Connie Lucas Kocher

After graduating from BHS in 1960, I attended ISU and received my bachelor’s degree in 1963. That same year I married and we moved to St. Louis, where I took my first teaching job. The next year we moved to Humboldt, IA, where I also taught high school. I also had my first three children, Gabrielle, Elizabeth, and John. After six years, we moved to Zanesville, OH, and I had my fourth child, Joseph. Today Gabrielle (Abby) lives near me and is a gemologist and has one son. My second daughter, Elizabeth (Libby) is a pediatrician in Columbus, OH, and has three children. John is responsible for all of the HVAC systems and workers for the Hilliard school district in Columbus and has two sons. Joe lives in Chicago and is a web designer.

In 1979 my first husband and I divorced, and I later married my current husband, Bob. He has three children, all of whom lived with us for long periods when they were growing up. His oldest, Kim, is an occupational therapist and lives in Lafayette, IN and has two sons. Kevin lives here in Canton OH near us. He has two children and one grandson, our only great-grandchild. Adam also lives here in Canton. He is an RN and has one son, our youngest grandson, Henry. That’s a total of seven children, eleven grandchildren and one great-grandson!

While living in Zanesville, I obtained my master’s degree at The Ohio State University by commuting to Columbus in the evenings while working full-time teaching high school.

After marrying Bob we moved to Chicago for a time and then came back to Ohio to Canton. I was an assistant professor for six years at the local community college. By now the children were nearly grown and I was bored with teaching. I transitioned from education to corporate training. Over time I have become an HR professional and generalist in most HR functions. Today I am the Director of Organizational Development for a company headquartered in Chicago with division offices in Canton. I travel regularly to Chicago and love my job. I’m healthy, competent, and love my job, so I don’t think much about retiring! We lived in Chicago for a second time for my job before moving back to Canton. While there I got a post-graduate certificate in organization development from Benedictine University.

My husband Bob is an automotive journalist. We love to travel and go to Vegas a couple of times a year. We also own a farm we inherited in Michigan and visit there often. Weekends we spend time at our campsite on a lake about an hour from here, which we share with the grown children and their families. We have a great pontoon boat that’s fun for the grandchildren to tube behind. We keep our 36 foot travel trailer there permanently.

We’ve traveled a great deal—to Panama, Mexico, Sweden, Hawaii, and Italy. This year we spent 10 days in Germany and had a marvelous time. We also go to the Kentucky Derby every year to celebrate with my husband’s fellow Kentucky Colonels.

My mom, who is 92, still lives in Bloomington, and so does my sister Janet. My older brother lives in Springfield and my other sister Cathy lives in Bellingham, WA, a great place to visit near the San Juan Islands.

I love creative projects and technology, which I’ve combined to create videos and photo shows of our trips and family. I am a Mac lover and have several wirelessly networked Macs, an IPhone, and several IPods. The young people at work are amazed at my tech savvy.

We look forward to reconnecting with my high school class at the reunion in 2010.

Note: Also check “Photo Gallery” for some pix of Connie and Bob