Donna Irwin McGarr
1965
Is it really time for us to be planning a 50 year reunion? In 1965, I don’t think any of us “kids” would have believed this time would have arrived so quickly! Makes me think of the words to a country song, “We’re too young to be this damn old”! Actually, those words rang true at our “Class of 65 turns 65” birthday party in September of 2012 where we had just as much fun as if we were still 18! ;-)
I hope life since graduating from Cleveland has been good to all of you reading this! My deepest thoughts and prayers are with those classmates and friends who have passed and the loving families and friends they left behind.
My “Life’s Story” is quite an ordinary, yet, welcomed one for me, considering the turbulent family life in which I was raised! In retrospect, after all these years of consistency, and simple pleasures, I have figured out, it is the life that was meant for me and I will continue to be thankful and grateful for all the blessings it has given me. I left California in April, 1969 and soon after began assuming a comfortable married life as a Midwesterner in northeast Ohio.
Just a few months after our graduation in 1965, I got a job with my good friend, Diane Dooly, at Equitable Life Assurance in Van Nuys. We pursued our independence by getting our own apartment together, not far from work. It was pretty much a blur. As much as we didn’t want to admit it, we were not ready to be so independent. In the short time we lived in our first apartment, we had fun, had lots of parties at the expense of making our neighbors mad, and went to work many mornings with little sleep the night before. Our parents persuaded us to come home for awhile, which we did.
After a year at Equitable, I found a great job in 1966 at Transport Indemnity in L.A., on Wilshire Blvd near Western. It was a milestone in my life. The company was quite large. They underwrote and insured large trucking companies. I worked in the Workers’ Compensation Department, working my way up to a Claims Adjuster. My supervisor was a wise and amazing older man, (Mr. Walter Burke……I will never forget his kindness) who took me under his wing, and, with his lovely wife’s help, polished me into a mature, responsible, and eager to learn, young lady. I got an apartment, with a girlfriend, off of Wilshire Blvd on Wilton Place, within walking distance to work, and lived there until 1969.
I hope life since graduating from Cleveland has been good to all of you reading this! My deepest thoughts and prayers are with those classmates and friends who have passed and the loving families and friends they left behind.
My “Life’s Story” is quite an ordinary, yet, welcomed one for me, considering the turbulent family life in which I was raised! In retrospect, after all these years of consistency, and simple pleasures, I have figured out, it is the life that was meant for me and I will continue to be thankful and grateful for all the blessings it has given me. I left California in April, 1969 and soon after began assuming a comfortable married life as a Midwesterner in northeast Ohio.
Just a few months after our graduation in 1965, I got a job with my good friend, Diane Dooly, at Equitable Life Assurance in Van Nuys. We pursued our independence by getting our own apartment together, not far from work. It was pretty much a blur. As much as we didn’t want to admit it, we were not ready to be so independent. In the short time we lived in our first apartment, we had fun, had lots of parties at the expense of making our neighbors mad, and went to work many mornings with little sleep the night before. Our parents persuaded us to come home for awhile, which we did.
After a year at Equitable, I found a great job in 1966 at Transport Indemnity in L.A., on Wilshire Blvd near Western. It was a milestone in my life. The company was quite large. They underwrote and insured large trucking companies. I worked in the Workers’ Compensation Department, working my way up to a Claims Adjuster. My supervisor was a wise and amazing older man, (Mr. Walter Burke……I will never forget his kindness) who took me under his wing, and, with his lovely wife’s help, polished me into a mature, responsible, and eager to learn, young lady. I got an apartment, with a girlfriend, off of Wilshire Blvd on Wilton Place, within walking distance to work, and lived there until 1969.
I fell in love with one of the in-house “company attorneys”, who was 15 years older than I. He looked just like James Garner! I was on top of the world, but after dating for almost two years, our relationship was not to be! During this time, I made many friends at work and had several roomies move in and out of our two bedroom apartment. One of my roommates was dating a marine from El Toro Marine base in Anaheim. He told her he wanted to bring a friend, who had tragically lost his young wife the year before, to meet one of us room mates. The night he brought him over, I was the only one home…so I figured it was me that he was meant to meet. He was cute and after a few more visits to our apartment, I could feel a little connection, and the sadness I felt for my “James Garner” faded. After three months of dating him, he was given orders for a tour of Viet Nam! The rest is history:
I married the marine, James McGarr, 13 months later. I only knew him for three months before he left to do his 9 month tour in Nam…..he came home and we were married a month later in a small church wedding with family and friends. It will be 45 years of marriage for us, April 12, 2014.
