Anne (Ryder) Wilson

Ancestors

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Biography

I was born in Arlington, Massachusetts, in 1950, the first child of Kenneth Gilmore Ryder and Virginia Patricia ("Pat") GAGNON Ryder. When I was six-months old my parents moved from Arlington to the neighboring town of Lexington when they bought their first house. I went through the schools there, as did my sister (2 years younger) and brother (10 years my junior). After graduating from high school, I went to Northeastern University in the College of Education. My father Ken had worked for the university since just before my birth and I'd always known that I would go there.

Upon graduation with a BS in Ed. I went to work in Saugus, Massachusetts, just north of Boston, as an elementary school teacher, starting in a 4-grade, 4-room school teaching first grade. After 8 years the school was closed and I moved to teach third grade in the largest elementary school in town. I stayed in that school for the remainder of my career, 15 years in third grade with an additional 12 years in fifth. A few years before retiring I earned a Masters in Ed. and was fortunate enough to be chosen one year as a George Washington Scholar and two other years for a teaching American History grant. I retired in 2007 after teaching for 35 years.

Three months after starting my teaching career (December, 1972), I married my college sweetheart of 4 years, Bob from Winthrop, Massachusetts. Ten years later we were able to afford to buy the house in which we still live. Our only child, a son, was born at the end of 1983, a year after we bought the house.

Another family change was the divorce of my parents and the remarriage of my father in 1975. This second marriage produced half-sisters in 1976 and 1978 when I was age 26 and 28, respectively. Their ages make them more like my children and their children more like my grand-children than like sisters and nieces/nephews. My brother, his wife, and their children fall right in the middle in respect to ages.

Retirement has brought me time to enjoy going places with my beloved Bob ("like dating again" he often says), day-trips and some longer excursions. Mostly we share a love of photography and head on jaunts to nearly towns, parks, and sites which may yield photos, mostly of nature or landscapes. I'm also actively involved with my local choral society, genealogical society (Essex County), university alumni group, and one of my family associations. I also serve as a Commissioner for the Essex County National Heritage area. When at home I can be found on my computer writing or doing more genealogical research.

Sources

• First-hand information. Entered by Anne Ryder at registration.