Provided by Caroline Black Utley for the reunion of 2007:
I am now retired from my career as a systems analyst. I live in an over-55 community here in Fort Mill, South Carolina. I am chairperson of the Singles Club.
I enjoy family time with my son John, his wife, and their two & a half year old Jillian who live in nearby Charlotte, NC.
I also share time with my mother, now 95, and sister Charlotte who live in Terre Haute, Indiana. My sister Connie and her family are in Ann Arbor. Occasionally, I get together with my brother Richard, who is retired now & lives with his wife Donna Marie near Berkeley, CA.
At Grandview I shall never forget the marbles that were rolled across the floor during study halls, the group singing in junior high to pass the time during lunch hour. I have a warm memory of selling hot dogs during basketball games.
After high school I got my BA from Carleton College in Northfield Minnesota. In 1962 I started out in the Boston area as a Programmer Trainee at the time when computer programming was just starting to be a profession. In 1971 I got an MA in Literature from the University of Wisconsin. I was divorced in April, 1973, when my son John was four and We moved to Silver Spring, Maryland. I continued to work as a computer programmer for some time, but eventually worked more in quality assurance and technical documentation. I worked for the same government contractor for 32 years. John went through the local public schools and the University of Maryland. For about ten years, I bred and showed pure bred Abyssinian cats and also for about ten years I was involved with EST, a self-improvement organization now known as Landmark Education.
In 1987 I received an MA in Technology Management from American university. I had worked nights and weekends on my coursework for three years and I had written a thesis. The occasion of the graduation ceremony appeared to be a lonely one with only myself and my son as interested parties. Son John , then 19, wondered what to give me for a gift. I told him, for a gift, I wanted the loudest cheer of anyone in the class when I crossed the stage to accept my diploma. John assembled his friends who placed themselves in various corners of DAR Constitution Hall. I got a better, louder cheer than that hall had ever seen. That was quite a gift!
I loved our class of '57 at Grandview and was very proud of it. I thought it must be the best and nicest class in the country. What surprised me was that after our 30th reunion, I still had the same opinion! Thanks to those who still live around Columbus and work to organize our gatherings and keep us in touch. It is very much appreciated.
Written by Caroline to Alumni Newsletter in 2003
Still working; so much enjoyed seeing everyone at our class reunion a year ago.