The photos in this gallery are featured in my book, My American Dream: A Journey from Fascism to Freedom. For the most part, they are photos of my family: my grandparents and parents, my husband, and my sons and their families.
My family’s journey from fascism to freedom
My grandparents on my mother’s side, the Demmers
My grandparents on my father’s side, the Sommers
My father, Eric Sommer
My mother, Charlotte Sommer
Me, 12 days old, with my mother
Eric’s passport
Charlotte’s passport
My immigration card
Hikawa Maru
Arriving in America
Me with my parents in our early days in Chehalis
Me, forever blowing bubbles
Early days in Chehalis
Our house in Chehalis
My sister, Carolyn, with me on the Oregon Coast
My high school yearbook photo from senior year
Arriving at Whitman, September 1955
My Whitman graduation portrait, May 1959
Me, Program Girl (in the first row on the right)
Harvard-Radcliffe Program graduation, June 1960
Jim
Billy and Jim
Jim with his parents, Natalie and Harold
Our wedding, September 17, 1961
Young marrieds
Michael
Michael with Grandpa, Seattle
Peter and Daniel
My promotion to senior vice president, December 16, 1975
Me with Grey Agency Policy Council. I am the only woman in the room.
Daniel, Peter, and Michael, three men in a tub
Peter and Daniel
Peter, Michael, and Daniel, knights in shining armor
Jim, successful executive
Daniel, Michael, and Peter at Michael’s graduation from Wesleyan University, 1988
Daniel, Michael, and Peter at Daniel and Peter’s graduation from Franklin & Marshall College, 1992
Peter and Natalia’s wedding, July 29, 1999
Daniel and Stephanie’s wedding, March 24, 2002
Jim with his boys—Daniel, Michael, and Peter—at Key Biscayne, 2006
Me with Jim and grandchildren, Key Biscayne, 2007
Jim’s 75th birthday, August 8, 2009
Me with Ed Meyer at my Grey retirement dinner, 1999
Me and Jim
Me with Jim and family, 50th wedding anniversary, September 17, 2011
Celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary with Daniel, Peter, and Michael, September 17, 2011
Me with grandchildren, 50th wedding anniversary, September 17, 2011
Me with Jim and family, Thanksgiving 2013
Me with Jim and grandchildren, Thanksgiving 2013
Me with Michael, Daniel, and Peter
Me with Nancy Baker in Italy, October 18, 2018
Me riding a camel in India, February 2, 2013
Peter, Fiserv Forum groundbreaking, June 18, 2016
Family Thanksgiving, 2019
Me with my grandchildren, Thanksgiving 2019
Dylan, the Christmas elf, 2019
Alexandra, Peter, Natalia, and Thomas
Jackson, Stephanie, Daniel, and Dylan
The family at Michael and Annelise’s rehearsal dinner, June 22, 2018
Michael and Annelise’s wedding, June 23, 2018
Peter, Michael, and Daniel at Michael’s wedding, June 23, 2018
Erica, Michael, Annelise, and Elle
Charlie, May 2023
Me in the Grey centennial book, 2017
Family with NBA championship trophy
Peter with NBA championship trophy
Jim's tree