International Women select American president
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Roseann Graf Alvarez Frankhauser of Plum Borough is the new president of the International Women’s Club of Monroeville.
International Women was formed in 1968 by a small group of women from abroad, The Monroeville Center YWCA advisory committee saw the need for women from different countries to come together in an informal atmosphere, to get to know each other better, and to get to know their American neighbors.
Through the assistance and goodwill of the YWCA International Wives was formed and a meeting place and playroom for the children were provided. Eventually, the club outgrew the YWCA and thus disaffiliated from it. At around the same time it was decided to change the name from International Wives to International Women. Since that first meeting in September 1968 membership has increased, their children have grown up and have children of their own, and programs have changed significantly. The women formed lasting friendships and have continued to meet monthly. Currently, International Women meet at Cross Roads Presbyterian Church, 2310 Haymaker Road, Monroeville.
Past presidents have hailed from Haiti, Vietnam, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, India, Scotland, England, Wales, France, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Egypt, Czech Republic, Thailand, Italy, South Africa, Austria, Canada, China and the United States.
‘I’ve had an international viewpoint in life for as long as I can remember and was thrilled to join International Women as soon as I retired “ said Frankhauser. ‘My father emigrated from Switzerland to America in 1908 on the USS Chicago. He kept in contact all of his life by writing to his Swiss relatives and I was able to meet my Swiss cousins for the first time in 2002 via Geneva, Morges, Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen. My soul immediately felt at home in the Alps and I felt a bit forlorn that my father had ever left.”
Frankhauser was born in Pittsburgh but lived in Ohio and Nebraska as a child. At age 20 she packed her belongings and headed to Washington, D.C., where the job market was better. In 1974 she toured Honolulu, Tokyo, Kyoto and Nikki, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok, Thailand with friends. In 1976 she drove from Washington, D.C., through the southern U.S to Los Angeles where her older brother lived. Living and working there, she met hard-working people from Mexico, Guatemala. Colombia, Argentina and Chile. Her apartment in Santa Monica, Calif., was a refuge for a Mexican grandmother who was temporarily homeless as well as to a Japanese woman who had survived Hiroshima. She met her Chilean first husband Rolando Alvarez as they were riding on the bicycle path along the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica. Their son inherited their love of travel and married a beautiful Japanese girl while he was serving with the U.S. Navy in Sasebo, Japan.
Now with the holidays coming everyone in International Women will be bringing their specialties for the December meeting when we’ll celebrate and sing Christmas carols. As president “I’m looking forward to another year of friendship and fellowship as we share our cultures.”