Moving On

Two hundred and thirty seven times I have put up a post for you to read.  There have been thousands of page views.  Readers have logged on from Russia, France, New Zealand, England, Singapore and, of course, the USA. Including the two years during which I wrote a blog for the Weyerhaeuser intranet, I have written at least once a week for four and a half years.  I have enjoyed my blog and the research and discovery it has provided. But now, it is time to move on.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of my graduation from Springside School.  I contributed a personal statement to our class  memory book.  I include it here.  You have come to know me well through my posts.  This short biography will fill in some detail. 

A girl ties the sash on her tunic.  She has practiced hard and made the team.  She walks out onto the field.  She is my avatar.  She has been coached, and judged ready by Phyllis Vare.  What better preparation is there?  Opportunity waits.  So it has been with my life.

After Springside, I finished my education, a BA and an MBA.  I married and moved to Seattle.  I bore two children, a daughter and a son.  I went to work right away.  With 9 other women, I founded a state chartered savings bank.  We named it “A Woman’s Place”.  We did well.  I worked in both private and public sectors.  I was elected to the board of the University of Washington Medical Center and served for many years.  I divorced.  I started playing soccer.

I was appointed to serve as the US Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator for the northwest and Alaska.  I coached my son’s soccer and basketball teams.  I travelled to Alaska, doing EPA business and in Ketchikan I met Ed Fisher.  Ed was President of the Ketchikan Pulp Company.  We fell in love.  When my term with EPA was over we married. 

I learned to fish, to back down a boat ramp, to splice line that is fouled with kelp, and to shoot a gun.  I moved to Ketchikan to manage a company owned by Tlingit Indians.  We owned large stands of commercial quality timber.  My children graduated from college.  They came to Ketchikan in the summer and worked as kayak guides for cruise ship passengers.

 I moved on to my own consulting business which took me to mines, forests and oil fields around the State.  I was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service.  I supported politicians, managing the southeast Alaska campaigns for several.  My children married and started their own families.  I served on the Board of the Ketchikan General Hospital.  With others from rural Idaho and eastern Washington State I joined the founding board of LifeCenter Northwest.  We became licensed to procure organs for transplant, making it possible to fulfill the wishes of donors in our rural service area.  With dog friends I founded the Ketchikan Humane Society.    I started taking piano lessons. 

I accepted another appointment to public service as Commissioner of Environmental Conservation for Alaska.  My husband had been President of a number of companies, our careers crisscrossing the State.  We moved to Juneau together and both served in the Governor’s cabinet.

I was recruited by Weyerhaeuser, the timber industry giant in Washington State.  We moved to Puget Sound.  I took up sheep herding with our aging Border Collie.  Two years ago I retired.  I started Taekwondo, working toward Black Belt.  We added younger Border Collies.

My daughter and her family have settled in Anchorage, my son with his wife and children in Placerville, CA.  Ed’s sons are in Ketchikan.  His grandchildren are marrying and having their own children.  We have 10 grandchildren.  The oldest is a veterinarian in Wasilla, AK.  The youngest is my son’s 3 year old son.  We still own our house in Ketchikan and keep our boat there. 

I am satisfied.  I have played offense and defense, spent some time on the bench, made some shots and scored a few goals.  After fifty years on the field there is still opportunity waiting. 

Thank you for reading.