Monthly Archives: April 2014

Dawn (Johnson) Bullok

Letters

Dawn’s email address is: dfbullok3@hotmail.com

February 2014

As for history, I will be brief. I retired 7 years ago from 14 years full time in school nursing. I loved it better than any other nursing job and would have done it longer but my mom had a stroke so I took a year’s leave of absence in 2003 then job shared for another 3 years and subbed for 3 years.

Mom passed away a little over 2 years ago – that is another book, as I am the oldest and the one close by. My two sisters live out of state. My brother helped out a lot but I was the main one. She was in assisted living, but never forgave me for moving her closer to me (instead of her home which was about an hour away). We had a difficult relationship for a long time, and the Lord taught me a lot about patience (I frequently failed that lesson) and compassion while I took care of her for 7 years.

My three sons are all away, oldest aircraft design specialist, in Wichita, KS, married and 2 little girls. My middle son, freelance illustrator, married and living in Indianapolis. My youngest, single but serious girlfriend, web designer and computer engineer, living in NYC.

We just moved to a new ranch home from our large two story home. We downsized a bit and also have smaller yard. I was not ready for a town home as we entertain and have our kids home at various times, so still needed 4 bedrooms. We needed a master on the main level, so I love that.

When I hear from West Sub friends, I do not feel my age. Many good memories from that time. I still see Geri Sandeno Olson about 2 times a year and keep in touch with Carol LeBrecht Williams. My sisters are quilters, but I enjoy stamping and papercrafts and have sewn clothes for my granddaughers. We are active in our church. My hubby retired 3 years ago. We like to travel to see our kids and to see friends.

Love, Dawn

Peggy (Morrison) Smiesko

Letters

Peggy’s email address is: pscraft@ameritech.net

February 2014

Hi Dawn—

I was pleasantly surprised to get your face book request!  I apologize for my delay in sending you this email.  We have just entertained our very first Illinois visitors since our move to Arizona, and sent them back to the snow & cold on Monday!  I’m sure they wish they could still be with us, enjoying our warm & sunny environment!  We’ll be having another guest next week for a few days, and then a couple for a week @ the end of this month.  It’s beginning to sound like we’re running a B & B, but we love hosting our friends, sharing with them our new home, and maintaining our longtime connections.  We exited IL in the nick of time weather-wise, and feel fortunate that we can offer our family & friends a brief respite.

I am thankful every day that we were able to make this move!  We needed to remain in IL while my father-in-law was still alive.  I had already retired from my career as an OR nurse — hospitals had begun looking @ surgeries as a “business to make money” & since I was then working in an out-patient dept, we were continually pressured to eliminate time spent answering pt questions & making them feel as comfortable as possible during this stressful time, which went against my practice of addressing the needs of my patient!

Since Dad still needed our assistance & companionship, I felt I still wanted to do something, so I began working as a sub nurse in the schools.  That eventually led to a full time position in a school about 2 miles from my home.  I did that for 5 yrs, until he passed 2 years ago @ the age of 94!

Our daughter relocated to Washington state shortly after, so we began preparing for our move to a warmer climate.  We were fortunately able to sell Dad’s home and possessions, came to AZ last January to visit friends who are “snowbirds”, looked @ houses just to see what the market offered, walked into this house in a 55+ community, and knew right away that we had found our new home!!  We put in an offer, which included as much of the furnishings as they were willing to include (furniture looked almost brand new).  Our offer was accepted, we returned home & came back a month later for the closing.  We stayed in AZ about a month, came back to IL to begin the process of selling our furniture, thinning out & packing up our belongings, and getting our home ready to go on the market – all at the same time!  Needless to say, last summer was very busy and tiring, but all happened without too many obstacles and we left IL in October with closing on the house scheduled the day before Thanksgiving – most appropriate!

