Bill Sayenga and Ellen Riek

Bill Sayenga’s father died when he was just four years old, leaving behind his mother, Marie, and his older sister Louise.

In order to support her family, Marie (pictured in 1964 in the player above) found a job with the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, recorder of deeds office as a secretary, but her pay — about a dollar an hour and just over $2,000 a year — was miserable. Although it allowed her to provide a home for her family, the money was only enough for them to just get by.

For 11 years Marie worked at the recorder of deeds’ office, and according to Louise, she hated it. But for all that the job lacked, it did provide Marie with insights into the inner workings of her local government. She recognized the need for change and in 1949, Marie ran for tax collector in the borough of Bethel.

Being both a woman and a Democrat made her a long shot. For over 50 years, men had been elected tax collector, and for the previous 24, Merle Long held the office. Marie lost that first race, but in 1953 she made a second run and unseated Long by just nine votes.

Marie would hold onto the job for the next 24 years, winning five subsequent elections. In 1973, in her final race, she received more votes than anyone else on the ballot running for any office in the borough.

Marie died in February 1993 at the age of 83.

Bill came to StoryCorps with Marie’s granddaughter, Ellen Riek (pictured above), to remember their family’s influential and powerful matriarch.

Originally aired May 20, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Photos of Marie Sayenga and the borough of Bethel tax office courtesy of Louise Randolph.

Francisco and Frankie Preciado

When Francisco Preciado was six years old, his family moved from Mexico to the California. They entered the United States through the Bracero program, which, starting in 1942 and lasting more than 20 years, allowed Mexican workers to come to the U.S. to take temporary agricultural jobs.

At the time, Francisco spoke only Spanish, but he quickly learned English with the help of his teachers. This led him to dream of one day becoming a teacher himself, but financial demands and the need to support his family forced him to drop out of school and begin working full-time.

In the early 1980s, he took a job as a groundskeeper at Stanford University and was often accompanied to the college by his young son Frankie. Francisco hoped that one day Frankie would become a student at Stanford, and his dream came true with Frankie graduating from the university in 2007 with degrees in political science and Chicano(a) Studies.

Now 31 years old, Frankie is the executive director of the union that represents Stanford’s service and technical workers, and whose membership also includes his father.

Francisco and Frankie came to StoryCorps to talk about their relationship and their time together at Stanford—one as a maintenance man, the other as a student.

Originally aired May 13, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Above: Frankie with his father, Francisco, and his mother, Margarita, at his 2007 graduation from Stanford University.

Top: Frankie and Francisco at one of the fountains that Francisco takes care of on the campus of Stanford University.

Photos courtesy of the Preciado family.

Suzanne Lynch, Patricia Mishler, and Janette Lynch

In 1978, Patricia Mishler left her home in England and moved to the United States after marrying an American. The mother of two daughters—Suzanne, 13, and Janette, 11—her family first lived in Indiana before eventually resettling in Nashville, Tennessee.

Patricia, now 73 years old, was diagnosed about a year and a half ago with ALS. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, destroys motor neurons, the nerve cells that control muscle movement in the brain and spinal cord leading to progressive paralysis and eventual death. Most people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within three to five years from the onset of symptoms. (According to the National Institutes of Health, only about 10% of those with ALS survive for 10 years or more.)

A grandmother to more than a dozen grandchildren, Patricia once spent much of her free time pursuing favorite hobbies like gardening, sewing, and cooking. But since her diagnosis in October 2014, she has been unable to enjoy them any longer.

Suzanne (above left) and Janette (above right) recently brought their mother to StoryCorps to talk to her about what it’s been like for her to live with ALS, and also her thoughts on knowing that the disease will one day take her life.

Originally aired May 6, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Top Photo: Suzanne, Patricia, and Janette (left to right) in England on holiday in 1976 courtesy of Janette Lynch.

Sharon Long and Steve Sutter

Throughout the 1970s, Sharon Long, a single mother raising two kids on her own, worked four and five jobs a day, seven days a week. She hated all the work and was worn out.

When she went to enroll her older daughter in college, she mentioned to a financial aid officer that she wished she could enroll as well, but that she was probably too old. The woman convinced her that it wasn’t too late, and then helped her fill out the paperwork. At 40 years old, Sharon entered the University of Wyoming and began taking classes toward a degree in art.

In order to graduate, Sharon was required to take a course in science, a subject she believed she was not particularly good at. But with guidance from an adviser, she signed up for a physical anthropology class, and started on a path that led her to find her calling as a forensic artist—using her skills as a sculptor to recreate human faces from skulls.

