Joyce Gilburt Hood-Jelliff

Joyce Gilburt Hood-Jelliff - 160 Winfield St., East Norwalk, CT 06855, (203) 866-1628 jghood@optonline.net

Without a doubt, the best parts of my life are my husband, my 3+2 children and 6+2 grandchildren ranging from ages 6 - 15. In my race to get married, I left Skidmore and my future in art, after my junior year. Not graduating, I admit is a bit of regret. However, I give my first husband, Dave Hood a lot of credit for the superior genes and sense of humor, and I award my second husband, Bill Jelliff, my very own (slow pulse rate) 'purple heart' for his insight, patience, love, wit and sticking with me these last great 20 years.

In between my first and second marriage, I made a 90 degree turn in my life, moving to Puerto Rico (…don't ask) from 1970-1979, along with my three children. I first worked in a "to die for" furniture and accessories business as a Retail Manager; then for a division of International Paper, and those last 7 years as VP/General Manager of a lamination and die cutting operation serving the lingerie manufacturers. Unfortunately, my Spanish never got better than, "Pare la machina", and "no puedes los gatos en la officina, but I did manage to keep the union out.

Along with some really bizarre situations, living in Puerto Rico was a life I am not sure I would repeat, but my kids did me proud by getting into Stanford/Harvard, Stanford and Rutgers, though slightly tainted by some extraordinary social experiences, some even at gun point. Dave is now in real estate development. Jackie has her own telecom business, and Bill is Director of Sales for Renesas/Hitachi.

After the kids left for college, I returned to the US, and for the last 20+ years have had my own recruiting firm, J.G. Hood Associates, specializing in job search for Engineering, Supply Chain, IT, Marketing/Sales, etc. I recently moved my office into my house, and except for occasional trips, will keep at it as long as I am able. My husband, Bill, still works full time for ITT/Flygt in Quality Management, and will stay there 'till they throw him out.

Besides my sister, Joan, we keep in close touch with Bill LeMoult, and less frequently with Linda O'Donnell Elliott, who I still consider my best friends.

Bill and I have had some repeated and outstanding trips, particularly to Nantucket, Boothbay Harbor, Banff, Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon, the San Juan Islands/Victoria and the Pacific NW coast. In fact, I am looking forward to taking my daughter and the two oldest grandkids to Italy in June '04. My interest in art and decorating has been maintained by tweaking and remodeling our homes and whatever else I can get my hands on. In the words of my first husband, "Every bush in our yard should have wheels on them."

Life has been very good to me, and though not fearless, I continue to charge ahead, and somehow muddle through. Except for one slight touch of cancer (and incidentally, New Year's Eve is a great time for an operation) and the effects of aging and gravity, things have moved along well in spite of me.

Finally, I thank Miss Hall for cutting the word "sure" out of my vocabulary, along with nailing down the ability not to shrink under a withering stare.