by Suzanne Kirkpatrick

Shelia has been an AAUW member for a relatively short time, three years, but during that short time she has offered a great deal to the organization and currently serves on the Board.

Shelia grew up with her two older brothers in Maryland close to Washington D.C., where she said “local news was national news.”

She followed one of her brothers to Oberlin for college, a small school that she chose for its ethic of equality. She majored in History. It was there that she met her husband, Ray,  who was from Texas. Later when Ray was accepted at Yale for graduate school, the couple moved to New Haven. There she searched for an interesting job and  began working in a lab nursery school which practiced the Gisell method. She fell in love with early education which led her to Southern Connecticut College and a Master’s degree in her loved field.

By the time she moved to the Bennington area with Ray and their two kids, Shelia faced the reality that early ed jobs were minimum wage. She searched for something that was of interest to her, but that also offered her and her family more financial security. She accepted a job at The Vermont Veterans Home and grew with them for 33 years, learning a great deal from the residents and her co-workers.

In retirement, she worked part time with BROC and the The Coalition for the Homeless, but she now is fully retired and has the opportunity to spend time on the things she has always loved, one of which is reading. AAUW has also benefitted by the time she has given to her position as the contact person for the Program Committee and her thoughtful observations at the Book Group.

We are enriched by having her with us!

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