Friday, March 26, 1999

Job loss, family death, auto accident test Crestview Hills couple

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BY JOHN JOHNSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jim and Geri Snow (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        Geri and Jim Snow always seem to be building something. They built the interior of the family room of their Crestview Hills home, including the fireplace. Jim, who is 58, laid the bricks and Geri, 53, mixed the mortar.

        The couple, who have been married 34 years, were adding an adjoining sun room. But that work halted last year when the blueprints for their lives changed.

        In August, Geri's father, who had been sick with a blood disorder for several years, was diagnosed with leukemia.

Everyone has a story worth telling. At least, that's the theory. To test it, Tempo is throwing darts at the phone book. When a dart hits a name, a reporter dials the phone number and asks if someone in the home will be interviewed. Stories appear on Fridays.

        About the same time, Geri learned that Mercantile Stores, the company for which she had worked 19 years, was being sold, and she would be laid off.

        Also in August, a driver turned in front of Geri's car, and they collided. Geri wasn't injured.

        “It was kind of boom, boom, boom,” she says of the unfortunate turn of events.

Father went fast
        Her father's situation hit her hardest. “(Doctors) gave him three months (to live) and he lasted 3¹/₂ weeks,” she says. Frank Wisinski died Sept. 15 at age 76.

        Geri's mother, Marcy, couldn't stay by herself, so arrangements were made for her to move to an assisted living home.

        “It's hard,” Geri says. “She made it through Christmas fairly well. But she's never been by herself.”

        It's been a difficult time for Geri, too. “I miss my dad.”

        Even as she was grieving, she was preparing to end her Mercantile career. She worked in the corporate office in Fairfield as a traffic coordinator, settling claims against carriers and vendors.

        Jim, as well as anyone, knew what Geri was experiencing. Eleven years ago he was laid off when Clow Corp. shut down the factory in which he had spent almost a quarter-century.

        “It wasn't easy for me,” Jim says, although he soon found another job. Today he's an electrical/mechanical assembler for R.A. Jones & Co., a supplier of high-speed packaging machines.

        “She's tough,” he says of Geri. “She can handle the stress better than I can.”

        Geri's last day of work was Oct. 13. Afterward, she and her co-workers met at the Back Porch Saloon in West Chester and said their goodbyes.

        She loved her work. And the people. But she won't miss the 35-mile commute, each way. She wishes she could have stayed with the company 25 years, then retired. “But you can't wish your life away,” she says. “This happened for a reason.”

Time for herself
        Maybe it was to test Geri and Jim Snow's bounce-back-ability. In which case, they pass with flying colors.

        Because the Snows never lived beyond their means, and both their children are grown and married, there was no pressure for Geri to return to work immediately.

        So, after finalizing a myriad details surrounding her father's death, she's ready to take time for herself. She's going back to school in the fall, although she hasn't yet decided what to study. Her interests include interior design, landscaping and construction.

        By the time Jim retires in 3¹/₂ years, Geri expects she'll be starting a new career.

        “I think we'll have better time together,” Jim says, “because she's out of that stress.”

        The best times are when they're building something. Together. They keep a list of things they want to do.

        It's 14 pages long.

        “We want to put a pond out here,” Geri says. “And redo the whole back (yard). And (Jim) wants to build a house. It's just a long list.”

        “We don't stay in a rut,” Jim says. “We're always changing our minds on what we're doing.”

        “If you stay idle ... ” Geri says.

        “ ... that'll get you,” Jim adds.

       

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