I Am Wilshire – Carol Valentine.
Hometown: Born in Dallas, moved to Nashville when I was 5;
Education: B.A. from Auburn University
Profession: Retired teacher
Present city: Dallas
Tell us about your family.
I have two grown children who live in Dallas. John is a people operations executive with Anthology Senior Living. Laura is a speech therapist, and she and her husband have three children: Caroline, 15, Matthew, 12, and Charlotte, 8. My older sister Jean is a retired licensed counselor, and Susan, my younger sister, was an attorney in Dallas until she and her husband moved to Mobile, Alabama, where they have lived for 30+ years.
How about your work or volunteer life?
I taught Senior English, British Literature, for 18 years at Lake Highlands High School until I retired recently.
What are your favorite places to travel?
I have been fortunate to visit a variety of interesting places: Lake Louise in Banff, Canada; London; Switzerland; Scandinavian countries; Hawaii; Jamaica and Costa Rica. One pretty place I have been visiting since age 3 is our tiny log cabin in Red River, New Mexico, that my dad helped build with two builders in 1958.
Where are you engaged at Wilshire?
I enjoy serving lunch monthly at the Stewpot with other Wilshire and community members. I am also on the Baptism Committee.
Tell us about your faith journey.
I grew up with Christian church-going parents, and my dad, a minister, baptized me at age 12. My faith matured while in college. After college, I went to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for a year to pursue my MRE/MSW. That’s where I met my husband.
What’s something interesting most people wouldn’t know about you?
When I was 6, my dad decided he, my older sister and I ought to climb Wheeler Peak, the highest mountain in New Mexico (13,167 feet). I’m sure he thought it would be a grand adventure but obviously had no clue as to the difficulty. By the time we reached the summit we were starving, only to be disappointed with the meager lunch my mother had packed. On the way down while we were still above timberline, a thunderstorm enveloped us with lightning striking all around. We ran down the mountain as fast as we could, me bouncing on my dad’s back. As a result of that rigorous hike, my dad’s red blood cells were temporarily depleted, and I cried for days from aching legs. Neither my dad nor I ever climbed Wheeler again.
■ If you’d like to be featured in “I Am Wilshire,” contact Carolyn Murray at cmurray@wilshirebc.org.