Name: Sharon Johnston / McGowan / Pearson
Martial status: Married
Spouse's/Significant other's name:
Bernhard James, he goes by Jim
Home address: 5931 West Kings Avenue, Glendale, AZ 85306
Phone #: 602-547-2139
Cell phone #: 602-696-5482
Fax #: 602-866-3768
Your life since 1963: After graduation, Stan McGowan and I were engaged in August of 1963. We were married in August 1964 and moved to Des Moines, IA shortly after the wedding. In December 1966, I joined US West as a directory assistant answering 411 calls. Our daughter, Cordi, was born in March of 1971. Tragically, Stan died on the job where he was employed trying to help others out of danger in July of 1971. Cordi was 4 months old at the time.
After Stan's passing, my best friend and my supervisor, Diane (a.k.a. Jim's sister) who I had become good friends with decided they would get Jim and I together. Diane would talk of him often while he was in the service and I would share stories of my family who were in Michigan. Now mind you Diane never shared any pictures of Jim, so it all started with a blind date in March of 1972. I agreed to meet him and celebrate Diane's birthday. We hit it right off, dated after that evening and married that following September in 1972. This year we will be celebrating 34 years. We lived in Des Moines, IA until 1976, then moved to Omaha, NE and resided there 17 years. When US West started to downsize, I was given the opportunity to relocate to Phoenix to complete my years of service, as at that point I did not have the magic numbers to retire.
We moved to Phoenix (Glendale) in 1993, retired from US West in 1997 with 30 years, which was my goal when I hired on.
Our daughter gifted us with a cruise through the Panama Canal for us to celebrate our 25th anniversary and my retirement with US West. She is a wonderful, caring daughter that we are very close with and has made us very proud over the years. She still lives in Omaha; we have no grandchildren, only grand-dogs and a grand-ferret as she says.
Your life now: We have lived in Glendale, AZ since October of 1993. My Mom moved out with us, as my Dad had passed away in 1985. My mother passed away this past October to lung cancer. We were very close as I also am with my daughter.
After retiring from US West in 1997 after 30 years, I started with Best Western International in April of 1997 and will be there 9 years already this April. I enjoy training new Sales Reps on the different software required for the job and handling the Quality Assurance in the Group Sales Department. I also have my own company, which I answer inbound calls after hours for California AAA road service, which keeps me busy. I enjoy being on the computer.
My husband retired this year after 30 plus years in the auto glass business. We owned Pearson's Glass in Omaha, NE prior to moving to Phoenix.
What classmates have you kept in contact with? : Nylene Pitkin / Trampel for a few years after graduation
What classmates would you like to hear from? : All, anyone in the Phoenix area? I was at CLHS for only a short time so didn't get to know a lot of you very well. I also attended Iron Mountain High School in Iron Mountain, Michigan for half a year, so receive invites for the Class Reunions as well.
Would/could you help find classmates? : I may be able to help; I have very little extra time with both jobs until I retire from one or the other.
Any hobbies? : I used to collect cookbooks, however rarely cook anymore as it is more convenient to go out to eat since it's just the two of us.
While in Omaha we used to boat on the Missouri River for 10 years. We were boating every weekend from Friday evening to late Sunday afternoon.
We enjoy Country Western dancing and even used to teach. We belonged to a group called the Country Kickers in Omaha. As we don't dance like we used to, we still enjoy country music. A few years ago I won a trip to Nashville for Fan Fair. All expenses paid over a 4-day weekend. They treated us like royalty. We met several stars behind the scenes and visited several music companies on Music Row. It was Country Music around the clock for 4 days and we really had a great time!
We have a 1941 Ford pick up (street rod) that we have driven across country to different car shows and have received many trophies at 5-star car shows. Jim is still very active with some of the guys and enjoys going out 'cruisin' on those beautiful days and nights. At least here, in Glendale, the truck can be driven year round unlike the limited days in Omaha. We are also avid NASCAR fans. Jeff Gordon is one of our favorite drivers.
Favorite song of 1963 or earlier: Crazy, song by Patsy Cline.
