My Most Interesting and Adventurous Job
My husband, Hal, and I, Ilona returned from a seven week visit to Germany and as I entered my favorite Drug Store in Bellevue, where we resided, the nurse behind the counter waved at me and asked me to talk with her if I had the time. She told me about an Executive, Mr. Crue who came by last week, asking her if she knew of a person who would speak good German, not a two-year German from school, but good and no dialect German.
She said she thought of me right away. I had resigned from my job before our trip since I could not get a “leave of absence” but wanted more time off than my vacation. I told the nurse, I might be interested, if I knew a little more about the Company and details of the job. She went to the phone and came back after a short conversation. I had an interview the next day at noon with Mr. Crue. The Company, Heisdorf and Nelson, were Poultry Breeders with satellite facilities in Cuxhaven/Germany. They were located here in Houghton, Washington and had their breeding facilities in California.
They were shipping three-day-old “Nick Chicks” all over the world by PAN AM airlines. Mr. Heisdorf, owner of the Company imported Haflinger horses from Austria which he planned on breeding with Arabian horses on his farm here in Hollywood Hills, Woodinville, Washington.
I was to synchronize movies in German into English about these horses and teach the Executive, Mr. Crue and the different department managers the German language and help them translating their speeches they would give, travelling to Cuxhaven, Germany for better relations, speaking the language.
It was a great and interesting job and of course, I said yes to Mr. Crue. There were many rewards. When I had to drive to Mr. Heisdorf’s home with paperwork or pick up a new film to synchronize, shipped from Cuxhaven, I had the chance to see and pet the horses Mr. Heisdorf owned and had on his immense property in Hollywood Hills in Woodinville.
I got to know and became friends with Lazlo, the trainer and groom, who would take me to the wide-open fields with roaming horses. I always had an apple or a carrot in my purse to feed the horses, especially the foals. After some visits they would recognize me and come galloping toward me putting their noses into my purse, knowing there would be a treat. It was always a wonderful experience for me and brought back cherished memories from my earlier life, a beautiful life long ago.
When Mr. Heisdorf modernized the accounting system, knowing that accounting was one of my specialties, he asked me to run accounting, learn the key punch machines and eventually get into programming, to become the “In house” programmer. Once the programmers were finished with all the software, I moved to a glassed-in area right by the comptroller and the accounting office with my desk and key punch machine.
German lessons, horses, film synchronizing and trips to the farm, became my secondary job I planned to do evenings and weekends. Heisdorf and Nelson, Poultry breeders had a computer, a large computer from GE on lease. At that time computers were not for sale and the smaller version, the personal computer as we now know, was not available then. I was looking forward to learning programming.
Regarding the personal duties for Mr. Heisdorf, I was willing gladly to keep up. Mr. Heisdorf was a wonderful gentleman, a great boss and the side benefit of seeing the horses, all this was for me the most interesting and adventures job.
Sadly, this great job only lasted until my Hal got transferred from North Bend to Longview, Washington in 1968 and I had to say “Goodbye” to the wonderful people at Heisdorf and Nelson.
Any story about horses immediately catches my interest, and I loved reading about Ilona visiting them and feeding them carrots and apples from her purse, especially the foals. What a delightful perk to such an interesting job, that moved into learning computer programming, which is not surprising. Ilona’s employers figured out quickly that she is very smart, responsible and capable.
Of course! Horses first! What a delightful story. I didn’t know this part of Ilona’s past. It sounds like it was a wonderful time that spoke to her love of horses — and those horses recognizing it! And, a challenge to her keen intellect. So many sides of our dear Ilona. It will take many, many more stories to explore all her creative adventures!