Mary Van Ryswyk

Carlisle High School

Class of 1969

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Mary Van Ryswyk - Class of 1969 - Carlisle High School

First Name	Mary
Last Name	Van Ryswyk
Graduation Year	Class of 1969
Gender	Female
Current Location	Carlisle, Iowa
Hometown	Carlisle, Iowa
Relationship Status	Married
About Me	Have been a licensed cosmetologist for39 years now - besides the 2 years of doing hair without a licensed!! Wow! Imagine that! 41 years doing the same thing! Currently have my own business working primarily at the salon at 35 School Street, Carlisle where I have been since 1973. I work there Tuesday, Thursday & Friday. Monday mornings I do hair at the Carlisle Center for Independent Living (aka The Villa) then go to the Carlisle Care Center in the afternoon plus all day on Wednesday. I have been priviledged to be married to Rob Van Ryswyk for 37 years. Rob worked 32 years for Robert's Dairy (aka Prairie Farms Dairy aka Flynn Dairy) and retired 4 years ago. He is the house manager at the historical house, our home and takes great care of his mom, our only parent. We have 4 children. In 1976 we accepted the responsibility of becoming parents of 3 orphaned siblings from Viet Nam. and in 1977 we adopted 4 month old Joshua from Korea. Nga, Vi & Oai Baccam were 10, 8 & 6 when they came into our lives. They spoke no English and had only the clothes on their backs. No toys - nothing! Foster care, the teachers at Carlisle School, our friends and relatives were wonderful to help the kids become "Americanized" and to feel a part of life here in Carlisle. Nga is 44, divorced and living in Illinois with her two youngest daughters, Sabrina and Shaely. Sarah, her first daughter is married and has one child. Vi, age 42, is single and lives in California with her biological older sister, Huygen. Oai is 40 years old and lives with his significant other, Priscilla in California. Priscilla has adorable Taylor age 7 and together they have precious Emma, age 2. Joshua is 32 and lives in Waukee, Iowa. He shares a house with 3 other men. He lost his job with Principle 2 weeks ago. He is very optimistic that he will soon have another job. We have two cats, Max & Alex and one very special dog, Joey. They helped save my life when I was in a very deep, dark place that threatened to swallow me up. The Order of the Eastern Star has been a significant part of my life since 1982. I enjoyed traveling the state and meeting super people. October 2000 the members elected me to serve them as Worthy Grand Matron for the state of Iowa. Along with my Worthy Grand Patron, Ben Kain, we traveled the state attending meetings 5 days out of 7 during the year as well as traveling to other states for their annual sessions called Grand Chapter. 18 members compose the "Grand Family". 8 of these are elected by the membership and the other 10 were chosen by Ben, his wife, Jeaneen, Rob & me. The Grand Family was called the "Sunbeams". What wonderful memories we all have. In 2001 the Sunbeams encouraged the membership to support the Make-A-Wish foundation and we were able to give them $50,000.00 as well as supporting other projects within our Order. Well, that's what I ...(read more)