Susan Ragsdale
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Susan and Fred
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Susan Barkley
John and Meg
Justin and Angelica |
It has been
fascinating reading about each of you and seeing your pictures. (Thanks,
Jim for doing this.) Who would have believed back in 1961 the experiences,
successes and challenges that awaited us? How amazing and surprising our
lives have been. My life has been a great adventure. It did not turn out
as I expected, but it has been wonderful nonetheless. I have lived in Dallas since 1990 when our family moved here after having lived in Chicago, Detroit and Boston. Professionally, besides being a mom- my favorite career- I taught French for 25 years with a brief stint as a travel consultant in Boston (great travel perks including two of my favorites- Bali and Kathmandu.) Four years ago I left the class room for an administrative position – Dean of World Languages, Cultures & Communications at Richland College. It is challenging in that I supervise over 200 full-time and adjunct faculty and staff and rewarding because the college is such a nurturing and dynamic community. (Last year we won the Malcolm Baldrige Award of Quality Excellence- the only community college to ever receive the award.) Personally, I had an enormous adjustment when my “perfect” 32 year marriage ended in 1998. I wish I could have believed then that great adventures were still ahead for me. Barry is now retired and lives with his partner in California. We have remained dear friends and still celebrate great family events together like his step-grandfather’s 97th birthday this year. For the last seven years I have shared my life with an extraordinary man. We embrace a passion for international education and travel. Last May we were part of a team from Texas sent to explore online education with Finland, Estonia and Russia. (He currently teaches an online Economics course with students at the University of Saratov, Russia.) We have been to South America, Europe and Tahiti together and this year will host a group of faculty for a tour of Italy. I have been truly blessed with wonderful friends, colleagues and family including two terrific sons – John and Justin and two fabulous daughters-in-law- Meg and Angelica. My mother is still alive and divides her time between her home in West Lafayette and her summer home on Lake Michigan. This summer we will join her for a family reunion - unfortunately the week of the WLHS reunion. My very best wishes to all of you. Hopefully, I will see you at a reunion in the future. |
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