AC_1965_Web

15 AN T I OC H CO L L E G E C L A S S O F 19 6 5 5 0 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y B O O K A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z B R E S L A U E R sities and groups within universities on issues of equity, especially among faculty. I spent the subsequent 15+ years in that role and retired from it quite recently. As part of the Antioch generation that witnessed the Gegner’s Barber Shop confron- tations, and saw the buses off as they left for the south during the early ’60s, and as the great-granddaughter, granddaughter and niece of family members who actively worked to promote peace and equality, I had found what I wanted to do. And the history of that family had also become a burning interest of mine. In the 1980s I did a lot of in- terviewing of family members, espe- cially with reference to their“emigra- tion”or“escape” from Nazi Germany. Before and since retirement, I have been doing some writing and pub- lishing about family members, espe- cially the women. In 1987, I married Dr. Robert Frankford, a British-born general practitioner who had a family prac- tice in the eastern part ofToronto.He was also the custodial father of three daughters, Emma, Liz and Rachael, ranging in age at that time from 11 to 19, and I became a stepmother. I moved from an apartment in down- town Toronto to a house in the east- ern part of the outer city known as the “Beaches” (or the “Beach” to in- siders.) We lived there for 10 years before coming back to the inner part of the city, and during that time Bob was elected to a seat in the Ontario Legislature in 1990 when a very sur- prised New Democrat government took power for the first time in the history of Ontario. And I became a political wife! Five years later, that government was defeated and an ul- tra-conservative government came to power in the province. That year, 1995, was an impor- tant one in our lives. Starting then, everything changed. Bob, who no longer had a medical practice, went on to become the attending physician at the largest men’s shel- ter in North America. At about the same time, I left my job as Senior Research Officer and became a con- sultant. Our kids had all left home and we sold the house and bought a smaller one in a downtown area near the university. I began to have thoughts about politics in my life. And in 1997, I ran federally and in 1999 provincially. I didn’t win but I gained a great deal of political ex- perience. I became President of the Women’s Committee of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) and served as well in various positions in the Party. We play a somewhat lesser role today on the political scene al- though are regarded as “eminences gris” in some quarters. We entered the new millen- nium with one grandchild and now we have five. In 2006, we suffered the tragedy of losing our young- est daughter, Emma, age 30, to can- cer. In 2013 we sold our house and moved into a downtown condomin- ium only a few blocks from where I had originally lived in Toronto.We are still here. Late 2014 wasn’t very good for us as several accidents laid Bob up with a lengthy hospital stay. We welcome in 2015 with some re- lief and look forward to the Antioch reunion for which I am writing this little piece, and a happier NewYear.