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MARILYN GRUBER In her own words... I was born in a small town Potchefstroom, South Africa on the 9th. of April 1948. My maiden name was Marilyn Shulman. We lived about 11/2 hours from the big city of Johannesburg. I don’t remember much of my town. |
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Unfortunately, all this weight took a heavy toll on our marriage. We lived in the Bay Area of Northern California which reminded us of the Cape in South Africa. We stayed together for the kid’s sake until they left for college. I went to work 6 weeks after arriving in the states. I started at Emporium Capwells in domestics. It was a new experience for me and I made wonderful friends whom I have kept. One of the funniest things that happened to me at work involved a couple who asked me where the “futons” were and I gave them directions to a Chinese restaurant thinking there were asking for “wantons.” That is how green I was. My friend Jan nearly wet her pants laughing. After a couple of months, I was promoted to head of domestics and three years later to buyer. I did not take the job because my husband finally got our Green cards and I became his secretary in his accounting practice. Soon, one of his clients also needed a part time secretary and I took on that responsibility. I became the office manager for a big construction firm and worked there for six years. I was then offered a job at Rossmoor retirement community to work with elderly people at their homes. Most of my patient’s had Alzheimer’s disease. I loved the job. No more traffic and my three patients were lovely ladies. Unfortunately, after six years my back and knee gave out from all the physical work. My company offered me the opportunity to be retrained using a computer. I did the eight week course, passed and landed up working for the Trades Guild offices. They were a referral service for people seeking professional labor in their homes. I had my own office with a new Dell computer, good phone system and a comfortable chair. On Saturdays, I delivered fliers for them. I loved the arrangement. The traffic was dreadful but the job was stimulating. I met Burton, which has been the best part of my life. He was raised in Tacoma and wanted to retire to Washington after working as an attorney in the San Francisco Bay area for many years. Before I knew it, we were looking in Sequim and found a beautiful house. I always loved being high up and having the water view. Burt is the best and I love him dearly. Our neighbor, retired Judge Ragnar Engebretsen, married us in his house with two of our friends as witnesses. It was simple and stress free and I highly recommend it. The flower bouquet came from our garden (sweat peas) and the corsages from my English rose. We had a wonderful meal made by the judge and his wife. There was a beautiful sunset and the night was spent with love and respect. Burton and I love Sequim. We are adjusting to the weather by taking trips to California to see friends and family in the winter. I am a very proud mother of Tracey, Ph.D, Marine Biology, Gregory, Ph.D, Forensic Psychology and Simone, wedding planner who assists in running the beautiful Gabriels’ restaurant in Sedalia, Colorado. I would love to see them more often but the best relationship with kids is to let them fly. Burton and I have a cocker spaniel named Copper who is very spoiled and we love him to death. I look forward to joining the Soroptimist group. |
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I just felt I belonged there with friends close to our house and always going to my father’s bakery which was filledwith the fresh smell of bread and steak and kidney pies. My grandfather came from Russia and started the bakery and when he passed on my dad ran the business. My dad had three sisters and a brother all of whom tried to better themselves by going to college and other means. My wonderful mom stayed home and took care of me and my older brother. My dad was offered a substantial sum by the government to sell the mill and bakery which were very close to the army base. He accepted the offer and we moved to Johannesburg. Our house in Johannesburg was an estate on six acres with a tennis court, swimming pool, billiard room and far too many bedrooms and bathrooms. One could get lost in the house and sometimes I did. All our family thought our new life was wonderful but it took me a great deal of time to get used to the servants, private Hebrew school and new friends. I loved my nanny Maggie who was very protective of me and sensed my vulnerability. I grew up pretty content, and was privileged to travel all over Europe with my parents, brother and a cousin named Hillary who came to live with us after her mother died. We became sisters. She still lives in Johannesburg with her husband and they have three children and a grandchild on the way. My mom is very dependent upon her because my brother like me lives in this country with his wife, and children all in and around New Jersey. I was married to Gabriel at the tender age of 19 and had 3 children by the time I was 25. We had a good life and a lovely home on another side of Johannesburg. My husband had a very good job as chief accountant in a big firm. However, he traveled from Monday to Friday so I was the one who literally brought up our children,Tracey, the oldest, Simone, the middle daughter and Gregory our youngest. We lived in Johannesburg and moved to a newer community there called Northcliff. I made many friends and we started our own Synagogue. I was on every committee at the school from sports including: cricket, football, hockey, to drama, music and ballet dancing. I worked with the Jewish Benevolent Society for 12 years. This Society took care of elderly Jews who needed help physically and financially. I played squash and tennis and our social life was hectic over the weekends with family and friends. |
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SI Sequim |