diananichols53@yahoo.com

Lived in St. Paul for 7 years right after graduation, before moving back to Brainerd in 1979. Divorced. Live in Baxter, MN. I own my own home, love gardening (have 4 flower gardens & a vegetable garden}, reading, making my own greeting cards, and cooking & canning for family & friends. Am currently remodeling my home. 

I work for the State of Minnesota as an LPN in Wadena, MN at a Rehab Center. Used to be the Community Behavioral Health Hospital, which is where they sent clients when the state hospital closed in 2007 (worked on campus for 3 years). Before that I had my own daycare (when kids were little), CNA at Woodland, & Brainerd Manor, Home Health Aide for St. Joseph's hospital, waitress, bartender, rifle assembly at Acrometal, & Potlatch til they closed in 2002, when I went back to school & got my LPN license.

I have 3 children, & 6 grandkids. Daughter, Chris, married, works part time as an accountant, (quarterly she goes into the homes of her 4 clients & does their taxes), husband, Eric, works from home as a computer programmer, has 3 kids, Tyler, 11, Kaitlyn, 9, & Nikki, 7, and a dog named Chips, and lives in St. Michael, MN. She has been through cancer twice, first breast cancer in '06, then liver cancer in 2010. She goes in for treatment every 3 weeks, and will have to do this for the rest of her life, but is doing very well at this time. We pray daily that the treatment continues to keep her cancer free. At the same time, my mother has been through cancer treatment twice since 2008. First ovarian then stomach. She is doing fine also.  

My oldest son, Dale, has 3 children also, a son, Dylan, age 17 who will graduate next year, & works at Cub Foods in Brainerd, Gabe, 9 & Gracie, 7. They live in Bemidji where he works for Bemidji bus lines as head mechanic, & manager.

Youngest son, Don, single, no kids, currently unemployed, & has a cat named Emma ________________________________

I retired in June after 32 years at Head Start in Brainerd. Mike and I have been married for 30 years and will be celebrating it with a cruise right after Christmas. I can't wait! I hope we can have all class reunions as we are all approaching 60. How time flies. Thank you again, take care.

Wow!! It is hard to believe that 40 years have gone by already.  I was employed by Crow Wing County Social Service Center for 35 years and on December 31st of 2009 I retired.  It was quite a change at first for me however, I adjusted very well.  I am doing things that I didn’t have time to do when I was working.  I like to summer fish, ice fish, knit and make cards. I love to spend time with family and friends and especially my significant other!!  Being bored is definitely not on my list of things to do.  The Good Lord is so good to me!!

I attended Gustavus Adolphus College immediately after high school from 72 - 76 and upon graduation was hired by St. Paul Companies and moved to Denver.  Over the next 13 years I climbed the corporate ladder and moved to Chicago, St. Louis, St. Paul, Portland, OR, San Francisco, LA and finally back to St. Paul in '85.  I got married in '88 and have two kids - one in college (she's a junior and studying abroad for a year in Buenos Aires, Argentina before returning to UW - Madison) and believe it or not one son still in high school!  That's what happens when you get married at 34!  I still work in the insurance industry as a broker, having turned down one last promotion to Atlanta in '99 (I'm not a southern boy!) and I look forward to retirement at the end of 2014!   At least that's the plan!

My wife and I (and our son DJ and cat Max) live in Apple Valley.  My wife is an RN and we enjoy camping, fishing and golfing together and attending our son's football and lacrosse games.  My family members - three sisters and parents - still reside in the Brainerd and are all doing well.  I'm fortunate to be able to see them all at the same time when I visit.  I thank the good lord for my family's health and my parents - 85 and 82 respectively - still living independently.  I'm hoping it's in the genes for a long, healthy life!  I certainly hope to "reconnect" with my Brainerd classmates in the future and I wish the best for all of the members of the Class of '72!

My husband Bob and I (married in 1998) live in Brainerd during the summer months and Orange City Florida in the winter. (last 9 years)  Together we have 7 children and 11 grandchildren ~ they are ages 25 to 2 years old.  Ryan my oldest grandson is a junior on the Brainerd High School football team. GO WARRIORS!!  My career days were in retail management and sales.  My husband retired from Excel Energy.  We enjoy motorcycle riding ~ many roads traveled and great friends made.  I am going to CLC this fall for Floral Design ~ my new adventure.

Deceased July 4, 1994

Deceased January 28, 2007

Deceased May 1, 2012

Deceased August 29, 2013

My husband Barry and I are now living outside the city of Columbia, South Carolina.  We moved last year from the Washington DC area where we lived for nearly 33 years.  Barry retired from the Customs and Border Protection federal agency last year and that sparked our move to SC.  I had been working as an Architectural Standards Administrator for a large planned community in Montgomery Village, Maryland prior to our move and am now semi-"retired" in SC and loving it.  We live in a golfing community and are thoroughly enjoying the gorgeous weather and numerous outdoor activities SC has to offer, including kayaking, boating, swimming and golf.  As for our family, our son, Trevor, lives in Boston, MA and works at Shotgun Media Group as a video editor. Our daughter, Kelly, lives and works here in Columbia at the present time.  We also recently adopted a sweet Heinz 57 dog we named Molly and she is our newest addition!  My sister, niece and her family still live in the Brainerd area so I return occasionally but not often enough.  It will be great to see so many people after 40 years!

Deceased

Hello everyone ~ I got married in 1979, had two children which are my son Paul, born Sept 1, 1980 and my daughter born January 3rd, 1983.  My son is 31 years old and my daughter is 29.  During the 2000’s I have two grandchildren, granddaughter Bella born June 24, 2007 and the newest one a little boy Jordan Taylor born April 1, 2011.  I enjoy my new little ones.  During November of each year my son and I go deer hunting as a family and then again in August each year we pack up to go to the NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway

I went to college for 4 years, majoring in psychology and sociology, and then worked for nine years as a social worker and social services supervisor in southern Minnesota counties. I am a grad school dropout who completed a computer programming degree in 1991.  For the last 27 years I have worked for the state of Minnesota, first doing training and policy in child protection, and now working with computer systems for social services.  I lost my parents early and gained a husband and two children, adopted from Ukraine, late.  Although it seems like yesterday, the marriage is at 27 years and the kids are now 19 and 20 and off on their own – except for that “send more money” refrain.  We hope to reclaim both the house and sanity before dementia sets in.  In my spare time I enjoy reading, bicycling, gardening, camping – and, apparently, being appointed treasurer of community organizations such as church and Scout troops.  For anyone thinking I have dropped off the face of the earth, my employer locks us out of Facebook and, as a serious introvert, I prefer sharing the details with smaller groups anyway….

--Jean Swanson Broberg, Shoreview, MN