I'm just trying out the system and don't really have time to give a complete update of my life since leaving IMS all those many years ago. Suffice it to say that my wife Janet and I have been living in Spokane, Washington since 1980. I teach history and political science at Whitworth University, a wonderful Presbyterian-related school. My chief area of interest is Africa and I do manage to get to some country or other fairly regularly. I look forward to hearing more about my classmates.
Even though I am not good at keeping in touch, I do often think about our times at IMS. Several years ago, I did something that I would highly recommend to all of you. I contacted Wilber Yoder and got the addresses of the teachers who were influential during my high school years. I then wrote to them and was touched by the response from people like Paul T and Ada Schrock. But then again, as someone who has spent my entire life in teaching, I know that there is nothing more rewarding that getting a word of appreciation from a former students.
John
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
We spent Monday afternoon at the arena in Des Moines to watch IMS Basketball. They won and will play a very tough team on Thursday. The above picture is of a few of the boys at the game. The Des Moines Register had a good write up, if you are interested. You can listen via the internet radio on KCII FM on Thursday noon. Yes, we are caught up in IMS B-ball. Our son-in-law is one of the coaches.
We got home from Florida on Sunday so we could go to the State Tournament this week. This is the final score. IMS sports has come a long way from those intramural games we used to play.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Hello, everyone
Ater I got out of high school, I didn't want to look at any more books. Got a job at the U of I hospital, June 1960 -1963, in the Nursing Dept. Worked my way up to the Ear, Nose ,Throat and Eye OR. Years later, I've wished that I would have gone to Nursing School - hind sight always better.
April 1963, Ralph Speas and I were married. We have 2 children - John, he has 2 daughters, Andrea and Alicia; Cathy, she has 1 daughter, Chelsea. I was fortunate that I didn't have to work outside of the home while the kids were growing up. Ralph was gone all week, truck driver. While the kids were young, I volunteered in church, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and PTA in their schools. Worked with Meals on Wheels for the senior citizen and now with our local Food Center - Caritas.
After the kids were grown, I worked at Target, took care of granddaughters, really enjoyed it,until they went to school, also took care of neighbor kids, and worked at Wal-Mart until 2003. Ralph retired, medical reasons, so I retired so we could travel.
We have been traveling since and really enjoy it. In 2007, we went to the Western States - OR and WA. At WA we cruised to Alaska by ship, our first cruise. Then Fall of 2008, we went to the most Northeastern city , Madawaska, Maine; of the USA. The Fall foliage was most beautiful! We have been to all of the states, but 8. Hawaii, one of the 8 - roads not too great and bridges not long enough! We have been to Canada and Mexico. We enjoy visiting with relatives and friends. If we see a "welcome" sign out, we may stop in to say "hello". No matter where we are - we go home every night to "our home away from home.
Waiting to hear from the rest of you! Janet Speas
April 1963, Ralph Speas and I were married. We have 2 children - John, he has 2 daughters, Andrea and Alicia; Cathy, she has 1 daughter, Chelsea. I was fortunate that I didn't have to work outside of the home while the kids were growing up. Ralph was gone all week, truck driver. While the kids were young, I volunteered in church, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and PTA in their schools. Worked with Meals on Wheels for the senior citizen and now with our local Food Center - Caritas.
After the kids were grown, I worked at Target, took care of granddaughters, really enjoyed it,until they went to school, also took care of neighbor kids, and worked at Wal-Mart until 2003. Ralph retired, medical reasons, so I retired so we could travel.
We have been traveling since and really enjoy it. In 2007, we went to the Western States - OR and WA. At WA we cruised to Alaska by ship, our first cruise. Then Fall of 2008, we went to the most Northeastern city , Madawaska, Maine; of the USA. The Fall foliage was most beautiful! We have been to all of the states, but 8. Hawaii, one of the 8 - roads not too great and bridges not long enough! We have been to Canada and Mexico. We enjoy visiting with relatives and friends. If we see a "welcome" sign out, we may stop in to say "hello". No matter where we are - we go home every night to "our home away from home.
Waiting to hear from the rest of you! Janet Speas
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Life after IMS
Sandy and I just celebrated 43-years of marriage this past January 8th. I have taught high school math for 18-years; pastored for 9-1/2 years, did cost accounting for 2-years and am presently working at Mennonite Mutual Aid Insurance in Goshen. We have lived in northern Alberta on 2 different occasions for a total of 12-1/2 years and both of us hold duel citizenships. We have taken mission trips to Germany, Kenya, Mozambique and Cuba. Our oldest daughter, Monica, lives in Alberta with 2 of our grandchildren. She and her husband pastor a church in Leduc which they started 17-yrs ago. Our 2nd daughter, Jennifer, is single and teaches kindergarten in Sturgis, MI. Our son, Bruce lives in Athens, Greece, is married to a Greek girl and they have a little girl, Kyveli with another one due in September. He is part of an archeological team. Sandy and I have gievn marriage seminars through the years and do pre-marriage and marriage counseling. We presently live in Goshen, IN and attend Zion Chapel, a non-denominational church in Goshen. We can be reached by email at: pshartz@verizon.net
Well, isn't this great. Thanks Omar for all your efforts of bringing us together with both the blog and the email addresses. We look forward to the reunion next summer.
