Our next Women's History Month story is from Janet Volpe Guaderrama:
My mom, Anna Volpe, was my idol in many ways...she left Washington state at 21 on a train, newly married to a man she didn't know very well (my dad was in the Civil Conservation Corp) and moved to Illinois to start a family.
She worked tirelessly in her community of Toluca, helping to start the library, volunteering on church committees, running the food and clothing banks, and giving money and food to local people in need.
She raised a lot of money to build a new church hall, organizing people to do coupon refunding for money and gathering support from couponing folks all over the country.
She had a fire within her, even after a stroke took her down in her 90's, she fought to stand and walk on a platform walker with the Physical Therapist. She died in her sleep in a church service at 94.
I model my community spirit after her and thank her for her guiding strength that helped to mold me into something solid.
