Barbara Thomas Rakstad

I went to the University of Northern Colorado (Greeley), and graduated in 1973 w/degrees in Speech Pathology and Audiology. I worked as a speech pathologist in an elementary school in Brockton MT for three years. I married a local guy in 1974, but returned to MN in 1979 when we divorced, and started working in the insurance industry in 1979. I became life insurance underwriter for Western Life in Woodbury in 1986, then moved to St Louis in 1989 to continue in this field with General American Life Insurance Co. GenAm was bought by MetLife in 2000, and I had to move to PA in 2004 (commuting to Bridgewater NJ) to keep my job. I moved back to St Louis in 2006 when telecommuting was initiated, to be near my son and his family, and then moved to Normal IL in 2009 after my son got an actuary job at State Farm in Bloomington. I am now retired and enjoy being a small part of my six grandchildrens' lives. I am still a huge MN Twins fan and love to travel; I have been to all 48 contiguous states and plan to visit Alaska and Hawaii in the next few years. Recent trips include Florida (3/2017) to catch a couple of MN Twins spring training games and then driving through the Keys to Key West; Boston (8/2017) for a family reunion; and Billings MT (4/18) for a family funeral.

One particularly fond memory is being part of a massed band in Decorah, IA my senior year. Students were invited from MN, WI, and IA (if memory serves), and I was chosen from our school along with Judy Golden, Roger Oberg, and Jerry Wahl. It was such an honor for us four, and this is why our band leader, Robert Klein, was probably one of my favorite high school teachers.
One other fond memory is being part of our annual Christmas concerts (yes, we called them that back then!), which were always well attended by the community.