Comments:
After graduating from WHHS, I went to MacMurray College in Jacksonville, IL, where I majored in music. My instrument was the pipe organ (I had started taking organ lessons at Calvary Church when I was about 13 and wanted to pursue it). However, after only two years at MacMurray I came home and finished school at UC. I really wasn’t ready to go to college right after high school, but in those days parents wanted their kids to go right into college without a break.
I worked for about a year before marrying Mark Muhsam (CES class of 55). He had just graduated from the Naval Academy, so we moved all over the country with the Navy, and then to Japan for 3 years. One day we were walking down the street in Tokyo and ran into Mary Sagmaster! What a surprise. It was great catching up with Mary and getting to know her then fiancé, Jerry.
While we were stationed in Japan we made friends with two couples who wanted to practice their English and learn about our customs and we wanted to learn about their customs and speak a little Japanese. Those once a week meetings in our living room for three years grew into a lifelong friendship. Cole and I are still in touch with them and their children, and we have visited back and forth over the years.
During our time in the Navy, Mark and I had two kids, but sadly, the marriage didn’t last. I tried the marriage thing a year later, but that one was a disaster and didn’t last long. I was single for 9 or 10 years before I met my husband in an aerobics class at the YMCA. We’ve been married for 21 years. Between us we have 12 grandchildren ranging in age from 3 to 25.
In 1986, during my singlehood, I started a business providing recording/Parliamentarian services to mostly local government agencies. It was very successful for 25 years or so. In 2005 I closed the business and retired.
Since then, I’ve concentrated on my music, which I had given up when I had children. Now I’m heavily involved in several singing groups, including a short stint in a barbershop chorus. I’m also the organist and choir director at my church. Frankly, I’m not that crazy about retirement. I miss feeling like I’m a productive member of society, even though I’m very busy with the music.
My husband drives a bus part-time picking up and taking home seniors from .classes at a nearby senior center, and he loves it. I’ve always wanted to work with older people (way older than we are!) – I haven’t gotten to it yet, but I will.
