In the fall of ‘66 I entered Delhi Ag & Tech in the Veterinary Tech program and graduated from there in '68. I knew I didn't want to go to work as a vet tech so I enrolled in Brockport for Biology. I soon realized that teaching children was not going to be my life work so I dropped out of Brockport and managed to get hired by Niagara County Cornell Cooperative Extension to work in the 4H program with the livestock area. I had found my niche and had learned more than I thought.

I met my husband, Joe, in 1970 while setting up for an indoor chicken show. He had dropped out of Kent State just before the shootings there and his younger brother brought him to help set up the show. Joe returned to college in the fall of '70 to Cornell. We married in 1972 and I enrolled in Cornell. Joe graduated in '73 and I in '74. I worked for Tompkins County Cooperative Extension Home Ec program even though my college majors were Animal Science, Mass Communications, and Adult Ed. (Somehow I still have the urge to say "Take That, Mrs. Lent.") Joe received his masters from Cornell in Community Development and although he thought he would work as a Cooperative Extension agent somewhere in the East, we moved to Stillwater, OK, so he could be the Oklahoma State Agricultural Specialist. I applied for a job as a 4H agent in Livestock, but Oklahoma wasn't ready for a female ag agent. Oh well. I became involved in the Presbyterian Church there and have been the quintessential church volunteer ever since.

We adopted a daughter in 1978 -- Shelly who was 5 years old and from a severe abuse and neglect situation. She is now 33 and has a son Brandon, who is nine. They live just down the hill from us and and spend many wonderful hours at our home, in the pool and around the dinner table. Shelly is an office manager for an ophthalmologist. Right after we adopted Shelly, Joe finished his doctorate in education. He was working full time and traveling around Oklahoma speaking to farm groups and working on application equipment for farming so we didn't do much but softball and church activities.

In 1980, we had a birth child -- Andrew who is now 25 and a student at West Chester State College in Pennsylvania, near our current home. Andrew is majoring in psychology and expects to go to graduate school for his doctorate. He is a great person with a special interest in computers. He is a network administrator who is self taught and is currently programing steel cutting equipment for a small technology firm.

In 1984, the E I Dupont company offered Joe a position in Wilmington, DE, so we moved back east where we are today. We continue to be involved in our church and community. Our other hobby is raising and showing dachshund dogs. We live in an 1820 historic home that takes a lot of time to keep up, but we love it. I spent ten years on our school board and was president for two years during a difficult building project.

I am just finishing up three years as the national leader of the Presbyterian Church USA's women's organization and nine years on the church's national council. I have had the opportunity to travel all over the world and work on racial and economic justice with women in India, Africa, and China. What a joy this has been! I have been particularly blessed to have been invited all over the USA to speak to groups and share my faith story.

I know this is long, but I can't be at the reunion as I have to be in Louisville, Ky, installing my successor. Have a wonderful reunion and enjoy each day as it comes.