Cindy Blanchard-Kronig

cindybk1@yahoo.com

923 Ulster Way / Denver, Colorado 80230

Spouse: Don Kronig

Children: Austin and Rachel Kronig (middle names are Blanchard)

Education: M.A., TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), Eastern Michigan University (1997) / M.Ed., Student Affairs in Higher Education, University of Vermont (1976) / B.A., Elementary Education, Michigan State University (1974)

Bio: Even after attending the reunion in July 2022, I still think “Wow, where to start and what to include…”  Decided I should submit a current version so here it is with a few updates. 

 My undergrad college roommate was Sharon Scott Deptula, and I will always be thankful for Sha being a loyal friend all these years later.

 After Vermont (where I was a dorm director while I worked on a Master of Student Affairs), I moved to Denver, Colorado.  Married the wrong person (was actually physically ill at the time), divorced while Frontier Airlines (the original one, where I had been working) declared bankruptcy.  Renewed my educational license and taught in Colorado.  Married the right man.  Had our son, Austin, at 36 in Denver. 

Moved back to Michigan while my husband, Don, got his MBA at U of M.  Had our daughter, Rachel, at 38 at U of M Hospital.  Taught (some of it part-time) during all of this and then moved to Plymouth where we lived for 25 years.  Got a Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) master degree while working and raising two young children (didn’t sleep much but, remember, I had a good husband now). 

 Have taught and worked as an administrator at the elementary, middle school, high school and community college levels for over 30 years plus and worked exclusively with international students the last 20 plus years.  Taught one summer in China.  Never a dull moment for sure. 

 It might be interesting to note here that the last ten years before I retired, I worked for Birmingham Public Schools and was the English as a Second Language Department Head for the district.  My office was located at Seaholm High School on the same hall where my locker had been as a student.  I worked a bit with Cheryl (Sorber) Shettel and Woody’s older sister, Susan.

 After I retired in 2013, Don and I spent a year helping our son, Austin, fix up a 100 year old house in Detroit, which he ended up selling during the pandemic to one of the renters, a grandson of Senator Levin.  Austin went to the University of Michigan for Business undergrad and graduated from the same institution with an Master of Architecture as of May  2020, in the midst of the beginning of the pandemic.  He worked for two years as an architect in Los Angeles and then, after getting a very active puppy, decided to move to Colorado in May 2022 and is now working for a great architecture firm here in Denver!

 Our daughter, Rachel, also attended the University of Michigan to get a nursing degree and who worked as an ICU nurse at the University of Colorado Hospital taking care of Covid 19 patients during the pandemic while finishing her nursing master degree to become a Family Nurse Practitioner.  As of this summer, she completed one year as a primary care provider for UCHealth.  As most parents are, we are very proud of our children and their values.  They both are young people who give back to their communities.  As career-minded as many of us are, in the end, our two children and how they turned out are by far my most proud accomplishment. 

 After we were both retired, Don and I moved back to Denver, Colorado – where we had met more than 36 years ago.  We love living back in Colorado, and I wake up every morning (to sun most days, I might add) and thank God, we live here!  We have reconnected with some old friends and have the best neighbors – in the Lowry area of Denver.  Don and I are active in our local liberal (LGBT inclusive) church, Denver Community Church, and love living amongst fellow progressive thinkers.  We have experienced some challenges along the way, and I have made my share of mistakes in the process, but mostly we feel very blessed. 

Wishing all of you who read this far all the best, getting through these challenging times.  Thank you to Woody, Karen and Mary and all the others for the fun and meaningful high school reunion!