JOANNE HARPER TOFT
During high school I was active in several clubs, the Acappella Choir, and the Band, but I spent most of my time with the Garnet and Gray staff, where I was a page editor during my senior year.
I went on to attend Wheaton College in Illinois, majoring in mathematics and was certified to teach. I spent my first year teaching at Penncrest High School in Lima, PA, where I discovered Mr. Davies and Mr. Mitchell from LAHS.
I married my high school sweetheart, although he was from Haverford, not Lansdowne-Aldan. Over the next 12 years, we had two sons and moved nine times. I considered myself very fortunate to be at home with my boys. Then my husband’s entrepreneurial spirit led him into the real estate investment business. Rather than starve to death, I went back to teaching, this time at the junior high school level and stayed for 10 years. By this time, my husband was established, and I went to work with him part-time. Little did I know that I was about to embark on a third career. One of our investments was a motel, and I became the manager very quickly. I stayed there 15 years.
In 1972 we moved to the Kansas City area, which is more than wheat fields and corn-fed beef. We started working towards retirement in 2000. Later that year my husband was diagnosed with a rare neurological disease similar to ALS, and he was gone in 18 months. I feel fortunate that we had 41 years together, most of which were very good, just a few rough patches along the way.
I’m still in the Kansas City area. I have 5 grandchildren that I see often, and I’m doing some math tutoring and teaching of knitting to keep the mind from freezing up. I’m looking forward to our 50th Reunion next September.