Barbara Horstmann

Barbara grew up in a small town called Girard, Ohio, which is about 5 miles from Youngstown and about 40 miles from Pittsburgh. She attended Kent State University and got her Bachelor's degree there and her Masters in Counseling as well. She taught at a middle school in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, for two years before she became a counselor in Garfield Heights.

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During her first year in Cleveland, she met her husband, Clyde, on a blind date. She fell in love with his sense of humor. Then, later she realized that he was the smartest person she had ever met. Clyde and Barbara moved to College Park, Maryland, when he graduated from dental school at Case Western Reserve University. Clyde had an internship at the VA Hospital in Washington, DC, where he met Ret Turner, who eventually became his dental partner when they moved to Charlotte.

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Erik, their first son, was born in Washington, DC, and Kurt was born nearly two years later in Charlotte.

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Barbara stayed home with the boys until Kurt was in the ninth grade and then went back to work as a counselor at Harding High School, which she loved. After 3 years, she joined the counseling staff at Central Piedmont Community College. She loved her experience there as well and retired on disability after eight years.

 

Her husband Clyde died on Labor Day, 2001. He was 57.

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Now she is a proud grandmother of Conner who is 18 and attending Furman; Tyler who is 15 and a Sophomore in high school; and Camilla Grace, 14, who lives in Raleigh with Kurt and Katie. Erik and Jennifer live in Charlotte and are the parents of Conner and Tyler.