| School: Grant | Graduation Year: 1969 |
Year Inducted: 2016
Sports Played: Swimming, Golf
Featured Member of the Month ~ July 2023
High School Honors: 4-year Swimming Letter Winner, PIL and State Champion, 200-freestyle, Junior; Team Captain, Senior.
4-year Golf Letter Winner, PIL Champions; Team Captain, Senior. 2nd place in Oregon Junior Girls’ Championship. Voted “most athletic girl” by classmates; co-valedictorian in class of 675.
Post High School Career: Attended Willamette University for 2 years, played on Golf and Volleyball teams. Graduated from Stanford, 1973; played on Golf team 2 years.
Career as an actuary and marketing executive in the insurance industry.
Commentary:
As with most young people, my parents were very influential regarding the activities we pursued. Our family consisted of seven children, and my mother didn’t want to worry about us in a swimming pool (too many to watch), so she insisted that we learn to swim well enough to be asked to participate on the swim team (Northeast YMCA).
Not sure how or why, but we migrated to the Aero Club in downtown Portland where our coach, Tye Steinbach, had trained several swimmers who eventually participated in the Olympics (Carolyn Wood and Don Schollander). Several of us maintained that participation through high school, and one brother ended up swimming for the Ducks and became an All-American. Tye was a great coach and helped me earn a state title.
The only other sport we were encouraged to pursue was golf. Both parents played, and with the seven children, it was very cost-effective to join Riverside Golf & CC, as they had an outstanding junior program (still do). My summer days often consisted of a morning swim practice at Jantzen Beach, followed by a round of golf, and back to the pool for evening practice. Our parents figured that if we were tired, we wouldn’t get in too much trouble—and they were right.
Eddie Hogan at Riverside was a prime force in my golf development, offering free lessons and discounted equipment (not a lot of extra cash floating around our household) so that was a blessing). He and my Dad were the primary golf mentors.
The other influence wielded by our parents was to pursue a college education. Of course, there were no athletic scholarships for girls at that time (pre-Title IX), so good grades were the ticket. Unfortunately, there were no family funds to underwrite this college experience, but with pluck and perseverance, six of seven completed Bachelor’s degrees and several went on to earn MBA’s.
So, I guess you could say that our parents helped make it all happen, one way or another.