Hometown: I was born in St. Paul. My childhood home in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood was also the home where my husband, Patrick Leahy, and I lived with our four daughters. Pat died in 2002. Daughter Amy and her husband now live there with their two sons. I married Dick Grimes in 2009. He was a kind and thoughtful guy. He died in 2017. His children and grandchildren continue to share holidays and special occasions with me.

When did you become a member of UMRA? 2009

What was your first job? My first job after college was as a travel agent. I worked for Leuthold Travel, the firm that helped my friend and me plan our trip to Europe post-graduation from the U in 1960. The agent gave us a Cook’s Railroad Guide, sold us Eurail passes, and off we went.

What was your occupation when you retired from FT work? After I retired from the Humphrey School in 2002, the principal of Saint Peter Claver called and asked if I would help her for a few years.  It was a splendid opportunity and we worked together for seven years until I retired, again, in 2009.

Where were you in 1968? I was married, living in St. Paul, very busy with three children born in 1963, ’65, and ’67, and expecting my fourth the following spring.

Do you have a favorite place on the U of M campus? The Humphrey School and that area of the West Bank. I absolutely loved working there in the Dean's Office for nine years and then with Samuel L. Myers Jr. for 10 years. Those jobs were all-encompassing and I delighted in the people I worked with and for: Harlan Cleveland, Royce Hanson, Ed Schuh, Paul Light, John Brandl, Dick Bolan, and finally Dr. Myers and his graduate students. I met interesting people, was constantly challenged with new ideas, new programs, new technology, a new five-year plan, and with Dr. Myers, traveled extensively. It was a unique opportunity and Pat and I welcomed people from all over the world to our home because of those contacts we made through the Humphrey.

What is a fun fact about you we might not know? I had a catering business for 10 years, The Movable Feast on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul. Oh, we had a grand time of it, with a splendid staff—mostly Macalester, St. Thomas, and St. Kate’s students, and two wonderful Vietnamese women. Dick Siefert worked with us. Later, he was the chef at Eastcliff when Ken Keller was president of the University. One Thanksgiving weekend when I was working at the Humphrey, Dick asked my Feast partner, Nancy Martin, and me to come and bake cookies for the president's holiday parties. That was fun!