Does anyone remember Sra. Osuna , the Spanish teacher? Well,
I had her twice! And I didn't flunk! I had her when I was in the 1st. grade
at Bello Monte (on the Venezuelan side) and again as a 7th grader at Campo Alegre.
Not a real long story, but...I first went to a Montessori pre-school that was
located where Coney Island was in the 50's. Then to kindergarten in Los Palos
Grandes (pink uniforms) and 1st. grade at Bello Monte. This was when our Mom
and Dad separated, so Terry and I moved to Lake Worth, Florida with our Mom.
I was put back in the first grade again, since they really didn't know what
to do (at that time) with kids who couldn't read or write in English. Terry
was put back also, but caught on to this English stuff faster than I did, so
they put him back up in 4th grade. Our Mom died in 1953, so we moved back to
Caracas with our Dad. We had periodically been back, but in the meantime, had
forgotten most of our Spanish. We had been in Florida for 6 years, so when I
went to Campo Alegre for 7th grade, I again had Sra. Osuna for Spanish 1. She
also taught Spanish at Colegio Americano.
Our Dad retired and moved to Portland, OR. in early 1959. Most of his family
still lived there. So, after graduation, I also moved there. Went to Lewis and
Clark College for 1 year and to Portland State for 1 term. My Dad died in 1962,
leaving behind a secret that eventually would be discovered.
I met my future husband, Gerald Stiller, during the summer of 1960, and we were married in Dec. 1960. We just celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary this last Dec. We have 5 children ages 28-38, four boys and 1 girl (youngest). 6 grandchildren from our 2 oldest boys - ages 7-16. 3 live in Walla Walla, WA., 2 in Pendleton OR with their mother, and 1 with her Dad out in the middle of nowhere (closest house is about 2 miles away, largest town in county has a population of 1,400).
A little about our kids. Ward (38) is married and has two step-daughters and 1 son. He and his wife, Michele, are both postal workers. Wayne (36) is divorced, has a girl friend and two daughters and 1 son. He works for a huge (60,000 acres) farm. Mechanic, planting, harvesting and cattle. Brian (34) is single, works at Wal-Mart, and does not want to be a supervisor. Jason (30) is single and is studying the Bible. Attended Three Hills Bible College in Canada and now is attending Community College and helping with a paraplegic friend. Tanya (28) is also single and works for the National Park Service at the San Francisco Recreation Area. She went to University of Oregon and graduated with a degree in Environmental Studies. She took a year off to become an herbalist.
My husband, Jerry, was an elementary school teacher for 34 years. Taught in Condon, OR. for a few years, then in the rural schools outside of Milton-Freewater, OR. At one school (two grades per room), he was 7-8th grade teacher, principal, and coach.. I did some part-time work until our daughter entered school. Then went to full time. Taught swimming at both YMCA and YWCA for a few years, worked for the Educational Service District as a bilingual assistant in Milton-Freewater for 9 years. Here I mainly taught Hispanics English and Spanish reading to the non-readers in grades 3-12. Then went to the Walla Walla High School and was a bilingual assistant in the math and science departments. Had Hispanics, Russians, Vietnamese, Laotians, Samoans and Japanese. These latter are very interesting - you can't just translate. I retired in 1997.
We have a small farm, which keeps us busy from May- Oct. At our place we have cherry trees. At the farm (7 1/2 acres), we grow corn, potatoes, garlic, raspberries, grapes and have some fruit trees - apple, pear and prune. Then we also plant our garden veggies. We sell a lot of our produce, but also can, freeze, dry, juice and make wine. We are interested in collectibles (antiques are 100 years old or older). Learn something new everyday. Another hobby is still knitting, which I learned in Caracas. I was a 4-H knitting leader for over 30 years. And I still swim quite often.
Besides marriage, kids and occupations, the most unusual occurrence of Terry's and my life, is that we were found by an older half-brother that had NEVER been mentioned. His name is Jack and he is now 80 years old. We met him and most of his family a couple of years ago. Our Dad and his Mother eloped in 1919. Jack was born in 1921. They divorced sometime before 1926. Our Dad went to Venezuela in 1926 and came back to Portland a year later. His ex-wife had taken off with her son, had remarried and entered Jack in school under his stepfather's name. Our Dad was not able to locate them, so never said anything about him. Until the coming of the computer!! His grandson, Brian O'Neel, put out a request bulletin for information regarding our Dad. A cousin in Portland answered the bulletin, and Brian called me. After several phone calls, we went to Portland and asked for a birth certificate from the Department of Vital Statistics. And, indeed, Jack O'Neel is our half-brother! Has been wonderfully interesting.
So that brings us to the present. Our address is:
54454 Hwy 332
Milton-Freewater,
OR. 97862
Phone: (541)938-5266
e-mail: cgstiller@bmi.net