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Marlene Grau Broome - class of 1956
The "Queen of
the Wallflowers" - class of 1956 (at least that's how I thought of myself back in the good ol' days) - has come a long way and covered a lot of ground since graduating from Adamson in
'56. My name is Marlene Grau Broome and when I graduated I was living in the Cedar Crest area. Being the studious, no-nonsense person I was, I kept my nose buried in books, made good grades,
and secretly yearned for a boyfriend :) That "yearning" changed when the one I thought was Mr. It came into my life the last semester of my years at Adamson.
I married in November after graduating in May, had 3 boys between Nov '57 and Nov '62, then adopted a daughter in California in '67. All of my "Queen of the Wallflower" nightmares returned to me when, after 4 children, my husband of 21 years suddenly thought the grass was greener on the other side of of the fence and I found myself a single mom raising 4 children - vowing "I will NEVER get married again!!!" Well, God had other ideas and plans in store for me. He brought Ben Broome into my life in 1976 in the form of being my boss. I was very comfortable and satisfied being Vice President of Administration for his company, Well Surveys International, Inc. for 14 years when his wife died of a stroke. He had heard me say "I will NEVER get married again" so when he was surprisingly advised by some close out of town friends (more than 1 on separate occasions) following his wife's death, that he should "marry Marlene," he shakingly approached me with these sagacious words of wisdom of his friends asking me what I thought of that. To make a long story short, I ended up accepting (after a short courtship) and WOW did my life ever change for the better - THE BEST!!!! He is the true love of my life, my soul-mate!!!
My husband's work took us to live and work in Canada, Puerto Rico, Surinam South America, and then to Southeast Asia for many years and in the process found us getting to travel for
business and for pleasure in 39 countries around the world.
I ran his geophysical exploration office for him while he managed the sales/marketing and employees. We returned to the USA in 2003 attempting to "retire" in Texas, then Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, and finally at El Beulah Christian Retirement Village in Indianapolis, Indiana. Having been so active in so many endeavors over the years, we found that "retirement" was NOT what we wanted, so Ben began yet another career of teaching part time at a Christian high school, and I am the full time Administrative Assistant at our church, Fall Creek Baptist Church, here in Indianapolis. Between us, we have 7 children, 19 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Having been involved with mission work in various places around the world since we got married in 1990, Ben and I are very involved in activities at our church and overseas missions.
While fame and fortune have not come my way to any great extent by worldly standards, I believe I am the "richest" person in the world with my wonderful, loving, God-fearing
husband Ben, my delightful family, my fantastic church and a treasure chest full of friends who brighten each day.
I am thankful for my wonderful educational grounding at Adamson High School and all the amazing teachers I had there who saw some kind of potential in this "Queen of the Wallflowers" and encouraged me to do everything I would ever do to the best of my ability. I'll be eternally grateful for the inspiration and encouragements they gave me.
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