A Little History...What part did you play?

I was adopted by May and Walter Tanner and grew up in Portola, CA - a small railroad town in the Sierra mountains on the Feather River. My father was a fireman on the Western Pacific Railroad. In high school I was a cheerleader and played the clarinet and sax in the band. After high school I took a secretarial course, which became the foundation for my administrative career. In 1946 I married Bill, and Terry was born a year later and David 4 years later.I didn't work outside the home till the early 1960s; one job was working for I.Magnin & Co. (exclusive dept. store in Palo Alto) in their millinery and accessory department (besides being a sales lady, I modeled too.). One customer of note was Shirley Temple Black.

And then I found Hewlett Packard and began a long career, starting on "the hill." In the early years it was common to converse with both Mr. Hewlett and Mr. Packard! I retired from HP in 1989 after 20+ years and moved to Colorado Springs to be near Terry.

My Sweet Adeline life began in 1950 when I became a member of the Peninsula Chorus. While in Region 12 I served as Regent, DMA, and then as an International Board member. But I loved the music most of all and was recognized as one of several vocal coaches in the region. Although I sang with the wonderful Mission Valley chorus for years, my heart was also with the small choruses, for which I directed several, earning the Small Chorus award. I competed with Mission Valley in the first International contest; we came in 3rd that year and 1st in 1976. What a joy that was.

In Region 8 (Colorado) I sang with High Country, Skyline and Velvet Hills Choruses, competing several times on the International Stage and placing in the top 5!

Quarteting has been important in my life too, and I've been in quartets that placed in the top Regional 3 or 4 several times, once with Terry. One special memory was singing tenor with the Outer Limits and being a part of the cruise entertainment to/from Hawaii. And in 1982 I sang tenor with Terry in a 3-month old quartet that placed 3rd! This last year I celebrated my 60th anniversary with Sweet Adelines International. Who would have thought?

I'm proud of my family too; I'm also Grandmother to 6 and Great Grandmother to 10.

There's much more I could share about my life, but I'll trust Terry to tell you some of those stories.

Thank you for sharing this last part of my journey. I am blessed to have so many faithful and true friends and special family members.