

Blessings to all, Wanda