So far we’ve had no regrets.  We have friends who live near us whom we met while on our honeymoon (they were transferred here about 10 yrs ago), our snowbird friends from WI who live here from Nov – April, and we’re meeting lots of new friends in our community.  I’ve joined the quilting group, and they are a great bunch of women with whom I’ve got lots in common.  I seriously doubt we will ever have any regrets!  We are going back to IL this summer as we still have a RV on a seasonal site which we will sell, along with our towing vehicle.  When we will travel there is still to be determined.

I’m anxious to hear about you and your life, & also about the West Sub reunion.  It’s been a long time since the last one, and I hope I’ll be able to go!!!

You look the same too, though your hair is a bit curlier than you used to wear it!  Unfortunately, my photo is very misleading since it was my high school grad picture *:) happy!  I like to pretend!!!!  I’m looking forward to “catching up”.

OXOX……..Peggy

Our Class after 46 years!

Uncategorized

West Sub pin

Hi Gals!

Late in life I learned to build web sites. I really enjoy doing it. My husband and I  have our own domain and can add as many subdomain sites as we want. So I started West Sub as our web gathering point.

Beginning our site:
Dawn (Johnson) Bullock has been able to contact about 15 of our class members. I will post the emails up here so everyone can see what we’ve been able to collect so far. Over the next few weeks, each member will have a page of their own where we can add up-dates, pictures, and so on.

There is much more we can do with the site, if you are interested in using it. We can send notification of up-dates, keep email addresses and mailing addresses up-to-date, and share files, pictures, recipes, etc.

If you have ideas of ways to improve the site, let me know and I’ll try to incorporate everyone’s ideas.

Blessings to all of you!
Diane (Prophater) Constantine

Our Class in a Nutshell

Uncategorized

Dawn (Johnson) Bullok
Like a mother hen, she is gathering her chicks. Thanks, Dawn, for finding us!

  • Dawn retired after 14 years full time in school nursing, then job shared and subbed for another 6 years.
  • She has three sons, two married and one single with a serious girlfriend.
  • They downsized to a new ranch home, but still big enough to entertain.
  • Her hobbies are stamping and papercrafts. She is active in their church and she and her husband like to travel to see their kids and friends.
  • Her email address is: dfbullok3@hotmail.com

To read her letters and learn more about her life since West Sub, click Dawn’s Letters.

Peggy (Morrison) Smiesko

  • Peggy has retired from her career as an OR nurse in Illinois. She retired when she was pressured to eliminate the time she spent answering patients’ questions and making them feel as comfortable as possible so the out-patient department could make more money.
  • Then she subbed as a school nurse for 5 years until her Dad passed away.
  • Her daughter moved to Washington state.
  • They sold their home in Illinois and now live in sunny, warm Arizona.
  • Her email address is: pscraft@ameritech.net

To read her letters and learn more about her life since West Sub, click Peggy’s Letters.

Linda (Merryman) Hyink

  • Linda worked med/surg until the ICU opened in her home town, Holland MI.
  • She married a med student and moved to KY, CA, and IL, but have spent the last 30 years in MI. He’s an anesthesiologist.
  • They have 5 kids, all married and 15 grandkids.
  • She injoys quilting and needlework. She is also involved in a small group Bible study and is active in her church.
  • Her email address is: momhyink@juno.com

To read her letters and learn more about her life since West Sub, click Linda’s Letters

Susie (Halsne) Vanderwilt

  • Susie spent most of her career in nursing education and retired 4 years ago.
  • She is helping her husband with their non-profit organization, pursuing government grants for small faith-based and community organizations.
  • They travel to Southern states to visit their numerous nieces and nephews. They have also gone on mision trips.
  • Her email address is: dsvanderwilt@gmail.com

To read her letters and learn more about her life since West Sub, click:  Susie’s Letters

Mary Ellen (Downing) Welsher

  • Mary Ellen is retired from counseling, but still is involved in a crisis pregnancy center.
  • Mary Ellen and her husband have lived in MA except for 7 years in MI to care for her parents until they went home to the Lord.
  • Their two kids are married: their son and family live in Costa Mesa, CA and daughter and famly in Kissimmee, FL. Since the are retired, they love the freedom to travel to visit kids and grandkids.
  • Her email address is: mewel1947@aol.com

