KAREN KING
My Life and Times:
Where Did Those 40 Years Go?
(Pictured above: Frank's daughter, Valentina del Olmo, received her MSW from UCLA in June of 2005. Her Aunt Lisa Garcia (Frank's sister) and her Mom (Karen King, Class of '66) share the proud moment. Karen said, "We know that Frank was standing with us. You just can't see him." )
I have so enjoyed reading the bios and blogs from my classmates. The lives, loves and accomplishments described are truly amazing. I am honored and humbled to be part of such an interesting, intelligent, and professionally diverse group of high school classmates. As a reunion committee member I have been asked to submit my own bio, and threatened with lifetime detention if I don’t, so here goes.
I have several college degrees and certifications and have used that training to support myself through the years. I have an AA degree in Child Development, a BA degree in Child Development, a BA degree in Mexican-American Studies, and a Paralegal Certificate in Litigation from the UCLA Paralegal Training Program.
From 1970 to 1982 I was married to our classmate, Frank del Olmo. During those years, Frank helped to establish the Chicano Studies Department at CSUN and began his lifelong career at the Los Angeles Times. As a journalist he covered riots, wars, immigration issues (we’ve come full circle on that problem), bilingual education, and gang problems in the barrios of LA. There were days when he wore a bulletproof vest under his dress shirt. That was an exciting, often scary, very intense period of my life and has left me with a few interesting stories about people met and places seen.
Frank and I had one child, Valentina, who currently lives in Long Beach and works at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center as a psychiatric social worker. She is accruing the 3200 supervised hours that she needs to enable her to take her licensing exam. Her goal is to become certified as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Eventually she would like to relocate to the Bay Area and work at Stanford, her alma mater.
I have lived my entire life in California. Cities include Northridge, San Fernando, Echo Park, Silverlake, Glendale, Menlo Park, and Mountain View. My favorite place to live was Menlo Park. I have traveled to various cities in England; Paris, France; and Mexico City.
I like to read and am always asking for book recommendations. Time permitting I like to crochet, do cross stitch projects, and knit. I can easily spend way too much time and money in bookstores and yarn shops. I enjoy a well-made movie, almost any type of musical concert, and community theatre. Valentina and I like to visit antique stores. She has an interest in old glass and pottery. I collect old glass, pottery and metal shoes. They are inexpensive and I always have something to look for when we go antiquing. My best find was a souvenir shoe from the 1893 World Exposition in Chicago – the world fair written about in “The Devil in the White City”.
I am currently looking for a way to exercise that does not aggravate arthritic knees. It is those arthritic knees that remind me that I am 58 years old and, indeed, 40 years have passed since that graduation day in 1966.
I have several college degrees and certifications and have used that training to support myself through the years. I have an AA degree in Child Development, a BA degree in Child Development, a BA degree in Mexican-American Studies, and a Paralegal Certificate in Litigation from the UCLA Paralegal Training Program.
From 1970 to 1982 I was married to our classmate, Frank del Olmo. During those years, Frank helped to establish the Chicano Studies Department at CSUN and began his lifelong career at the Los Angeles Times. As a journalist he covered riots, wars, immigration issues (we’ve come full circle on that problem), bilingual education, and gang problems in the barrios of LA. There were days when he wore a bulletproof vest under his dress shirt. That was an exciting, often scary, very intense period of my life and has left me with a few interesting stories about people met and places seen.
Frank and I had one child, Valentina, who currently lives in Long Beach and works at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center as a psychiatric social worker. She is accruing the 3200 supervised hours that she needs to enable her to take her licensing exam. Her goal is to become certified as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Eventually she would like to relocate to the Bay Area and work at Stanford, her alma mater.
I have lived my entire life in California. Cities include Northridge, San Fernando, Echo Park, Silverlake, Glendale, Menlo Park, and Mountain View. My favorite place to live was Menlo Park. I have traveled to various cities in England; Paris, France; and Mexico City.
I like to read and am always asking for book recommendations. Time permitting I like to crochet, do cross stitch projects, and knit. I can easily spend way too much time and money in bookstores and yarn shops. I enjoy a well-made movie, almost any type of musical concert, and community theatre. Valentina and I like to visit antique stores. She has an interest in old glass and pottery. I collect old glass, pottery and metal shoes. They are inexpensive and I always have something to look for when we go antiquing. My best find was a souvenir shoe from the 1893 World Exposition in Chicago – the world fair written about in “The Devil in the White City”.
I am currently looking for a way to exercise that does not aggravate arthritic knees. It is those arthritic knees that remind me that I am 58 years old and, indeed, 40 years have passed since that graduation day in 1966.
(Ed Note: Karen sent this additional message on October 25, 2006:
"I found out over the weekend that LAUSD is naming a school after Frank. I believe the dedication is Nov. 1. I am trying to get more info. Apparently the school chosen for this honor was used in the filming of the movie "Godzilla" and they are also putting a plaque at the school to recognize that. To a person, the family thinks that somewhere Frank is having a good laugh about the whole thing.")
Karen King
Karen King
Northridge, CA
1 comment:
Karen, I enjoyed reading about your life. I'm sorry that we lost contact across all these years and hope to at least get a chance to say "Hi!" some time in person. Dee Soley
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