Barbara Low Balthrop

I have 11 grandchildren, have cared for them all until they started school; oldest is 23 & in the U.S.Army currently stationed in Korea. The youngest is 20 months and all the rest are in school. Before becoming a grandmother, I worked as an RN in a variety of areas, from OB & Newborn Nursery to Dialysis & School nursing. I also taught & did Home Health as well as telephonic precertification & utilization review. We moved around a lot since my husband of 49 years worked for Texas Instruments for 41 years. For the last 12 years I have used my nursing skills during medical mission trips to Nicaragua, Honduras, Eleuthera, and Dominican Republic to keep my certification active. I stay busy, and am so blessed to have all my family so close. We make family a priority.

Karen Brandenburg and I had played clarinet in band since Jr. High, but in our senior year we both wanted to try out for The Belles, and we both made it! So we had to do some fast talking between Mr. Patterson and Miss Stark. They agreed to let us do both, playing with the band whenever the drill team wasn't marching, but performing with the Belles when they both were involved. It was CRAZY FUN!!! Also, I was involved in Girl Scouts throughout High School. Those experiences and those friendships were some of the best of my life! The foreign exchange student from Brazil, Vania Lucia Pinto Valente, lived with me and that was a really great experience too, though we've lost touch.