No, we are not going to tell you our whole history.
We are still living in rural Iowa County. We are enjoying life in the retired lane which just started for Wilbur. Mary retired from getting a pay check a year ago. Whats RETIRED? We have been traveling a bit. If you are interested, we blog when traveling at http://litwillertravels.blogspot.com/ .
We have a grand daughter graduating from IMS this year and we had one graduate last year. she is in Sweden now and we hope to visit her in April.
No, we are not going to tell you our whole history.
We are still living in rural Iowa County. We are enjoying life in the retired lane which just started for Wilbur. Mary retired from getting a pay check a year ago. Whats RETIRED? We have been traveling a bit. If you are interested, we blog when traveling at http://litwillertravels.blogspot.com/ .
We have a grand daughter graduating from IMS this year and we had one graduate last year. she is in Sweden now and we hope to visit her in April.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Life since IMS
After I graduated grew to 6 feet 10 inches so I enrolled at U of Iowa and got on the basketball varsity as a walk-on and proceeded to lead them to a Big Ten and NCAA championship in my Senior year, then I went on and played a few years for the Chicago Bulls and .....
You don't believe me? Well, my fantasy life is much more interesting than real life, but come to think of it, my life has actually been quite interesting.
I went to Hesston for two years, spending 2 summers driving combines between Texas and Montana, then Lois and I got married and we lived in Kansas City for a year. We both worked at Hallmark Cards, but it was soon apparent that a degree was needed to succeed there so we moved to Goshen where I graduated from GC. In January, 1966 I started working for Miles Laboratories in Elkhart. I started in Research, then got into Toxicology, then Quality Assurance, then Compliance and before I knew it I had been with the company for 38 years. Of course, it was now Bayer Corporation and the last 7 years were in Connecticut. I left Elkhart because I thought they were going to close the plant in a few years (they did) but in Dec. 2003 they closed the CT plant also! Since I was 62 two days later, I retired and Lois and I went to London and worked as volunteer hosts at the London Mennonite Center for 3 years - a great experience. And now we are back in Goshen.
Lois will write her own bio, but she worked for 10 years at GC, and in 1992 she was asked to lead two SST (Study Service Term) units in the Dominican Republic. I took a leave of absence from Miles and we lived in the DR for 8 months. We supervised the programs for two groups of 18 college students each. A unique experience!
We have 3 children, living in Goshen, Champaign and Chicago respectively, and 5 grandchildren. More about them an another posting later.
You saw our pictures on Omer's posting. I hope to see all of you on here soon. Many thanks to Omer for getting this going.
You don't believe me? Well, my fantasy life is much more interesting than real life, but come to think of it, my life has actually been quite interesting.
I went to Hesston for two years, spending 2 summers driving combines between Texas and Montana, then Lois and I got married and we lived in Kansas City for a year. We both worked at Hallmark Cards, but it was soon apparent that a degree was needed to succeed there so we moved to Goshen where I graduated from GC. In January, 1966 I started working for Miles Laboratories in Elkhart. I started in Research, then got into Toxicology, then Quality Assurance, then Compliance and before I knew it I had been with the company for 38 years. Of course, it was now Bayer Corporation and the last 7 years were in Connecticut. I left Elkhart because I thought they were going to close the plant in a few years (they did) but in Dec. 2003 they closed the CT plant also! Since I was 62 two days later, I retired and Lois and I went to London and worked as volunteer hosts at the London Mennonite Center for 3 years - a great experience. And now we are back in Goshen.
Lois will write her own bio, but she worked for 10 years at GC, and in 1992 she was asked to lead two SST (Study Service Term) units in the Dominican Republic. I took a leave of absence from Miles and we lived in the DR for 8 months. We supervised the programs for two groups of 18 college students each. A unique experience!
We have 3 children, living in Goshen, Champaign and Chicago respectively, and 5 grandchildren. More about them an another posting later.
You saw our pictures on Omer's posting. I hope to see all of you on here soon. Many thanks to Omer for getting this going.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Breakfast in Sarasota
March 2,09. Breakfast in Sarasota, Fl.Five members of the Class of 60, Lois and Jim Bare, Mary Jane and Omer Troyer and Marv Stoltzfus, sat down to share breakfast and a little wisdom. Now what kind of wisdom do you imagine came out of a group like this? As they say, "a good time was had by all". (At your own risk, you can click on the picture to see a larger version)
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