Susan Clark Robert
First of all, I wish to thank Judy Dixon for bringing me from "lost" to "found"! I have spent countless hours perusing the personal pages with my '64 Torch in hand trying to match the persons I am reading about to the faces I knew. It is a fascinating, at times amazing and at other times poignant journey.
How to condense 45 years into a paragraph (or 2)? Here goes...
Believe it or not, I think of you, our teachers and our days at MRHS almost daily. Probably for two reasons: my 4 years there were the longest I spent in any one school. I grew up in Toronto, Ottawa, Geneva, as well as Montreal. Also, since then, except for brief periods, I never really left high school—I have been teaching French for the last 30 years.
After graduation I went to Neuchatel Junior College and upon return to Canada a year later I attended Carleton University. Within the next 5 years I met my husband Dave, we married, I graduated with a BA in French and we had two daughters. Those '60's were a busy time! In 1974 we pioneered our way to Whitehorse, Yukon. During our 6 year stay in the North we both established careers, my husband with CIBC and, after my 5th year through UBC, myself as a teacher (since then an MA in Ed. Admin). In 1980 Dave accepted a transfer to Kelowna. We had never heard of this place and didn't realize that we had landed in Canada's vacation paradise but that is why we are still here in this glorious corner of the country!
We have 2 daughters, Shelley Rashke and Karyn Pender. Shelley and her husband, Clint, live in Kelowna with their daughter, Danielle. Shelley is an accomplished horsewoman (BC eventing champion, 2007). Karyn and her husband, Rob, live in Chemainus on Vancouver Island with their daughter, Beth, and their son, Lennon. Karyn graduated with a BA in Psych. from UBC and is now an at-home Mom.
Dave has been retired for several years. After 33 years as a high school French teacher I retired in 2011. Six years later I returned to the classroom, repurposed as a French immersion elementary teacher on call. I’m loving every minute of this.
As part of retirement I also jumped ship to the Kelowna seniors’ dragon boat team, aptly named Lift What’s Draggin’. Unfortunately first Covid and now smoke have interrupted our training but we are planning an imminent return to our fun on the water.
All else is well. Wishing you all the best and hoping to hear from some of you.
Susan Clark (Robert)