Connie Bretscher graduated from Valparaiso University with the class of 1942. Flash forward to February 2017, and she is back at VU, a student once again.
Bretscher is 96 years old and has been living in Valpo since moving to the area to attend the university. She majored in math and minored in music, aiming to be a teacher, which took her several years to accomplish.
“I came to Valpo for school. I came here in 1938 and graduated in 1942… the first time,” she said. “Then there was war, it was wartime and I was with my husband at various Air Force camps.”
Her husband was in the ground crew of the Air Force during World War II, and schools wouldn’t take teachers at the time.
“I was going to teach math at high school, but they would not take teachers because if you were married to a soldier you would be moving around a lot,” she said. “You wouldn’t be a steady employee. I worked at a refinery and a cartridge factory and shipyard, wherever I could find work.”
After the war, Bretscher got a job teaching at the Immanuel Lutheran School in Valpo for 32 years, the same school her two sons attended.
She then became an education consultant for the next 17 years, finally retiring at age 82.
“Now, I’m back at school, at University, studying German,” she said.
Bretscher decided to take classes to be prepared for her upcoming trip to Germany in October.
There will be a group of VU alumni heading to Germany for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The tour is called, “In the Footsteps of Martin Luther and the Reformation 2017.” Bretscher will accompany other VU alumni for a 10-day trip, and on Sunday, October 31, they will be in the church where Luther posted the 95 Theses.
“I had German in my undergrad work, but not having used it for 75 years… I really wanted to get back into that and I want to read some good German books that I want to read,” she said.
Bretscher has been to Germany twice, but is very excited for this special trip, she said.
“We will be in Germany for 10 days, but that one day in particular we will be in the Church where Luther initiated the Reformation on the day that he did it,” she said.
To get ready, Bretscher is taking German four days a week at the university. She has lived in Valpo since graduating in 1942 and has seen the many, many changes of the school, yet actually being a student is quite different.
“It took a lot of work, getting back to the school way,” she said. “It’s nice to be a part of the learning group again.”
But for Bretscher it is not just being in the academic field again, as if she was going back to be an administrator or teacher, it is being a student again.
“Being in the student group,” she said laughing. “It’s different, not weird, but different.”
When she first attended, Bretscher took classes in a building where the law school is now.
“Not in that building, those buildings are long gone, but there was nothing on this end of the campus at all,” she said. “It is a big change and there is a big change in enrollment. When I went there, there were just 395 students.”
Her classes keep her busy, but Bretscher still finds time to maintain many hobbies.
She has been playing the piano all her life, but not just playing at it, she said, working at the piano. She enjoys performing classical music.
“Free time is what I don’t have,” she said. “I have a rescue dog, I like to train rescue dogs, and I have a garden. So, I’m not lacking. I am not sitting around eating bonbons.”
Another pastime she never misses is watching and cheering on her VU Crusaders and attending the many concerts hosted at the school.
“I have been a VU fan all my life. I haven’t missed a basketball home game in more than 50 years,” she said. “I like the concerts at the University. They have wonderful concerts and plays and all other the activities.”
About 75 years has gone by since Bretscher has called herself a student and as the saying goes, “You’re never too old to learn something new!”