Wendy L. Huntington

Personal life: After graduating from Pomona, I stayed in Claremont to attend Claremont Graduate School in the Elementary Teaching Internship program for a year. In February of 1963, I married Chris Osmers, '63, and that summer we moved to Tacoma, Washington. In October, we had our first child, Laurie, followed by her brother, Cameron born in 1966. Laurie attended Pitzer College and graduated from the University of Puget Sound. She is now married to Reed Kelley and the mother of three of my 5 grandchildren. Cameron graduated from Pacific Lutheran University, is now in the pharmaceutical business (a family tradition), and has 2 children. I feel very fortunate that they all live nearby and that I have been able to be with them on my weekly "Nana's Day" since they were infants. Grand parenting is wonderful; we laugh and play all day, then go home to our respective beds and collapse!

Overview of my working life since 1962: In 1972, I worked at Nordstrom for a fall sale, and ended up working there for the next 17 years. I liked working with people, on a flexible schedule that, as a single mom, I could work around the kids' busy school and sports schedules. In the early '80s, I started thinking about “life after retail”, and went to Pacific Lutheran University for a Master's Degree in Counseling. I did an internship, which led to a job at the Puyallup Tribal Treatment Center, and also worked in private practice with a wonderful mentor and fellow colleague. From 1992-1999 I worked as a family therapist for Horizon Treatment Services, developing and leading the family program there. During that time, I took classes at The Haven Institute for Professional Training, on Gabriola Island, British Columbia, received their Diploma in Counseling (equivalent to a vocational Master’s degree). I have been leading core programs and creating new courses with colleagues as part of the Institute's Core Faculty. In 2000, I finished a doctoral program in Therapeutic Counseling from The Institute for Integral Human Sciences in Montreal.

Proudest moment/most memorable experience in the last 40 years: Just ONE? Hmmm. I think graduating from Pomona College is one of the proudest moments, especially in retrospect. After graduation was when I really learned to appreciate the value of a liberal arts education, in a small setting where learning to think critically and then express my thoughts was as important as course content. I'm proud to have continued learning (even though it was years later than most of our classmates). Some of my proudest moments have been in the lives of my children and grandchildren.

Most important part of my Pomona experience: The people I learned from at Pomona and the lifetime friends I made were and continue to be important. Getting together annually with former suitemates Janne Fecht, Patti Holmes and Pooh Venrick and watching as our lives and families develop through the years has been an ongoing benefit of my Pomona years.

Favorite professor and why: Donald McIntyre---a brilliant and creative man, who in his quiet, unassuming way inspired our (then) small and rough edged bunch of geology majors to stretch beyond what we thought was possible and become successful.

Plans for the Future: I love what I'm doing, and don't see retirement any time soon! Work seems like play, involves lots of travel, and is very rewarding. A new direction my interests are taking me (and my grandchildren and students) is into the world of creative expression, textile art and dance being my new passions.