Spouse:

I am married for the past 24 years to Paul T. Barton. We met at church, and have enjoyed raising our combined six children. Paul is an electrical engineer, and has many interests. Right now, he is developing a light cube that makes fascinating patterns. He grew up in Portland, and loves to tell me stories of how it was in the 50s. We enjoy each others' company more every year. I've always told him he was the bravest man I knew to marry a woman with two teenage daughters! We each have our hobbies, and give each other grace and mercy when the mess gets too much.

Family Life:

We combined my two daughters with his three daughters and a son, but fortunately, it didn't happen all at once. My daughters are Shawna M. Smith, 41, who is an accountant for a building firm, and Angela R. Baldwin, 38, who is with the Internal Revenue Service. Shawna has a son, Brennan, 13, and a daughter, Avery, 10 who light up my life! The grandkids are very athletic, and attend a Christian school where they began learning Latin in second grade. Angie enjoys travelling and has very cute cats. My step-daughters in Arizona have given us four grandkids ranging from 14 down to 10, and they are very cute and sweet as well.

Education:

After graduating from Ephrata High, I went to Seattle Pacific for three years over a four year period, and then said time out. In 1984, I returned to college as a single mom, and got my associate degree in Apparel Design from Bassist College in Portland. Later, I took some courses at Portland State University and Clackamas Community College.

Career:

Going to work for Jantzen seemed like a dream come true at first, but after a few years, I left to work part time at Clackamas Community College. The last 11 years or so, I worked for Wells Fargo Bank, and remember my time there with great fondness. Helping the trainees and researching cases were especially rewarding to me.

Residences:

Since we were caring for four of our teenage girls in our home shortly after our marriage, Paul and I think that that was quite an accomplishment. Our girls kept things very lively, but having three graduate in three consecutive years was stretching. One night we had friends over who were expecting, and toward the end of the meal, every 10 minutes one of our girls was leaving for the evening. The couple looked at us and asked if this was how life was every night, and we assured them that they had years before it was likely to happen to them. In October of 2010, I found an apricot toy poodle abandoned in Roseburg. It was the beginning of our adventures with "Mocha Latte", the toy poodle. He has really added another chapter to our lives, and we enjoy him immensely.

Travels:

I went to London and Paris with my college in 1985, and loved every minute of it. Going to two fashion shows, and the Louvre were real highlights. Going to Bath, England, was wonderful, too. In my present life, we try to make yearly trips to Scottsdale to visit two of our daughters and their families. The Oregon Coast is our "get out of town" option when it is warm, over 60 degrees. Since we are only about an hour’s drive from the beach, it is an easy choice.

Hobbies/Interests:

I love to do handcrafts that have a practical application. Cross-stitch isn't practical, but fills a need to embellish. I have sewn for years, but this year I have begun knitting in earnest. We really enjoy our children, and watch the occasional soccer or basketball game, when we can. I enjoy playing suduko, and find that logic problems are fun. Getting online and catching up with friends on Facebook is fun too. I made a recipe my Facebook friend in California gave me, and it turned out fine.

Retirement:

While my husband is working full time, I am retired, and loving the time freedom. I am helping where I can use my experiences, and that is rewarding. I help lead a MOPs group twice monthly in our church, and facilitate a study there on Monday nights. I have found that I do need to mingle with people and not just stay home with my projects.

EHS Influence:

When I think of my years at Ephrata High School, I just remember how we were able to learn and grow in an atmosphere of peace and learning. Mr. Youngberg ruled the band room, and taught us how to play with heart and feeling. I'm sure that others had different experiences, but my little worries or heartbreaks were so calmly resolved. Teachers tried to instill in us that we were young men and young ladies. The world seemed very safe, even though there was a Berlin Wall, and in the big cities back east there were gangs, and they used drugs, we heard. Who ever heard of bullying that would take a life, or predatory teachers?

Final Word:

My life has been so ordinary, I guess the only thing I can amaze you with is that I am able to be friends with my ex-husband to the extent that we have used his beach house without charge. I think the exciting stories that I hear will be the ones from my friends from Ephrata High, Class of '62.