Retired
Spouse: Fred
4 Children
8 Grandchildren (twin premature grandsons born Sept. 15th -- doing great except for apnea, which is to be expected!
10 Great-grandchildren, 2 deceased
Information update: 02/05/2016

Can't believe the past 50 years have gone by so quickly! I have been married to Fred Dathe (Denfeld Class of 1961) for almost 40 years. We met when we were both working at the Minnesota Highway Department, in Duluth. I was divorced with two little girls, Kathy and Patti, and he was a bachelor. The girls in the office did some match making, with the help of one of the foremen. We were both quiet and shy, but he did call me, and the rest is history. We bought a home in Lakeside and had two more children Fred, Jr. and Debby. I was again a full time mom, which I loved. Fred decided to go back to school and took his liberal arts classes at UMD, then transferred to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design to pursue a BFA in graphic design. So, we left our beloved Duluth (we were both born and raised there) and bought a town home in Apple Valley.

This was "temporary" - we had hoped to get back to Duluth but ended up living in Apple Valley for nine years. Then we built a home in Lakeville, one and a half miles away - we loved the area and were able to keep our kids in their Apple Valley school (the dividing line between Apple Valley and Lakeville School Districts is just up our street). We have lived in Lakeville just over 25 years! When we first moved to the Cities, I did group day care in our home for about four years, and later held various clerical jobs. My last job was at Care Providers of Minnesota in Bloomington, where I retired the end of 2009 after 14 years.

Fred and I enjoy flower gardening, playing cribbage, bicycling, walking, camping and fishing. We also spend as much time as possible with our kids, grandkids and great grandkids. Kathy and most of the grand and great grandkids live in Florida, so we don't see a lot of them. The other three kids are between 45 minutes and an hour and a quarter away. We have been doing a lot of dog sitting for them, which we enjoy. Our six grandchildren range in age from 19 to 30, and we are expecting twin grandchildren in December - first babies for our son and his wife. Very exciting! We also have eight great grandchildren. The oldest will be 11 years old in August, and the youngest two are 6 months old (they were part of triplets). Aside from the aches and pains of aging, we have been blessed with good health and are enjoying life!