Elizabeth Goepfert:
CLASS OF 1975
Twentynine Palms High SchoolClass of 1975
Twentynine palms, CA
Oscoda High SchoolClass of 1975
Oscoda, MI
Elizabeth's Story
Life is full of ups and downs. For me, my life has had many more ups than downs. In 1974 my father retired from the Marines and moved our family to Michigan. I later attended Michigan State University for 3 years, fell in love, dropped out of college, got married and put my ex-husband through seminary in Philadelphia. We returned to Michigan where he began his ministry and I settled into being the pastor's wife. We were married 6 turbulent years. We had 2 children, Jenifer and Ryan. Jenifer is married, they have one child, Spencer and lives about 1 hour from me. Ryan is a manager of an auto parts store.
In 1985, I married Bob. (Bob's wife was the secretary's husband at my ex-husband's church. Rumors told tales of the the minister's wife running off with the secretary's husband...but that is another story.) Later Bob and I had 2 children, Sarah and Rob. When Rob started kindergarten, I started back in college at the University of Michigan where I received a BA in elementary education. I started teaching 3rd grade when Rob entered the 3rd grade and have been there ever since. I later returned to Michigan State University where I received my MA in Teaching and Learning with Technology.
I have enjoyed 10 years of teaching the 3rd grade. My students often ask me if I will teach 4th grade and I tell them I have a very strict rule about not teaching anyone taller than me. Believe me, there are several children that are nearly as tall as me by the end of the school year. Another great thing about the 3rd grade is the children still think I'm smart and beautiful. You can't beat that on a bad day.
After teaching 3rd grade for 10 years, I made a big change for the 2008-09 school year. I moved to first grade. I taught first and then looped my babies up to second. Since then I have taught 1st grade for the past two years.
In June 2007, my husband retired from Chrysler after 40 years of service and started working for a local florist delivering flowers and other odd jobs. I tease him and call him the "flower boy." He is waiting for me to retire so we can move to some place warmer than Michigan. He is very inv...Expand for more
olved in Boy Scouts and we have enjoyed several trips to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.
The summer of 2007, we asked the children where they wanted to go on vacation. We already knew we would be spending one week in New Mexico so Bob could do some Boy Scout training. Rob told us he wanted to see the ocean, not just any ocean, the Pacific Ocean. Furthermore, he wanted to see where mom grew up, walk where she walked. You guessed it, we made the trip to 29 Palms, visited the old house, the school and other picturesque sights bringing back many fond memories. We especially enjoyed visiting Amboy volcano on our way east towards New Mexico.
We are both very involved in church. He is the president of the United Methodist Men's group. I am currently being trained as a Stephen Ministry and am involved in creating a PowerPoint presentation every Sunday to project the words on screen for our contemporary church service.
When we aren't busy with the kids, church or working, we enjoy camping. We are true "condo" campers with a travel trailer parked about 45 minutes from home. It allows us to make quick weekend getaways. We have done plenty of tent camping but I much prefer the comforts of home and my own bathroom. The camp ground opens April 1st and I look forward to camp fires and long walks in the near future.
In May 2008, Bob was diagnosed with colon cancer, had surgery and is in the process of under going chemo. He has been doing remarkable well with the treatment. Life is full of ups and downs. Bob had several years of cancer free reports. Unfortunately, in May 2011 the cancer returned. He underwent radiation and chemo during the summer. We enjoyed many camping weekends between treatments. I was thankful that I had the summers off to spend time together. In October 2011 Bob had surgery to remove the cancer. Ten days after surgery Bob passed away from septic shock due to complications of surgery.
I am beginning a new chapter of my life that at the moment has no direction or plan other than maintaining the status quo. I am in a sleepwalking mode doing what I have to do to make it to the next day.
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