Kerri Marquardt:  

How did I become a 1961 LHS graduate... Born Karen Elaine Koenig in Chicago Heights, IL...about 30 miles south of Chicago...the oldest of 5 children...my youngest brother is 12 yrs younger so I was a built in baby sitter...my mother was a Lutheran grade school teacher, principal, organist, choir director in Chicago Heights, Homewood & Flossmoor, IL...my father was given a medical discharge from the army...he held various jobs in retail...taught Sunday School, sang in the choir, elder...we were a total Missouri Synod Lutheran family...I attended Jefferson School for kindergarten, St. Paul's Lutheran School for all 8 grades, and Bloom HS for my freshman year in Chicago Heights. In the summer of 1958, we went to visit my mother’s brother & his family in Denver, CO, Robert & Bert Dosien and their 4 children (2 more to come later)...he had accepted a teaching position with LHS after teaching at several other Lutheran Schools...(my understanding he was not paid a salary that first year)...friends, Bob Hintz, and Fritz Brauer were also involved with LHS and Denver Lutheran... When we left that visit , my parents decided that those mountains we saw in the rear view mirror would be our new home...packed up everything in Chicago Heights, put the house up for sale, and got to Denver in time for the start of school...my mother didn’t have a teaching job, my dad left his job at Sears, and the 7 of us moved in with the 6 Dosiens...they had 1 bathroom but a full basement so my dad & Mr. D got to work and added a bath & bedrooms which gave us more space... my parents bought a house in SW Denver which provided us our own home in November, 1958...many mornings I walked the 1 mile to the Dosien house & then my uncle & I walked together to LHS...I really had a close relationship with my uncle...I was so lucky... College began in Greeley, Sep 1961 and graduation in 1965 from CSU in Ft. Collins after transferring my Sophomore year with a degree in Sociology...Joel & I met in Sep, 1965 and were married Aug, 1966. We have been in NM since 1991 – 4 yrs in Abq and down here in Las Cruces since 1995...when we got out of Mr. Steak restaurant business, Joel at 49, said now what do we do after 20 yrs, 8 restaurants & gift shop later...we had 7 Mr. Steaks, and remodeled 2 older homes side by side in Longmont for a dinner house and Unicorn, my gift shop for 6 yrs...we had built a large home east of Longmont off I-25 on 5 acres...our boys were born in 1970 & 1974...luckily, we had a wonderful elderly couple living out in the country too so they b/c “second parents” while we took care of our businesses...we had Mr. Steaks in Longmont, Ft Collins and Cheyenne, 2 in OK after selling out of Aurora & Boulder...life was very good as we were with Mr. Steak during its heyday...after the corporate franchisor started going down, all the 350+ franchisees eventually ended up closing...Mr. Steak Inc was prime on the lease, so most landlords across the country didn’t want to work with the individual franchisees...I’m in a group on FB “I used to work at a Mr. Steak” and so many past employees, franchisees like us, and corporate employees have so many memories...it was a good beginning job for teenagers...we hired the “girl next door”...and most of our guys and managers were young too...unfortunately, too much competition...too many family type restaurants and Mr. Steak corporate losing sense of who we were and hiring from outside that wanted to change everything...I could write a book re: those 20 yrs... In 1988 my brother co-owned a rep agency with his f-i-l so Joel was given opportunity to join the agency as an independent rep...industrial hardware lines...insulation foam, pumps, hardware, etc, etc. Joel said he would never get into the restaurant business (ha), and then going into the commission only rep business was rough at first...we sold our house in the country and moved up to Spring Gulch above Lyons...a log A-frame on 12 acres & fantastic view at 7,000+ ft...reactivated my real estate lic and worked with Coldwell Banker in Longmont...sometimes the drive down was pretty hairy in bad weather but when home, it was heaven...loved it for 3 yrs when the opportunity came up to replace the rep my brother had in NM & El Paso...we took over the territory and moved to Abq for 4 yrs...we had to move our youngest son his Sr year...but it all worked out as trumpet was his forte and he started the jazz band at La Cueva HS, which was then newest and mos...Expand for more