Helen Murphy:
CLASS OF 1969
St. Martin's AcademyClass of 1969
Rapid city, SD
South Dakota State UniversityClass of 1973
Brookings, SD
Helen's Story
I graduated from SDSU (Brookings, SD) in 1973 with a major in HomeEc (Fashion Merchandising) and a minor in Art.
I went to Nepal in 1973/1974 as an IFYE (International Four-H Youth Exchange) which was an eye-opening experience. I was there with 4 other IFYEs from the US, so it wasn't an altogether lonely time.
When I returned to Rapid City, the job market was extremely poor, so I decided to get any job I could get. My jobs while I lived in Rapid City until 1991 were: bank teller, head teller, loan secretary, legal secretary, lay-out artist for a monument company, dry cleaner manager, and secretary for a real estate company.
I married in 1977 and had a boy and a girl from that marriage. This marriage was dissolved in 1988. It was a very sad situation.
In 1991 I remarried and moved with my children to Grand Forks, ND where I obtained a job at UND (University of North Dakota) as a secretary in the Finance Department in the College of Business. I divorced that abuser and decided it was best that I stay a single mom until the last child graduated from high school.
We sustained main floor water damage to...Expand for more
our home during the 500 year flood of 1987. It was a very different experience than Katrina, Rita. We did not ask for handouts from the government, but "dug in for the long haul" with our neighbors. In some ways it was a very psychological rewarding experience.
I was lucky to work myself into a new position as the Manager of the American Real Estate Society. This was a job that I thoroughly enjoyed for 11 years.
I met my current husband, Ronald Spahr, PhD in Naples, FL. in April, 2002 while I was supervising an ARES Convention. He was a member of ARES and we began a long distance romance. We married in 2004.
He was teaching finance in WY for 23 years, at UNC-Permbroke for 4 years, U of IL for 3 years and we moved to Memphis, TN in 2005 where he took the position of Department Chair in Finance, Insurance & Real Estate at the Fogelman College of Business, University of Memphis.
I do not work outside the home, but whoever said staying home is a piece of cake? I work very hard around the house and yard.
It is now January, 2009 --- seems the last 40 years have gone by too quickly. I'm sure you agree!
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