Jeanne Hayden Phillips:
CLASS OF 1981
Riverdale High SchoolClass of 1981
Ft. myers, FL
Alva Middle SchoolClass of 1977
Alva, FL
Walnut Street Elementary SchoolClass of 1973
Uniondale, NY
Cutler Ridge Elementary SchoolClass of 1973
Miami, FL
Alva Elementary SchoolClass of 1973
Alva, FL
Jeanne's Story
Life:
What have I been doing since High School? Too much and Not enough! Married since 1982 to same poor guy (lol), have 2 sons (ages 18 & 26) and 2 mini dogs. Our oldest has a form of Autism and has OCD but is high functioning and our youngest has a mild form of tourette syndrome so our kids keep life interesting.
I was president of the Irish Heritage Society of SWFL for a few years and was named 2004 Woman of the Year before retiring and working to merge the club with the Lee County Irish American Club, which is now known as The United Irish of SWFL.
I work in the trucking industry for over 15 years. 10-car stinger units (haulers) from New York to Florida. Now I work at a company that covers the Mid-West. I miss taking trips in the 18 wheeler and even though I never went for my CDL, I did learn to drive those rigs, Fun but a little too scary for me when it comes to backing those monsters up.
I have worked in several industries such as construction, retail, mortgage/finance, factory/assembly line, recovery, trucking and public relations. I am still in Lee County.
Workplace
My "career" choices were basically all jobs that sort of fell into my lap. My favorite is the auto transport industry. Best of all worlds, I got to work at same company as husband for years, tell him where to go (a wife's dream!), had our youngest sons playpen right next to my desk (a mom's dream!) and later his walker in the office as he got older.
I have handled all office functions such as federal record keeping for DOT inspections, hired & fired drivers, handled payroll, drug tests, learned the ins & outs of the rigs as well as traveled on the road from time to time. I learned map reading & rou...Expand for more
ted drivers & had a lot of one on one contact with repeat clients for years.
We moved private owner cars so I also got to meet celebrities and sports stars, most were very nice but we were so busy we could turn down business so my favorite part was putting snobs in their place :-)
On January 7, 2011, my husband was in a semi on I-75 on his way to the east coast when a U-bolt broke and caused him to roll over. We are thankful that no other vehicles or drivers were hurt but he has been in pain and unable to work since and his so called "employer" had made so many promises to us and kept NONE of them. No workers comp (exempt), no unemployment and no money. I am working to support us all even though 10 days after his accident, a woman pulled out in front of me on my way home from work.
When I need to blow off steam I like to blast the stereo in my car. Toss some Tom Petty, George Thorogood, AC/DC, CCR, Pat Benatar, Janis Joplin, etc... in the CD player and just drive, drive, drive until my head is clear. If the weather is cool enough, a nice walk relaxes me but these days it just causes more pain than relaxation. I miss my walks!
My heroes are ordinary people who survive & thrive despite extra ordinary circumstances.
The one person from my past who I'd most like to see again is Darla Lathrem, because she was an amazing person taken from us too soon. She brought me back to church when I was lost..
My kids have taught me that patience and humor can go a very long way in this life. With patience, we can learn so much about the people are children are and who they are becoming. With humor, we can diffuse uncomfortable situations and learn to laugh at ourselves instead of others.
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