By Alice Huth-Derrah
Although this will be LouAnn Edward’s first time for submitting articles for The Family Seton on-line parish newsletter at St. Elizabeth Seton, it’s not her first time as a published author. There is also no one better to introduce LouAnn to our parish than LouAnn herself, in her own rich and humorous style.
I was born in Beaverton, Oregon and spent all of my years there until my retirement. My parents were divorced, and it was just my mom and I while I was growing up, although my dad lived close by and we were together often. My mom was a secretary, and my dad was a car dealer, so I grew up hearing all of the jokes. The upside was I always had a car to drive! I went to public school through the 7th grade and then to an all-girls Catholic school, St. Mary of the Valley, for Grades 8 through 12. These years had the greatest impact on my faith. We prayed before every class, learned the Memorare (which I had never heard), and best of all had an assembly that changed my life. The founder of Oregon Right to Life had daughters at the high school and came to give a presentation on abortion. They had the “precious feet” pins that had been made from a photo taken by Dr. Russell Sacco from Oregon of a ten week old preborn baby. From that moment on I knew what my passion would always be…to save the babies. I always stayed involved with Oregon Right to Life and soon they asked me to host a cable TV talk show at the local public access station called “Woman to Woman.”
While attending college close to home, I started feeling restless and found myself drawn to a local ice rink where a professional group was rehearsing for a show called “America On Ice”, which was scheduled to go on tour. I had previously danced and skated for years, so I began dropping college classes and taking private lessons from one of the cast members, former Olympic champion pairs skater Cindy Kaufmann. I was in heaven, but my parents were less than thrilled. I confidently reassured them that I was going to get really good at skating and get a fabulous offer to join an ice show and travel all over the world. I’d be sure to get them a front row seat. I think they were on the verge of hiring a psychiatrist. The following year I did it! I got my first job with “America On Ice”, which went to Taiwan, then “Holiday On Ice” in South America and Europe, and next the “Ice Capades” in the US and Canada. My mom, dad and stepmom took turns coming to see me in Puerto Rico, Rio de Janeiro, Caracas, London, Dusseldorf, and Paris. Of course, they sat in the front row! I recently ventured over to the local ice rink but my skills now are a better fit for the Carol Burnett show. I also tried my hand at writing and was thrilled in 2007 to win the Erma Bombeck Global Humor Writers award. It was a fun piece about my mom, Lucille, titled “Mom on the Sauce.” (That’s spaghetti sauce in case you’re wondering!) I won honorable mention for a second piece in 2018.
I’ve been married for 40 years to my husband Gary. We have six children: four daughters and twin sons, between the ages of 25 and 40 years old. We currently have twelve grandchildren and look forward to many more. None of them are in Arizona I’m so sad to say!
