Jane Doherty Wagner
Hello everyone - I am sorry I waited so long to write my biography! Would have been a lot easier as one of the first, i.e. no acts to follow! Can’t tell you how much I am enjoying reading all of yours.
Upon graduation I worked for the Bank of Huntington for a few months and then moved to Baltimore to live with a friend, Martha, whom I had known since age three. She was a student at Maryland Institute of Art and needed a roommate. Sounded good to me. I worked for Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation as a Secretary until she decided to get married. I moved home, bought a spanking new Robin’s Egg Blue ‘58 MG from Rusty Hawkins at Oxford Motors and commuted to Westbury to work as an assistant to the Personnel Manager of a mid-sized firm. The commute got old very fast! From there I went to work for USFD#3 in the old Trade School Building for Dr. Buck Rex, Assistant Superintendent of Schools. Dr. Finley was Superintendent at that time. That was a great place to work.
On April 7, 1961 I married Robert Wagner at the Centerport Methodist Church. (No one reading my bio will know him except Judy and Pete November. Bob, Pete and Judy worked at the Research Center of United Technologies.) Briefly, Bob had visited LI numerous times while on leave with a Navy buddy and decided to move here when he was discharged. He was attending school in Manhattan so we moved to Kew Gardens. I was able to find employment quickly as many of Olin’s staff had been transferred to the Fifth Avenue office. I enjoyed 3 ½ yrs. working across from the Plaza. Upon graduation Bob took a job in Pleasantville, NY and I went with Reader’s Digest. We then moved to Mt. Kisco. When his company moved to northern NJ he went with Hazeltine and we bought a house in Northport. In 1969 our son, Guy, came into our lives and I was Bob’s wife, Guy’s mom from then on. In 1973 we left Northport and settled in Manchester, CT. I did the “mom thing” – PTA, library volunteer, cub scouts, boy scouts, chauffeuring to and fro, etc. As a family we were active in our church, hosted foreign scouts each summer and hosted German Exchange Students through Guy’s German class the four years he was in High School. In 1995 Bob took early retirement from UTC and found the career of his dreams as a Research Associate at The Photonics Research Center, UCONN. Several of his UTC colleagues were also involved in its creation which made it even more exciting for all of them. Unfortunately, in September 1997 he died very unexpectedly.
As my son was just starting his career as a CPA with KPMG in NY, I decided to leave CT and relocate to Sayville, NY to be closer to my sister and my dad. I rented an apartment for four years and took my “accountant’s” advice and bought a small co-op last August. I work full time at a small insurance agency in Sayville. Having always lived on the north shore, I knew very little about the south shore. Sayville is a beautiful little town with a very active Chamber. There is always something going on, especially in the summer when Fire Island comes to life. Sort of gives you the feeling that you are on an endless vacation. I have met many new friends and am very active in a service club, Pilot Club of Sayville.
Guy is single, lives in Brooklyn and now works for CIBC Worldmarkets in Manhattan. He has a lovely girlfriend and maybe I’ll be able to tell you about my grandchildren in 2006!
Thank you Jane, Allan and Ford for all that you have done to get the reunion rolling. Thank you to all who have sent your bios. I find myself anxious to get home to the computer to read my mail.
So far, life has been good to me. In friendship, Jane Wagner