Angela St. John

From Eliafamily

Revision as of 14:06, 27 January 2007

Angela Marie Barbarossa St. John

Angela St. John
Fact File
Birth Date:	July 2, 1948
Family Information
Lineage:	Angela Ocello Lineage
Parent:	Marie Barbarossa
Siblings:	Michele Hansen Debra Dorward Mary Jo Barbarossa
Children:	Steven St. John Kevin St. John

Early Life

Angela Marie was born on July 2, 1948 in Kingston, N.Y. to Ralph and Marie Barbarossa. She was named after her maternal grandmother, Angela Ocello. After three years in Kingston, the Barbarossas moved to Norwich, N.Y. to live with Mike Ocello after the death of his wife, Angela.

Angela's favorite memories of her childhood are holidays with relatives, great food, lots of laughs, doing mounds of dishes and taking after dinner walks. She says that she really misses those old-fashioned holidays with extended family.

Adulthood

Angela graduated from SUNY Oswego in 1970 with a BS in Elementary Education, fully intending to one day teach. In her freshman year she met Jim St. John, the brother of a classmate (Janet St. John, now Janet Aldrich of Oxford, NY) who was attending Clarkson College in Potsdam, N.Y. at the time. The young couple saw each other as often as they could. Jim graduated in 1969 and took a job with the Federal Highway Administration, which would necessitate eventually moving away from New York to places all over the United States.

The two were married on July 18, 1970 and moved to Pennsylvania for 3 short months. Jim was on a training program, which meant traveling. The next stop was Alexandria, Virginia, and then Atlanta, Georgia, where Angela discovered that the stomach virus she thought she had was an unexpected, but welcome pregnancy. After just 6 months in Atlanta, the two returned to New York for Jim's first permanent post in Albany.

Albany was home for three years, and the birthplace of both of Jim and Angela's two sons: Steven James in September of 1971 and Kevin Michael in November of 1974. By 1975, the new family found themselves packing up again to move to Trenton, New Jersey. After one year, Jim was accepted into a Masters Program at George Washinton University in Washington, DC, so followed another U-Haul rental. They bought their first home, a modest townhouse, in Lake Ridge, Virginia.

After Jim received his masters degree and worked two years in the DC office, he applied for a job in St. Paul, Minnesota. They had a home built there and had a great neighborhood. The boys were introduced to ice hockey and enjoyed 6 years of all levels of competition. The couple spent many hours at ice arenas all over the Twin Cities and Jim enjoyed his coaching experiences in both hockey and baseball. The boys were especially sad to leave Minnesota when Jim got a new position in Tallahassee, Florida, in the early 1980s, but Angela was really looking forward to the change, despite having made some good friends in St. Paul in the neighborhood and fabric store where she worked.

Tallahassee was a great place for the St. Johns. They joined a country club and as a family participated in golf and tennis events. Steven started his freshman year at the University of Florida when Jim got the Division Administrator's job in Madison, Wisconsin. Angela hated to leave Steven so far away and Kevin wasn't that excited about changing schools in the middle of ninth grade. But it all worked out. After nearly 7 years in Madison, Jim and Angela moved again to Baltimore, Maryland. They built a beautiful home and Angela was just beginning to decorate when Federal Highway made some changes in the Agency and Jim decided to go back to Tallahassee. In 2003, the couple moved again to Atlanta, Georgia, but may return to Tallahassee when Jim retires from the FHWA.

Angela has had a couple of retail jobs in fabric/craft stores and a couple of office positions over the years. Angela is also a wizard with crafts, often making several hundred dollars around the holidays with homemade dolls, welcome signs, and other decorative pieces. She never did get the chance to teach. She has gotten back into playing tennis several times a week and in a league which she enjoys greatly. In all their travels they met some wonderful people and have made some lasting friendships. Angela says that her greatest joys are her sons, Steven and Kevin: watching them graduate from college, get their PhD and JD has been very satisfying to her. Angela now has two daughters in law that she loves dearly and three grandchildren.

James Edward St. John

Jim was born on January 25, 1947 in Oneonta, N.Y., to Ben and Mary St. John. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire his Junior and Senior years in High School. From there he got a degree in Civil Engineering from Clarkson College in 1969. He took a job with the Federal Highway Administration and started on a training program. His first assignment was Bend, Oregon where in worked in a National Park and then left there to work in Dover, Delaware. Sometime later he left to work on a project in Pennsylvania near Lancaster. He married Angela Barbarossa on July 18, 1970. He moved 13 times in 30 years with Federal Highway and is looking forward to retiring. He loves all kinds of sports, watching and participating. Right now he enjoys golf.

Synopsis of Dates

• Angela's Birthday: July 2, 1948
• Jim's Birthday: January 25, 1947
• Wedding Anniversary: July 18, 1970

External Links

• Photo Gallery - The photo gallery hosted on Webshots.
• Federal Highway Administration