Of course there were trials and tribulations during our marriage….the first of which was immediate, when I experienced extreme culture shock, leaving California and trying to make a life in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1969!! I didn’t know what to do, let alone what to say, when I saw signs on all the gas stations’ bathroom doors….”Whites Only” and “Coloreds”! I wanted to go home. I hated the South! I loved my new husband's family though. They were loving and accepting of this liberal California girl!! We didn’t live there long though, as Jim couldn’t find a decent job. Thank goodness!! He was offered a position with General Motors in Chicago, Illinois 5 months later, so it was goodbye rebels and hello Yankees for me!! I was happy once again. I was still homesick for Southern California, but slowly adjusted.
We had our first baby, Jason, in April of 1970 in Joliet, Illinois. I worked part time at Hartford Insurance. General Motors had a big lay-off after three years, so in 1973, we moved to northeast Ohio, where Jim continued to work for General Motors at the Lordstown plant, near Youngstown. In 1977, we had our second baby, Stacy.
Although my main job was “mom” to our two kids, I continued to work various administrative part-time jobs in office settings, in the medical field, the oil and gas exploration field, and an under graduate technical school, and the hotel industry, to name a few! I also did volunteer work with scouts, at the kids’ schools, and filled in as church secretary for our United Methodist Church. I have volunteered with Mobile Meals for several years, which I still enjoy doing to this day.
Our two kids have done well. Jason and family have lived in Hollywood, Florida for many years and he works for Metro PCS as regional manager of fixed network engineering for all of southern Florida. Stacy and family live in the Chicago area and she has worked for Verizon Wireless for 15 years, and recently was promoted to her current position as the director of operations for the Illinois/Wisconsin/Indiana region. We have five grandsons, ages 1 thru 22, and one 8 year old step-granddaughter, all of whom, keep us laughing, full of love, and grounded!!
Even though we are now almost 67 years old, we are thankful we are in pretty decent health and can enjoy life. Jim eats, drinks, and sleeps GOLF everyday... and FISHING almost as much!! I like to golf in fair weather. We enjoy spending time with friends, together and separately. I go to California quite often to visit my aging mom and my youngest brother and family who live in Visalia now. My dad died in 2003. My two other brothers are also well, one of whom has lived near Branson, Missouri for several years with his family, and my oldest has been living back and forth between the Bay Area of California and Afganistan and Iraq, where he works civilian contract jobs with the UN.
I have been fortunate to have reconnected with several great friends from school and spend time with them when I’m out there! Diane Dooly, Louise Siamon, Barbara Laramie, Pat O’Doul & Gloria Dorcy-Watts-O’Doul, John Cleveland, Jim Denman, and Pete Rehklau!! They have gone out of their way to be hospitable and ALWAYS there for me with any help I need getting to and from the airports, and a million other things!!! I love them so much and can’t wait to see them when I return to California soon.
Thank you to everyone on our reunion committee. You all have done an amazing job keeping us connected. Because of you, I have made a new friend in Dixie Reinehardt, from helping and talking to her while making calls for the “Class of 65 turns 65” birthday party. I went to visit her for a few days in December 2012 and in that short time, she showed me everything we could possibly see in NYC….from all the landmarks, the subway, Rockefeller Center, places to eat, to a concert at Carnegie Hall! It was a great time and Dixie is a doll!
I especially want to thank Pete Senoff for his ambitious and caring fete of creating and maintaining this spectacular website! It is a tremendous source of joy for all of us to keep in touch with old friends and make new ones!!
xo
Donna Irwin McGarr
I married the marine, James McGarr, 13 months later. I only knew him for three months before he left to do his 9 month tour in Nam…..he came home and we were married a month later in a small church wedding with family and friends. It will be 45 years of marriage for us, April 12, 2014.
Of course there were trials and tribulations during our marriage….the first of which was immediate, when I experienced extreme culture shock, leaving California and trying to make a life in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1969!! I didn’t know what to do, let alone what to say, when I saw signs on all the gas stations’ bathroom doors….”Whites Only” and “Coloreds”! I wanted to go home. I hated the South! I loved my new husband's family though. They were loving and accepting of this liberal California girl!! We didn’t live there long though, as Jim couldn’t find a decent job. Thank goodness!! He was offered a position with General Motors in Chicago, Illinois 5 months later, so it was goodbye rebels and hello Yankees for me!! I was happy once again. I was still homesick for Southern California, but slowly adjusted.
