Jo Ann Simmons:  

Life Born at the old St. Luke's Hospital in Spokane. Two older sisters, Jeanne and Candy, and a brother, Grant (dec). Parents Aaron and Harriett Kanzler, AKA Shorty and Sally, both gone now. Attended Bemiss grade school, Shaw junior high and graduated from Rogers. Went to SFCC for awhile, thinking art was 'my thing.' Worked at Murphey Favre in the old SeaFirst building downtown, making a whopping $350/month (gross, not net). My first apartment cost $125/mo, furnished. Almost got married, but got cold feet and went back to school. (Yes, I sometimes wonder what 'might have been'....) Graduated in 1977 from Seattle U with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. Had 5 part-time jobs while waiting for the Navy to process my paperwork (including one disgusting gig involving mouse pee in a research lab at Fred Hutchinson). Then I went to OIS in Newport, RI, in Sept 1977. That was where I first learned why N-A-V-Y really stands for "Never Again Volunteer Yourself!" Stationed at Oakland Naval Hosp where I worked Surgical floor then Pediatrics, and left my heart in San Francisco. Met my ex, got out of the Navy at the end of my tour, moved to San Diego, joined the Reserves, had a baby, got a divorce...meantime worked at Bay General in Chula Vista and Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, where I got thrown into ER nursing and liked it. Went back on Active Duty in '83; drove across country to Beaufort, SC with my mom and the toddler in the car (which may explain why it took 10 days to get there.) The little one spotted every McDonalds playground from one coast to the other, and said the oil derricks in Texas were "picking money," Profound child. Once, while driving past the entrance to Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Beaufort she said, "Mommy...what color is war?" Whoa. Worked the general in-patient ward at the Naval Hospital until I asked to go to the ER. Was OIC there and temp OIC at the Branch Clinic MCAS (did anyone see 'The Great Santini?'). Next stop, Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. OIC ER, Fleet Sick Call, Immunization Clinic; with only 14 nurses on-board you did just about everything. I taught EMT courses, Childbirth Ed classes, and 'stood the watch' often. We all got a Coast Guard Special Ops ribbon for supporting a drug interdiction event. Once, a boat load of Haitians tried to land at GTMO but were met on the beach at gunpoint by the Marines. There were a couple of mine field explosions, but no people were hurt. We treated patients from all over the world, had a few gruesome trauma events, did MedEvacs to Miami, had quarterly DEFEX training so we could practice for the invasion of the communists, and the Army vet would bring animals (even a deer) to the hospital for x-rays. My daughter started grade school, was a Brownie Scout and got to have a birthday party at McDonalds (where the playground equipment that was too hot to play on before sunset....). It was a great place for kids. (She eventually graduated from Central Valley High). Fond memories, MOSTLY great people (there will be stinkers wherever you go). My Cuban neighbors had the fattest cat I've ever seen, and crabs would hang out on their chain-link fence at night. I learned about banana rats, scorpions, tarantulas, iguanas and geckos. Some of those things actually live...Expand for more