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Serendipity has played a large part in Sylvia and
JD's relationship. They met on Sylvia’s birthday in 1983, at a Toledo
Ski Club football party. She was rooting for her alma mater, the
University of Michigan, and he was rooting for Ohio State, where he
earned his Masters degree. JD still celebrates Sylvia’s birthday and the
anniversary of their meeting whenever Michigan and Ohio State play their
fall game.
They are the proud designers and owners of a beautiful new solar home on
Missouri Heights, with Mt. Sopris framed in their front windows. The
serendipity that brought them here started in 1989, when they flew to
Snowbird for a ski vacation, but their skis, boots and bags didn’t
arrive for several days. They used the free plane tickets they received
as compensation to fly to Aspen the following summer for the Food and
Wine Classic. They found a cozy lodge, where they stayed on many
successive trips to Aspen. In 1998, the lodge was sold, and in 2000 the
owners invited JD and Sylvia to house sit for them in their Missouri
Heights residence while they spent nine months in Spain. After 2 years
as house sitters, they began to look for a place to build their own
dream home. A friend of Sylvia’s had a lot for sale on Missouri
Heights—the perfect spot for their new home.
Sylvia grew up in central Michigan. She was leaning toward studying
chemistry, but opted for speech pathology after learning about it from a
professor. She spent her career working as a speech and language
pathologist in Michigan public schools. The work was challenging and
varied, as she worked at different times with physically, mentally,
emotionally, or hearing impaired or autistic preschoolers, elementary
and senior high school students,
Sylvia spent a summer in Italy right after college with the Experiment
in International Living. With other teachers, she traveled to Europe,
USSR, Africa, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti, New
Zealand, and Australia, mostly “pre-JD.” One summer the Toledo Area
Regional Transit Authority (TARTA) lost a bond issue, and JD’s project
lost its funding. He was temporarily without a job, just in time to join
Sylvia’s planned trip to China. In spite of the lack of Chinese language
skills, they had a wonderful trip. JD took lots of photos with his 35-mm
camera, while Sylvia did the same with a small point and shoot camera.
Due to a camera malfunction, JD’s 20 rolls of film were blank, but they
still have memorable photos of their trip.
JD grew up in Ohio, and worked in the transportation industry. He earned
his Civil Engineering degrees after a stint in the Navy. During his
career he designed freeway bridges, did planning for TARTA, and worked
on handicapped access. He finished up his career as a safety planner for
the Ohio DOT. His specialty was developing new transportation models.
Sylvia sang and played clarinet and piano in high school. After college,
she began to study ballet, jazz, tap, Middle Eastern and Spanish dance;
she loved doing choreography for local theater and school productions.
In our valley, she has joined the Glenwood Community Chorus and has
resumed belly dancing, which is easiest on the joints. She and JD usher
for the Aspen-Santa Fe Ballet and the Wheeler in Aspen, and volunteer
for the Winter X Games, Jazz Aspen, the Music Festival, Food and Wine
Classic, and the Thunder River Theatre Company.
They describe their relationship as “bi-urban” before they retired. ODOT
required JD to live in Ohio, and Sylvia lived and worked across the
border in Michigan; they spent their weekends and vacations together.
Many of their vacations were to ski resorts, including a trip to then
newly-opened Las Lenas, Argentina. They are now happily settled down
together in the Roaring Fork Valley, with diverse skiing and hiking
opportunities, and the 100 Club to spur them on to ever-greater
experiences.
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