123, 124. CLASSMATES ON THIS PAGE ARE: Nancy Spoerer and Pat Stark
123. SPOERER, Nancy
PHOTOS:
PROFILE:
124. STARK, Pat
Now Pat (Stark) Palmer, and living in Flagler, Colorado
PHOTOS:
1964 Pat (Stark) Kelleher at age 21
1973 Working at Pratt Products in Paterson, New Jersey
1977 Pat with a broken ankle .......
1980s in the Waldwick office
1985 - At Company picnic in Colorado
1985 at the Denver Zoo
1987 At the Renaissance Faire in Larkspur, Colorado
1989 At the wedding of daughter, Lori (Lori's husband, Dale, is the red-headed young man in the background).
1994 Now "Pat Palmer" at the Limon Heritage Days
1996 in Denver at Regency Hotel with Harry on New Year's Eve
2005 -- Four generations of the Stark-family women (including mom and all 3 sisters at left) goofing off in Denver.
May 2011 with great-grandson Mio
PROFILE:
" Hi, this is Pat... What have the past 50 yrs brought?!!? Since somebody had the nerve to steal my silver spoon, life has been interesting to say the least. I've found out it's true that “Life is what happens while you're busy making plans.” While I was accepted to matriculate at Mexico City College I had to go to work instead; college was put off for 25 yrs.
I married twice—the first ended in divorce, the second I was widowed..... no more marriages for me. I've two beautiful daughters; one red-headed son-in-law; five grandchildren; and one sweet great-grandson.
As for work history — I bounced around a bit. Spent 15 yrs with a Fortune 200 chemical company — advancing from bookkeeping to President's secretary to Traffic Manager....... a truly challenging experience. Was a legal secretary several times (with attorneys whose focus ranged from estate planning to criminal defense); one attorney (a public defender) had had Ted Bundy as a client ! I even worked retail as a fall-back job a time or two. Systems design and dynamic programming were the most fun. Now, finally, I'm happily retired!!
I've lived in New Jersey (obviously), California, and Colorado (twice); have been here in Colorado for almost 30 yrs. Now living in a very small town of 650 on the high desert, eastern plains of Colorado..... farm/ranch country. There are more cows (3,000) and calves (400) on any one ranch than there are people in this extremely rural county. My younger daughter and her family live right up the road and we enjoy Sunday dinner at Grandma's Warehouse nearly every week. Since my granddaughter and her family only(?) live 45 miles away, I also get to see my great-grandson regularly. I'm content with having half of my family nearby and my close friends here.
For 3-1/2 yrs I had a full time “hobby” of supervising the renovation of this 120 y/o house; while it may not be done — it's as done as it's gonna be. I've been involved with the R.S.V.P. Program for almost 20 yrs. Several years ago they announced I had the most volunteer hours accumulated — 16,000!! I'm the “go-to” guru for computer setup & software. Now and again I get kidnapped by my daughter or a friend for runaway shopping trips to Kansas (60 mi.), Denver (120 mi.), or just plain running away.
I have been called “Dona Quixote” for tilting at windmills — from correcting grain mills running afoul of state health regulations, rescuing kidnap victims, child abuse victims, and other felonious behavior. I have acquired a wry sense of humor leaning toward the sarcastic; have an intense dislike of people who are unethical, liars, proselytizers, or passive aggressive.
When home, my service dog “Woofie” is great company. For entertainment, I'm guilty of watching a lot of TV, reading everything and anything, and quilting (tho' canning has gone the way of all things). I've been an amateur sleuth — from working on my family's genealogy to being a search angel for adoptees, or any member of the Triad searching for their families of origin or children lost to adoption; searching for “lost/disappeared” classmates; an activist for OBCs (Original Birth Certificates) for adoptees, and an adoptee rights advocate.
Now I'm curious to read what you all have been up to the for the past half century...........
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