Stan and Janyce (Charles) Gemborys
After graduation from GHS in 1960 Janyce studied at the Henry Heywood Memorial School of Nursing in Gardner, receiving her diploma in 1963. Stan earned an A.B. in Biology from Dartmouth College in 1964. The couple then spent three years in Auburn, Alabama, where Janyce started her long career in Student Health and Stan earned his Ph.D. in Botany in 1967. Stan writes, " When we arrived there, segregation was still strong and it was certainly an eye opener for us Yankees. Lurleen Wallace, then Governor, signed my diploma."
Stan and Jan then moved to Virginia, where Stan took a position as Assistant Professor of Biology at Hampden-Sydney College, a small private liberal arts college for men in a county that had only recently reopened its public schools after they had been closed to avoid integration. Janyce worked in student health at Longwood College in nearby Farmville, Virginia. Janyce retired in 1990 after becoming ill, and Stan retired in 2005.
Over the years, Stan taught "classic" college biology courses such as Botany, Plant Ecology, Marine Biology, and Limnology as well as some more "esoteric" ones - Playing God with Nature, Agriculture and Ecology, and How Ecologists and Theologians Look at Nature. Stan taught his first section of Environmental Biology in 1968 and over time taught that course to over 1800 students. Together, Stan and Jan took over 400 students abroad to study ecology and natural history. Janyce served as resident nurse and advisor on trips to Bermuda, Jamaica, Mexico, Venezuela, Spain, Great Britain, and Central Europe.
Stan and Jan purchased a home in Eaton Center, New Hampshire - now their current legal residence - and have spent most of their summers and holidays there. Stan also conducted field research in the area. He studied the vegetation of the Bowl Natural Area, the land use of Eaton, and how the paintings of the White Mountain school of painters reflected the ecology of their times.
Stan and Jan have enjoyed skiing, horse keeping, attending antique auctions, and cultural events on the Hampden-Sydney College campus. Janyce is still a collector and Stan says he tries his hand at woodworking. In retirement they have enjoyed travel and in recent years have visited Japan, Tahiti, St. Petersburg, Istanbul, Santiago, and Tunis. Janyce enjoys her membership in the DAR and Stan is a Rotarian.
Just this summer, Stan and Jan sold their property in Virginia. A few years ago, they bought a home in Manomet, Massachusetts to be closer to their daughter Kyra, and grandson Connor, who live in Duxbury. Stan adds, "Y'all come visit, hear?"
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