Geraldine �Gerry� Saylor was born in Los Angeles on 15 Sept. 1934. Her parents were Florence Amelia Imschweiler, the youngest daughter of John A. Imschweiler, Sr.; and Al Saylor. Her parents divorced when she was about 4 years old and has little memory of their ever being together. As the only child of a single working mother, Gerry learned early to care for herself, as there were no baby sitters after the kindergarten age. Florence would wake her when leaving for work, Gerry would get herself off to school, and care for herself after school. Many summers were spent either in Bakersfield with her father, or in Fresno, with her Grandma Clark, the ex-wife of John Imschweiler, Sr. Also much summer time was spent at the beach. Gerry used to take the red cars out to the beach and spend the day there. One of Gerry's favorite memories are the times spent with her cousins, Gloria Jean and Maryetta Imschweiler. Because of her mother's constant moving around, Gerry was in a new school almost every year. When her father returned in 1946 from serving in the Army in Italy in W.W.II, he came and picked up Gerry and they went to visit his family in Kentucky. This is the first time Gerry was on Old Route 66. The summer of 1946 is also one of her favorite memories. Upon returning to California, Gerry continued to live with her father, with her mother's consent. They lived in Inglewood, and Gerry started high school at Inglewood High. The next summer they moved to Inyokern, in the Mojave Desert. Her father owned a business there. During this time, because her father was a Free Mason, Gerry joined Job's Daughters. There is a LARGE Naval base there, called China Lake, right in the middle of the Mojave desert, and because of local arrangements civilian kids attended high school aboard the naval base, and Gerry rode the school bus there for 10th grade. It is here that she met Louis E. DeMarco, a sailor from Boston, who was stationed there. Gerry turned 16 years old in Sept. and she married Louis on 23 Oct. 1950. Louis was a career sailor, an Aviation Electrician, and the next 15 years were spent moving many places. They lived in Florida, Tennessee, California, Washington, the Philippine Islands, and sometimes traveled to visit his home and family in Boston, Mass. Gerry was a stay-at-home mom, and in the next 12 years had 11 children. The 12th and last child was born about 6 years after that. Even so, Gerry did many things. She obtained her Water Safety Instructor certificate and spent many summers teaching swimming. She was a Girl Scout leader, a Cub Scout leader, and a religious education instructor for the church & did odd jobs for pin money, i.e., baby sitting, selling Fuller Brush. Louis retired from the Navy in 1965 as a Senior Chief Petty Officer (E-8), and the family settled in Burlington, WA. Now that they were no longer hopping around, Gerry returned to school and graduated with an Associate of Arts degree from the local community college the same year the oldest child graduated from high school. Upon graduation, Gerry was offered a job in the college library, and she accepted it, and hated it. That was the year she was also expecting her youngest child, and at the end of that year, she went back to being a stay-at-home mom. After his birth she again went back to school and took some credits from Western Washington University. Then they moved to Bellingham, as it was closer to Louis's work. He was working at an Aluminum Co. and retired from there to go to work teaching electricity at the local Technical College. During much of this time, Louis and Gerry were a host family for foreign exchange students. Louis and Gerry had students from France, Germany, Japan, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Mexico. Our youngest also went to Germany as an exchange student. Louis and Gerry are still in touch with some of them and have visited them, and the host families have come to visit them. They also were a host family for refugees from Nicaragua and Guatemala as they were heading into Canada. Louis and Gerry had several families, at different times, staying with them until they received their papers. Louis and Gerry were working with a group called the Central American Refugee Association. That group no longer exists as the need no longer exists. For awhile Gerry tried selling real estate, and passed her exam on the first try, but that didn't wash either. When her youngest child started school, Gerry again looked around at "what did she want to be when she grew up"? She took an independent study class, and took another look at library work. She discovered the world of book mending and binding, did independent study, and was hired at Western Washington University Library as their book mender. Gerry loved it, and worked there until she was eligible to retire. Lou was also going to retire from the tech school. For awhile, Lou and Gerry still did a fair amount of travel to Europe, Japan, and points in between, but now that has mostly tapered off to just visiting kids, and local trips to Canada or Seattle. Sometimes Louis and Gerry do the charter bus thing to a play or someplace with the Senior Center, or with the University group. Gerry is still very busy. She often cares for grand or great grand children. Gerry is the church librarian, serves on the board of directors for the University Retirement Association, & socializes with the Women Of Western Group. Gerry attends an evening bible study class, is the church rep. for Vacation Summer Church School. She likes to read when there is quiet time. Gerry is a self-taught pianist, and does only easy stuff. She used to sing with the Sweet Adelines and now sings with a local amateur group at the senior center. Gerry has also done much genealogy work and still likes to do it when time allows. One of her very favorite things to do is needlework. She is, again, self-taught & does crochet, knitting, needlepoint, counted cross-stitch, and embroidery. Gerry has won many awards for her needlework at the county fairs. Gerry also likes to do jigsaw puzzles when time allows. Louis and Gerry used to love to square dance, but Rheumatoid Arthritis put a stop to that. |
| Geraldine Saylor |