Harriet Ratliff - 1963
BIO & Picture
Update Christmas 2009

 
 
 
 
 

Let’s start with the present and work back. I am the Postmaster of a small Post Office in Watkins, CO. only about 15 miles from home. I have been Postmaster since 1994 after paying my dues as a part time clerk for the first 15 years and working all hours of the day and night at a number of different offices and working Saturdays and Sundays. Now I work 8 5, Monday through Friday and no weekends and no holidays. So now I know I’m on the downhill slide into retirement.

I am married to a great guy and have been for 37 years. We have 2 daughters, Kerry and Kelly, both married. Kerry to Todd and they live close to us in Strasburg and Kelly to Troy. Kelly has a little 5 year old daughter who is the light of our lives and they live in Parker, Co. Little Miss Hannah keeps us on our toes and we try to spend as much time with her as possible. Grandkids are the greatest.

My husband, Bill, started out as a High School Business teacher, but 30 years ago lost his head and bought a hardware store giving up weekends, holidays, and summer vacations. But the store has been good to us and our family. The girls see how hard we have worked and decided there is an easier way to make a living, so neither family is interested in buying and taking over the business. So we’ll look for someone else that would like to work 7 days a week, be tied down 24 hours a day, only to be able to say “1 own my own business.”

About myself after Hickman High School, I went to Stephens College and graduated with an AA degree in fashion. Then on to M.U. majoring in Home Economics not caring for the school—it was way too big for me. It was a good thing I went to Estes Park, CO to work for the summer, met Bill and decided to get married, because I probably would have quit otherwise. Bill and I were married in June, 1966 and moved to Greeley, CO that fall for Bill to finish school. It took me a little longer as I worked to put him through and also had to commute so I couldn’t always take a full load. But I finished in 1969 with a teaching degree, just before our oldest daughter was born. She was my special graduation present. I did teach a couple of years but decided to raise a family instead.

We moved to Strasburg, CO after college to teach only 1 year, as it was not a prosperous looking town and we thought we could do anything for a year. Now 36 years later, we finally left Strasburg and built a new home 6 miles down the road and moved to Bennett, CO It’s hard to say I live in Bennett as they were arch rivals all the while our girls were in school sports. But we love our new home, the open space and the golf course.

Now that our family is grown and gone (sort of-they still come back frequently) we have never suffered from the empty nest syndrome. We are doing the things we didn’t have time to do before. First of all, we got into the old car groove (Model ‘A’s to be exact.) We have a 1928 Roadster, a 1930 4-door and a 1931 pickup, (a basket case.) We tour with a club and have gone to Reno, NV, Wichita, Kansas City and Calgary, Canada, to list a few AND we drive — not trailer. In 2001 we experienced a taste of international travel just after 9-11 having gone to London for a week, and on to the Canary Islands and experienced no troubles in travel at that time. I would go again in a heartbeat. I could be a real travel bum—if someone would just send money!

I definitely enjoyed all phases of my 40 years since Hickman High School. I am looking forward to many more. I still return to Columbia a couple of times a year as my family still live there. On occasion I have bumped into an old classmate which is fun and am looking forward to seeing you at the reunion. I have had lots of experiences and challenges, ups and downs, but without them, where would we be.