Mary Joan Wilcoxen
Mary Joan was born and raised on the southwest side of Chicago and attended college at University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana where she earned a BFA in Art Education and a minor in Spanish. She also earned a Master’s in Spanish at Middlebury College. She and her husband raised their family in New Jersey, enjoying the myriad cultural and entertaining opportunities that New York City offered. Mary Joan taught Spanish at the high-school level for 23 years. To say that she loved her job is an understatement. She loved teaching, adored her students and treasured the relationships that she had with them. Fortunately, she was able to introduce her students to the beauty of various Spanish-speaking peoples and their cultures through organizing student trips to Spain, Perú and Ecuador. After completing their careers, Mary Joan and her husband moved to southwest Michigan, where they are looking forward to enjoying the beauty and peacefulness of the “third coast” and hope to travel to other Spanish-speaking countries. Mary Joan enjoys bike riding and sewing in her free time.