ALL SEASONS ORO VALLEY RESIDENT SPOTLIGHTS BARBARA GRASS Born in Cape Cod, MA, Barbara Grass has always loved art. She went to The Vesper George School of Art in Boston, which led her to a career in the Art Department for the New England Telephone Company. She designed masterful needlework, even teaching and traveling for the American Needlepoint Guild and the Embroiderers’ Guild of America, giving seminars across the country. Her mother initially taught her, and Barbara is pleased to have passed on these art techniques to many generations. Barbara has two sons, whom she visited in Arizona for over 25 years before she decided on settling in the Grand Canyon State. A fun fact about Barbara is that she can trace her lineage back to 1625, when her ancestors sailed from England to settle on the Cape.
JOANNE ERVIN Joanne, 85-years-young, was born in Eureka, Kansas and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. She married her first husband, Larry, in 1954. Larry served in the Air Force and together they moved all over the States and even lived in Norway and Bermuda. After his passing, she married Richard in 1982. Joanne has four daughters (Sherry, Susan, Sandy, and Sharon), four grandchildren, four great grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren. Joanne was a Mortgage Lender Manager for 20 years, after working as a photographer in Omaha. A music lover, she enjoyed meeting many famous big band leaders over the years. She loves bridge, skiing, dancing, entertaining, and traveling. In her later years, she put her love of humor and laughter to good use, transforming herself for children’s parties into “JoJo the Clown” in Apache Junction! You will always see Joanne with a smile on her face and a kind word to say.
SUE CONTO Sue was a World War II baby born in California to a mother who worked in a doctor’s office and a father who worked as a crop duster. Sue was the first person on either side of her family to go to college. She graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelors in Education. It was there that she first met Tom. He was the best looking man she had ever seen. They might have met in a Geology class, but right from the beginning, it was all about chemistry. Over the years, they moved from New Jersey to Arizona to British Columbia with their four boys. They eventually moved back to Arizona and lived in Globe for 45 years. Sue has always been able to pick up an instrument and pass the time with music. She’s dabbled in piano, accordion, guitar, and ukulele. To her, classical guitar is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. When asked about the coolest gift she ever received, she fondly recalls the blue Schwinn bike she was given at age 12. 19
