50-Year-Reunion

Patricia Graham Amateis 2303 Spring Hollow Lane, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060 pamateis@vt.edu (540) 808 - 9011 April 2

After graduation from high school, I attended Concord College (now Concord University) where I earned a B.S. in Chemistry Education. I then earned my Doctorate in Analytical Chemistry at Virginia Tech. After a one - year appointment teaching chemistry at Radford University, I joined the faculty at Virginia Tech and stayed for the next 37 years! I taught General Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry to thousands of students; I held two Chemistry Department administrative positions (Director of General Chemistry and Director of Undergraduate Programs), but the real fun was teaching! I retired in August 2022. I met my husband, Ralph, while in graduate school and we have been married for 43 years. Ralph was on the faculty in the Department of Forestry, retiring in 2019 after a 40 - year career. We have three children; our son is a lawyer in Roanoke, Virginia; our older daughter is an occupational therapist in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and our younger daughter has her own psychotherapy practice near Boston, Massachusetts. We remain in Blacksburg and enjoy camping, hiking, and biking on “ Rails to Trails ” bike trails, mostly in Virginia and West Virginia. I also swim year - round. Since I enjoy swimming and biking, I ’ ve done a few sprint triathlons, but I am lousy at the running part! We are very involved at our church, where my husband is an elder. One of my most favorite activities is my involvement in Panjammers, the New River Valley ’ s best (and only) steel drum band! We have a lot of fun performing in gigs in Blacksburg and the surrounding area, mostly in the summer months. These days a great deal of my time, attention, and heart belongs to our four precious grandchildren. We waited a long time for them and then they all came quickly – four in about 2.5 years! We spend every Friday in Roanoke with the two grandchildren there, providing childcare and having dinner with them and their parents. About every two to three months, we make a trip to Virginia Beach to see the granddaughter there and then we hop on the Amtrak train to Boston to see the grandson in Massachusetts. This keeps us busy; we love being grandparents!

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