I moved to Eugene, Oregon from Texas in 1970, and was employed at the Eugene Public Library for 16 years. While employed at the library, I continued my education at the University of Oregon, where I graduated summa cum laude in December 1986 with a B.S. in community health. In February 1987, I took my dream job and started my 26-year career in public health in Coos County, which ended with 13 years of service as the Public Health Administrator, before retirement in 2013.

Highlights of my public health career included initiating Coos County’s licensing and inspection program for restaurants, swimming pools and tourist facilities; developing one of the first tobacco prevention coalitions in the state; and leading the Health Emergency Response Team (HERT), which became known in Oregon as a model of public health working collaboratively with the response community.

I am a founding member of SCRIPT (now known as Coos Health Initiatives or CHI), and we were successful in bringing in federal grants to increase access to health care at Waterfall Clinic and train public health nurses to provide case management services. My loss of a long-time friend of 50 years to pancreatic cancer was a motivation to pursue our current project— Coos Fights Cancer. In addition to CHI, I continue to work for the betterment of our community through my involvement in Coos County Friends of Public Health, The League of Women Voters of Coos County, and the Zonta Club of the Coos Bay Area.