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Oberlin High School was a great place for a "missionary kid" to land for my first foray into life in these United States. I felt welcomed from the start, and have many happy memories of my one, senior year at OHS.
I left Oberlin and attended Wooster College. Wooster had the major attraction of free tuition for Mish. kids, so there were a plethora of us there - making us feel like insiders instead of "foreigners". It was a great 4 years with many lifelong friendships started there. Upon graduation I married Richard Gowin. While he attended dental school in Columbus, I started my career as a secretary, with a PHT (putting hubby through) degree. We returned to normal life in Akron and produced two beautiful boys, but our oil and water relationship ended and in '63 I moved to Madison, WI. to be near my brother's family, and here I have remained.
10 years after my first "I do" I said it again, to Jim Lund, a contractor/builder of Norwegian descent, with the patience of a saint and a heart of gold. We added 2 girls to the family, and together raised the 4 children.
Jobs: I have probably worked for more temp. agencies than most, fitting jobs into parenting. When my "baby" was in 1st grade, I earned a real estate license and started my first full time job. Real estate and kids are a poor mix, so after less than 3 years I applied for a job with the high school where all our children attended. Most of those years I worked as a secretary to the "at risk" program, a most interesting job! Last June I retired after 22 years there.
Having been raised Presbyterian, I stayed with them until Jim ( a Lutheran) and I decided together to join Friend's (Quakers). As such we now find ourselves each serving on boards managing two of our Meeting's properties, one, subsidized housing for the elderly, and the other for those living in poverty. We also volunteer at a men's shelter, and with a hot meal program. Between the two churches I clocked about 23 years as a Sunday School teacher, to which I added brownies, cubs, scouts, etc. Jim was the athletic coach and all our kids were on various swim teams, baseball teams, football teams, bowling teams, etc. Our favorite family pastime was traveling. We'd empty out Jim's work truck, hose it down, throw in sleeping bags, and head out. We traveled from Florida's Disney World to California's Disney Land, and from Pa., to Wyo. All our kids are good map readers.
The delight of our lives now, our children and 5 grand children are spread out from Oregon to Michigan.
Retirement has meant lots more traveling for us. The first trip of 2001 was to Vietnam - a church related trip to My Lai where we cut ribbons for schools and peace parks now ready for use, meeting the wonderful people and finding out how our women's fund is working (very well indeed!). The week I should have started work at school again, we headed west to Estes Park and California and Oregon. We tried our first elderhostel in March, and our next trip is to Paris, very exciting to 2 who seldom leave the country.
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Jim and Louise Lund |
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The Gowin/Lund Clan--2001 |
