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I became acutely aware of the vicissitudes of the American economy when I graduated from Macalester with BS in Business Administration. For some reason, I believed that having a college education would result in people with great job offers beating a path to my door. This was not the case in 1958. I guess we were in the throws of the “Eisenhower” recession.  Don’t really know what he had to do with it but it did affect me.  Rather than people imploring me to work for them, I did not have a job until I was out of school for two months. If a graduate today were faced with this situation, he or she would fill his or her knapsack and take a trip to “find him or herself.” That was not an option for me in the late ’50s!

Eventually, I did find a job as an underwriter trainee for the Hartford Insurance Group and remained in the insurance business for 44 years in various capacities. For the most part it was an interesting and rewarding career.

I was married in 1965 and we had two daughters. Carolyn ’91 and Lisa. Both of them are now married with families and live in St. Anthony Village, Minn.

Things in life do change and I was remarried in 1986 to Terolle Wilson who has one son, Kirk. Terolle was an elementary music teacher and still substitutes as organist at our church. Kirk is married with one-year-old twins and lives in Shakopee, Minn.
 
We have lived in Eagan for 30 years and have been active in the community and local church. Both Terolle and I have been president of the church council and served in other leadership positions.

Much of our time is spent with our grandchildren. In 2006, we had four new grandchildren join our 4-year-old granddaughter—many babysitting opportunities. We are leading active retirement lives. Since our health is very good we do many active things with our time. In the winter we cross country and downhill ski. One of the areas we skied in Utah has a $10 rate for those over 70! The summer finds us golfing and riding our bikes. Travel is also important. Since we retired we have taken three trips to Europe and a cruise to Alaska. In addition to this we have also traveled around the country.

Macalester has been very important to me through the years. I have served as class agent, reunion committee member and on the Alumni Board. It is always enjoyable to renew Mac friendships and meet new alumni. The years spent at Macalester opened my eyes to a wider view of the world and this has been an important part of my life’s journey.