Andrea Wheeler Masser

ANDREA   WHEELER  MASSER

Hello all!  I’m very sorry to have missed seeing everyone.   Currently, we are enjoying a two- week cruise to New England and Canada. 

In a nutshell, after graduating from SDSU in nursing, I lived in South Mission Beach.  After two years, I was ready for a change and was drawn to the slopes of Colorado.  Every day off was spent on the slopes.  (Skiing was my favorite sport, just behind sailing.)  After five years, I was happy but penniless.  And, I missed the ocean. 

That’s when a Navy recruiter got ahold of me.    I retired in 1996 as a Commander after twenty years.  I had wonderful duty stations including: Newport, RI; Bethesda, MD (where I met my Husband, Tom); San Diego; Japan; San Diego; and, back to Bethesda (now known as Walter Reed).  Not many have had the varied experiences that I have had: the Tall Ships for the Bicentennial; the America’s Cup; the Smithsonian and the wonders of D.C.; living in a foreign country (Japan); and, spending two tours in my home town of San Diego. 

My nursing career has been varied as well.  Predominately, I worked in Intensive Care (including five years in Denver’s prestigious Organ Transplant Unit where liver transplantation was born).  That is, until I joined the Navy.  In the Navy, you ‘bloom where you are planted’.   I was a ‘well-rounded’ nurse having worked every area imaginable. 

I have a wonderful husband, Tom, also retired as a Supply Corps Navy Commander. Subsequently, he worked in the financial sector.  Currently, we are both now fully retired.  We have two great children, Lauren and Jim (both, thankfully, well-educated well-employed).   Lauren is engaged and will live in Santa Barbara after she is married.   

Interests include:  interior design, gardening, theater, gourmet cooking, church activities, art collecting, investment clubs, reading, Red Hats, Scrabble, travelling and ancestry work.  To date, my Wheeler Family Tree includes six U.S. Presidents, eighty three Kings, and five Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire).  And, I’m not finished. 

I know Maryland is a distance but we would love to see anyone travelling to our area.      My cell is: (301) 518-1110.  Otherwise, God willing, I’ll see you at the next reunion!