To read her letters and learn more about her life since West Sub, click:  Mary Ellen’s Letters

Carol (LeBrecht) Williams

  • Carol loves working full time in a small hospital in WI in ambulatory surgery.
  • She and her husband have lived for the past 10 years in Baraboo, WI
  • They have 4 kids, all married and scattered to Chicago, Grand Rapids, and Knoxville. They have 9 grandchildren.
  • Her email address is: treader1300@msn.com

To read her letters and learn more about her life since West Sub, click:  Carol’s Letters

Jane (Norton) Rathbun

  • Jane is retired, but still fills in now and then at a chemotherapy office.
  • Jane and her husband have lived in FL for over 20 years.
  • They have 3 daughters and 7 grandkids.
  • Her email address is: j3a3r@msn.com

To read her letters and learn more about her life since West Sub, click:  Jane’s Letters

Kirsten (VanDyke) Johnson

  • Kirsten has had a couneling practice for the last 18 years.
  • Kirsten’s husband is president of the Christian Medical Dental Association. He retired 10 years ago from general surgery, but still does colonoscopies in a small hospital part time.
  • They love to travel and do mission projects
  • They are very active in their church and with their three dauthters and grandkids.
  • Her email address is: kristenrichard1968@gmail.com

To read her letters and learn more about her life since West Sub, click: Kirsten’s Letters

Kristin Knutson (Ruth Johnson)

  • Kristin (Ruth) has worked full time at Children’s Hospital of Orange County for 37 years in NICU.
  • She’s been married since 1986 and has a daughter and step son.
  • She and her husband are setting up a non–profit to provide micro-loans for the Chins in Burma.
  • She does artwork, reads and gardens. She is also advocate for her 97 year old mom.
  • Her email address is: bakknutson@hotmail.com

To read her letters and learn more about her life since West Sub, click: Kristin (Ruth)’s Letters.

Holly (Wagner) Green

  • Holly worked in a family practice with 4 doctors for about 25 years. She retired in 2012.
  • She and her husband, Howard, have 2 sons and 4 grandsons. They spend 2 weeks every month in NC to help one of their sons and daughter-in-law with their two baby boys.
  • Her email address is: hollygreen@outlook.com

To read her letters and learn more about her life since West Sub, click: Holly (Wagner) Green

 Diane (Prophater) Constantine

  • Diane worked for a few years in NICU and one year in neurosurgery at Mayo Clinic.
  • She and her husband, Mike, pastored for 11 years and then served in Nigeria for 2 years and are still in Malaysia, SE Asia for 31 years.
  • They spend 10 months each year in Malaysia and visit friends and family in the States for 2 months.
  • Diane loves to build and maintain websites, crochet, read, and spend time with young Malaysian women.
  • Diane’s email address is: imdiane@gmail.com

To read her letters and learn more about her life since West Sub, click: Diane (Prophater) Constantine

Ruth Ann (Fisher) Miller

  • Ruth Ann has worked for 22+ years in a multi-specialty clinic in the ENT department.
  • She and her husband spent 17 1/2 years with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Papua New Guinea and Australia. (1973-1991)
  • She and her husband, Dick, have 3 sons who are all married and 6 grandsons and 1 granddaughter.
  • Her email address is: ra-ramiller@sbcglobal.net

To read her letters and learn more about her life since West Sub, click: Ruth Ann (Fisher) Miller

Linda (Getz) Moesta passed away from cancer several years ago.

Other classmate’s email addresses:

Marcy (Threlkeld) Osterhaus

Barb (Johnson) Barnes

Carrie (Filipovich) Ready

Charlee (Beck) Walton

Geri (Sandeno) Olson

Irene (Richards) Inman

Rosa Lee (Hoag) Janero – She goes by Lee Janero now.