I've been living in Southern California since 1971 ... I think that almost makes me a California native! When I arrived in Southern California, I left the name "Jody" behind and began using my given name, "Jo Ann."

I've had a great and exciting life full of adventure! I have a wonderful husband, Bill , who retired this year. I have one child, also named Bill, age 38, from a previous marriage. He is a graduate of USC and a Certified Financial Planner for Smith Barney. We also have two children from my husband's previous marriage - Erica, 37, a graduate of UC San Diego and currently a stay-at-home Mom, and Garrett, 39, a photo journalist with NBC News in Phoenix. I have 4 grandchildren ranging in age from 3 to 10 years old.

My work experience is varied: 5 years with H & R Block as a District Manager, 5 years with Halispecht's Lighting as a buyer; then I changed careers one last time to become Vice President of Elsinore Manufacturing, parent company to many medium-sized fireplace-related companies, both retail and manufacturing (ceramic gas logs, glass screens, fireplaces, etc.) until I retired.

After selling our home we lived on our sailboat for 7 years in a San Diego marina as well as one year at anchor on Catalina Island off the coast of California. When we returned to San Diego we moved to Mexico and continued to sail the waters off the coast of Southern California. When we finally decided to come back to "mainstream" life in the States, I settled down to start a small bookkeeping business which is my current "part time" endeavor here from our home in Sun City, a retirement community in southern California.

Bill and I enjoy hiking, camping and backpacking. We have backpacked extensively in Central America and the Caribbean and have plans to spend another 2 months in the spring in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Pictures:

Top left: Jody Fisher in 1968

Next right: JoAnn's son Bill with wife Karen and kids Nikolas, 10, and Chloe, 8

Next left: Husband Bill Wichmann relaxing on vacation

At right: JoAnn Fisher Wichmann today