The Joy of Volunteering
Sue Johnson is a 1983 UW-Green Bay graduate with a degree in public administration. As a graduate of UW-Green Bay, familiar with the campus, Sue became interested in working as an usher at the Weidner Center. Around 2000, she overheard three of her usher co-workers (Wes Carvenaugh, Ed Smith and Gloria Gaie) talking about Learning in Retirement (LIR).
By 2006, Sue was living in Manitowoc with her husband and sons, and in 2008 she decided to retire from her career as a healthcare insurance professional. Remembering the conversations she’d had with her co-workers so long ago, Sue began taking LIR classes, commuting from Manitowoc to Green Bay. That didn’t last long.
With their sons grown, and their youngest son and his wife starting a family in Fargo, ND, Sue and her husband decided to move to Fargo to help them out. Once settled, Sue thought of the Learning in Retirement program again. Fargo didn’t have a program like it. She thought about how it benefited people who enjoyed learning and meeting other like-minded people. In typical Sue fashion, she said, “Let’s see if we can start one!”
By then Sue and Wes had become friends, and she contacted him back in Green Bay to learn more about the program. He filled her in on the program’s philosophy, structure, by-laws—everything she needed to know before approaching the nearest college, which happened to be Concordia College in Moosehead, MN. In 2019, Sue explained to the college that the program would be operated entirely by volunteers for the purpose of educating those that enjoyed learning while also providing a venue for people who enjoyed teaching. The conversation was going remarkably well until the college asked how this program was going to generate money for the college. At that point, Sue explained, It was a no-go. At least she had tried.
2020 brought COVID, of course. Sue and her husband both got sick. Sadly, in April of 2020, Sue’s husband passed away as a result of the pandemic. Her family and friends wanted her to come back home, and so she did. And what do you think she did?
You guessed it! LIR (now called Lifelong Learning Institute or LLI) had also come back into her life! Sue started taking classes again, and Wes, now on the Board of Directors for LLI, kept encouraging her to try for a Member-At-Large position on the Board. And, yes, she got elected!
With her interest in learning and the need for volunteers, Sue began recruiting presenters for possible LLI classes for both the Green Bay and the Manitowoc campuses. Through that work Sue met Susan Pike, the Program Specialist for LLI at the time, who convinced her to become a class coordinator. She also met Pati Wiegand, who managed the coordinators and moderators. Always willing to help wherever needed, Sue chuckled as she remembered: “Pati also convinced me to take on more and more classes to coordinate!”
Asked what she likes best about being a volunteer for LLI, Sue replied that she enjoys seeing people at LLI classes that she met years ago while ushering at the Weidner Center, volunteering with the Jaycees or more recently ushering at the Ashwaubenon PAC. She said these are now all good friends.
Sue also likes the surprises! A few of the classes she was asked to coordinate didn’t seem to be something she was interested in, but after coordinating them she found they were actually very interesting! And after taking a class, she is happy when she can now call her children and educate them—four grown men, some with children of their own.
When I asked Sue how she feels about being able to tell her story as a volunteer with LLI, learning all she has learned, meeting the people she has met and the good friends she has made, she replied with a twinkle in her eye: “It’s all Wes’s fault!”
Clearly Sue enjoys volunteering for Lifelong Learning. Her journey began by taking a few classes here and there over 15 years ago. She met people along the way that encouraged her to try new things, even as she says, “If it was getting a few tugs from Wes and Pati!”
Thank you, Sue, for your sense of humor, your smile and for all you have done and continue to do for the Lifelong Learning Institute!
—By Mary Gajeski, LLI Member