 CEDAR
VILLAGE WEB |
Cedar Village Profile-July, 2009
Barbara and Gayle Hannah
Barbara and Gayle Hannah split their time between their home here in Cedar Village at Brick and at their home in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. They are both very active in their Presbyterian church in Westfield. Barbara taught pre-school in this church for 23 years, and is involved in the church’s book club as well as liturgical dance. Gayle is an elder and a Stevens minister. (His role as a Stevens minister is to help people who are facing one crisis or another.) Both Barbara and Gayle are members of the church choir. The church plays a very big part in their lives. Barbara and Gayle’s free time is spent swimming. Some of Gayle’s other hobbies are playing scrabble, doing jigsaw puzzles and Sudoku. Gayle’s most unique hobby is collecting model boats, which he names after all the important women and/or girls in his family. He has a beautiful model boat collection displayed in his home! The Hannah’s have also done a lot of traveling. They’ve made trips to the Grand Canyon (one of their favorites, they want to go back!), Ireland, Aruba, France, Belgium, Hawaii and the Caymans. They also own time-shares in Hilton Head and Florida. Gayle and Barbara also spend a lot of time with their friends.
Here is some background on Barbara: Barbara was born in Brooklyn, New York, and in second grade she moved to Wallkill, New York, where she lived until she went to college at SUNY in New Paltz. Barbara graduated from SUNY in New Paltz with a degree in Education. Barbara actually met Gayle at a high school dance, but her mother insisted that Barbara finish college and get her degree before she got married. Before teaching pre-school at the Presbyterian Church in Westfield for 23 years, Barbara taught elementary school for 4 years.
Gayle was born in Newton, New Jersey, located in Sussex County, and moved to the Vailsburg section of Newark. In the sixth grade Gayle and his family moved to Maplewood, New Jersey. Gayle went on to earn his Bachelors and Masters Degree from Rutgers University. Gayle spent his working years as the Director of Human Resources for Bergen Community College.
Barbara and Gayle have been married for 46 years; June 29th is their anniversary date. They have two children, a son and a daughter, David and Lori. They have been blessed with four grandchildren: Lori’s son Scott who is 10, and David and his wife Janet’s three daughters, Jessica who is 9, Katie who is 7 and the youngest Allison who is 5. They are a very close-knit family and they spend a lot of time together. In fact, their son and daughter and their families spend time with Barbara and Gayle at Cedar Village.
For eighteen years Barbara and Gayle and their friends and family spent their summers in a house in Bay Head. From the first time that they laid their eyes on Bay Head, they fell in love with it. It was so different from Northern New Jersey where they came from! So laid-back and the people are so friendly! It goes without saying that they love this area now and are very happy that they made the decision to move to Cedar Village!
- Cindy Pierce, Community Manager