We had our first baby, Jason, in April of 1970 in Joliet, Illinois. I worked part time at Hartford Insurance. General Motors had a big lay-off after three years, so in 1973, we moved to northeast Ohio, where Jim continued to work for General Motors at the Lordstown plant, near Youngstown. In 1977, we had our second baby, Stacy.
Although my main job was “mom” to our two kids, I continued to work various administrative part-time jobs in office settings, in the medical field, the oil and gas exploration field, and an under graduate technical school, and the hotel industry, to name a few! I also did volunteer work with scouts, at the kids’ schools, and filled in as church secretary for our United Methodist Church. I have volunteered with Mobile Meals for several years, which I still enjoy doing to this day.
Our two kids have done well. Jason and family have lived in Hollywood, Florida for many years and he works for Metro PCS as regional manager of fixed network engineering for all of southern Florida. Stacy and family live in the Chicago area and she has worked for Verizon Wireless for 15 years, and recently was promoted to her current position as the director of operations for the Illinois/Wisconsin/Indiana region. We have five grandsons, ages 1 thru 22, and one 8 year old step-granddaughter, all of whom, keep us laughing, full of love, and grounded!!
Even though we are now almost 67 years old, we are thankful we are in pretty decent health and can enjoy life. Jim eats, drinks, and sleeps GOLF everyday... and FISHING almost as much!! I like to golf in fair weather. We enjoy spending time with friends, together and separately. I go to California quite often to visit my aging mom and my youngest brother and family who live in Visalia now. My dad died in 2003. My two other brothers are also well, one of whom has lived near Branson, Missouri for several years with his family, and my oldest has been living back and forth between the Bay Area of California and Afganistan and Iraq, where he works civilian contract jobs with the UN.
I have been fortunate to have reconnected with several great friends from school and spend time with them when I’m out there! Diane Dooly, Louise Siamon, Barbara Laramie, Pat O’Doul & Gloria Dorcy-Watts-O’Doul, John Cleveland, Jim Denman, and Pete Rehklau!! They have gone out of their way to be hospitable and ALWAYS there for me with any help I need getting to and from the airports, and a million other things!!! I love them so much and can’t wait to see them when I return to California soon.
Thank you to everyone on our reunion committee. You all have done an amazing job keeping us connected. Because of you, I have made a new friend in Dixie Reinehardt, from helping and talking to her while making calls for the “Class of 65 turns 65” birthday party. I went to visit her for a few days in December 2012 and in that short time, she showed me everything we could possibly see in NYC….from all the landmarks, the subway, Rockefeller Center, places to eat, to a concert at Carnegie Hall! It was a great time and Dixie is a doll!
I especially want to thank Pete Senoff for his ambitious and caring fete of creating and maintaining this spectacular website! It is a tremendous source of joy for all of us to keep in touch with old friends and make new ones!!
xo
Donna Irwin McGarr
Jim and myself (April 1969)
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Jim and me and son Jason, 1974
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Jim and me, August 2013 with daughter in law and two youngest grandkids,
Cailan and Ayden
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My daughter Stacy and son-in-law Jim
My oldest grandson, Jeremy McGarr, in his Army uniform
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Our son, Jason, and wife, Dagmar, and
kids
Another early shot of Jim and I, this one from 1972
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Me and my good friend Dixie Reinhardt at Carnegie Hall, New York (2012)
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Comments
Dear Donna~ Your grace in life is beautiful to read! Our now over 50 year friendship is a treasure to me & I loved reading your story! Can't wait to see you! Maybe Mic Fleetwood will pay us another visit!!!!
Gloria Dorcy O'Doul
Gloria Dorcy O'Doul
Donna,
Really enjoyed your story. What a wonderful and adventurous life you've had, culminating in a beautiful family with children and grandchildren. You're a lucky lady and a very deserving person. Looking forward to seeing you for the 50th reunion. See if you can get Jim to come so we can play golf on Saturday
Jeff Davis
Really enjoyed your story. What a wonderful and adventurous life you've had, culminating in a beautiful family with children and grandchildren. You're a lucky lady and a very deserving person. Looking forward to seeing you for the 50th reunion. See if you can get Jim to come so we can play golf on Saturday
Jeff Davis
Donna, it was great becoming friends in the run-up to the 65th Birthday. especially since we didn't know each other in high school! We had such a ball when you were here in 2012 to see New York for the first time. I hope you'll consider coming back for the second level exploration! Be well and I can't wait to see you in 2015!!
Dixie Reinhardt
Dixie Reinhardt