Janet Wendt:
CLASS OF 1966
Emery High SchoolClass of 1966
Emery, SD
Colorado State University - Graduate SchoolClass of 1994
Ft. collins, CO
Black Hills State UniversityClass of 1991
Spearfish, SD
Janet's Story
Let's see. Since graduation, I moved to Sioux Falls, got married in December of 1966. We moved to Mitchell, for about 3 years, then Pierre for 18 years. In 1987 moved to Spearfish to attend college; graduated in 1991 with BS in Political Science, at which point I did not know what to do with such a degree. So I continued at BHSU and added major of History in 1992, and moved to Fort Collins CO to attend graduate school.Oh, and had a baby girl at age 40 while in college at Spearfish. (Was that ever a surprise). I completed that in 1994, moved to Denver in 1995 to work at Colorado History Museum. Moved to Corvallis, Oregon in late 1996 for new job as Archivist at Oregon State University Archives. Job went away in 2002, and I moved back to Fort Collins in 2004, where I have resided since. Along the way, I had three kids,(in 1964, 1968 and 1988)lost the oldest one to suicide, divorced in 1993. After the ex died in 2003, I moved back to Fort Collins and my son, Lynn, my daughter, Felicia and I live together. Son works for School district, daughter is in special education classes, and I have been working as an Archives Technician, but am currently unemployed. So I am once again looking for a position. Oh, I have one granddaughter by my older son, Lee; her name is Victoria, age 19, and she lives in Plano, Texas, where she goes to college.
Extended family is HUGE. Oldest half brother, Verus passed away about a year ago. Brother, Roger died in 2003 of diabetic complications. The rest are muddling along. Brother, Norb, and my sisters Helene and Marlys all live in Salem, SD. Ed (Engel) lives in Arizona, but many of his adult kids are near me in Loveland CO, so I see them once in a while; Al is retired dentist in Colorado Springs; Annabelle lives in Parkston, SD. Jim lives in Mitchell; Glen and Eugene (Ernie or Gene) live in Yankton SD. They all have large families and I keep up with lots of the nieces and nephews by email and facebook. My moth...Expand for more
er lived to be 101 and died in 2006 in Mitchell.
I have several heroes, in the form of people I worked with and special professors in college. First of all I worked for a great man, Bob Edwards, in Pierre SD. He was the county extension agent there and he encouraged me to expand my horizons and increase my confidence in doing work related projects that I had never thought of attempting. One example was to lead a group of 4-H kids on a trip to Manitoba, Canada. I loved it and learned I could "Lead" better than I ever thought possible. Thanks, Bob. Another example was Dr. David B. Miller at BHSU. He encouraged me to apply for graduate school, sympathized when I finished an all day session taking PSAT tests. He said, nothing is impossible and made me to believe it. The same goes for Professor James Hansen at CSU. He offered me my first professional gig as an archivist, and most importantly believed in my capabilities to succeed. He continues to trumpet my cause when I need a reference in the field of archives.
My first job was at Woolworth's, where I got paid $1.25 per hour to clerk and cashier. What I remember most about it is the cranky boss, and fuss budget old ladies that worked there.
I hope that old friends remember me as being fun loving. I have not lost my sense of humor I have matured alot since then (Boy, I thought I knew it all back then). I have had some heartaches in my life, but who hasn't. I was rather an outsider then and probably by my own chosing, since I dated someone older and did not interact with my classmates alot. By the way, the old boyfriend, and father of my first son, Bill, died in 2002 of cancer. We reconnected for short while after our son died, but it did not work out. Bill was bipolar and would not stay on his meds as he should have. So we went our separate ways, but at least he was an incentive to divorce my husband, who was cranky and hard to live with.
I still keep in touch with members of his family.
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