Shawn Warren:
CLASS OF 1980
Clatskanie High SchoolClass of 1980
Clatskanie, OR
Shawn's Story
BA in Elem Ed from OSU. Couldn't find a teaching job so managed a Pizza Hut for 3 years until I finally landed a job teaching middle school math and science at Lebanon Middle. Divorced and moved to Longview, teaching at St Helens Jr High. I took a leave of absence when first child was born (son, Dax 1994) and never went back. Daughter, Alexandra in 1996. 2nd husband died of leukemia in 2003. The kids and I moved within Longview and my friend/neighbor suggested I rent out the old house. The fever began. I bought 3 more rental houses where I met husband #3 who was a contractor. Some say we didn't marry, we merged, as he also had rentals. He'd never had children so at age 42 I had my third and final, a son-Wyatt who is currently 13 in 8th grade. The "big kids" are now 25 and 23. Dax graduated from WSU in communications and is a news reporter with KIMA TV in Spokane. Alex graduated from WWU in biochemistry. She is now a graduate research assistant in neuroscience working on her PhD in San Antonio, TX.
When Wyatt was a tot, Tom, my husband, said for all the time I spent researching houses for the next rental I should go into real estate...so I did. I worked at Coldwell Banker, Prudential and then Remax all in Longview for ...Expand for more
10 years.
We've never enjoyed the gray, rain, and cold of Longview. We spent 2 winters abroad visiting Thailand, Bali, Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo. Wyatt attended online school during this time. We decided he really needed the social interaction of school but what to do? Move to a warmer climate of course. So...summer of 2018 we moved to a community called Verrado in Buckeye AZ. It has it's own parks and is quite green. The town calls itself Mayberry RFD with a small town atmosphere. We are about 30 minutes west of Phoenix and the area is growing rapidly. New homes being built everywhere you look. At this rate, we may have to move farther west in a few years to avoid the hustle and bustle.
Moving meant starting all over again building a real estate business or retire. I thought I'd go nuts being retired but it's amazing how quickly you adjust. I"m still very involved in bridge (card game) and am even teaching classes. I do yoga (!) and line dancing (!). Tom took up golf since he also retired. We still have our Longview rentals because self-employed people don't get retirement benefits. I guess that sums up 40 years. Hard to believe. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion this summer.
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