Over the course of her career, Sharon has worked for museums—she once constructed a face from a skull that was more than 9,000 years old—and for numerous law enforcement agencies, using found skulls to help put a face to unidentified remains. She has also made busts for the National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian, and her work has been featured on the History Channel and the television show America’s Most Wanted.

Now 75, Sharon retired about four years ago, but hasn’t been able to bring herself to completely stop working. She focuses her energy now on the protection of archaeological sites through her work at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office.

Sharon came to StoryCorps with her friend and colleague Steven Sutter (pictured together above) to talk about her passion for forensic art.

Sharon’s story is one of 53 work stories featured in our book, Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work.

Originally aired April 29, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Top photo: Sharon Long in her studio, courtesy of Sharon Long.

Vito de la Cruz and Maria Sefchick-Del Paso

Vito de la Cruz’s parents were already separated when he was born, and when he was 6 months old, his father left him in the care of his 19-year-old aunt, Iris de la Cruz, a woman he called Nena.

Vito’s extended family traveled the migrant trail, finding work on farms across the United States. At 5 years old, Vito joined them in the fields. He remembers the excitement of traveling in the summers with his aunts, uncles, and grandmother from tomato fields in South Texas, to cherry orchards in Ohio, and sugar beet farms in North Dakota. During the days, they worked side-by-side, and in the evenings, they gathered together for dinner.

But their family’s migrant lifestyle was not easy; it was “equal parts hardship and poverty.” When he was 13, Border Patrol agents raided the farm where Vito and his family were working and rounded up undocumented workers. Witnessing workers’ fear of law enforcement struck a “profound chord in his being” and changed the course of his life.

Vito had always excelled in school, with Nena’s encouragement. She, herself, was the first person in the de la Cruz family to graduate high school, and she later went on to college. Following Nena’s example, Vito left South Texas for Yale University and then went on to attend law school at the University of California, Berkeley.

After law school, Vito began volunteering with the United Farm Workers union and focused the early part of his legal career on immigrant and farmworker rights. Years later, he became a federal public defender in Nevada before moving to Bellevue, Washington, where he continues to practice civil rights law.

Vito came to StoryCorps with his wife, Maria Sefchick-Del Paso (pictured together above), to remember how his childhood and his loving Nena shaped his future.

Vito’s story is one of 53 work stories featured in our new book, Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work, now available in bookstores.

Originally aired April 22, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Photo courtesy of Vito de la Cruz.

Catherine Alaniz-Simonds and David Taylor

February marked 25 years since the end of the Gulf War.

Operation Desert Storm, the portion of the war focused on removing Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi military forces from neighboring Kuwait, began in January 1991.

One of the war’s final battles, waged just before a cease-fire was declared, was a United States-led attack on the Iraqi controlled Jalibah Airfield by the 24th Infantry Division. Army Captain David Taylor was one of the officers leading the troops, and he feared that the plan would result in American soldiers dying as a result of friendly fired. But he did not say anything, and unfortunately, he was right.

Army Specialist Andy Alaniz was a member of a unit not under the command of Capt. Taylor, his vehicle turned sharply during the fight and he ended up in the line of fire. Andy died in the crossfire, one of 35 soldiers killed by friendly fire during the Gulf War.

At the time of his death, Andy, 20, had been married less than a year, and his wife, Catherine Alaniz-Simonds, was six months pregnant. While Andy was in Iraq they would send each other letters and Polaroid photos almost daily. Catherine would give him detailed updates about her pregnancy, and Andy would send back photos scrawled with messages like “Take care of the baby,” and “I love you.”

Days after her baby shower, Catherine learned that on February 27, 1991, Andy had been killed.

Since his death, Catherine has sought out men from both Andy’s unit and the other units present at the airfield to help her better understand what happened to her husband that day. And since that time, now retired Colonel David Taylor has lived with the guilt of believing that he could have done something to prevent the death of his fellow solider.

Earlier this year, at a reunion of the 24th Infantry Division at Fort Stewart in Hinesville, Georgia, Catherine and David (pictured in the player above) met face-to-face for the first time. They sat down for StoryCorps to talk about the day Andy died and how it has impacted both of their lives.

Catherine and Andy’s daughter, Andee (pictured above with her mother and a photo of her father), will turn 25 later this year. In 1992, the photographer David Turnley won a World Press Photo of the Year prize for his image of the grief shown by Sergeant Ken Kozakiewicz who was being evacuated to a hospital by helicopter upon learning that the body bag accompanying him and fellow wounded soldier Corporal Michael Tsangarakis contained the remains of his friend, Andy Alaniz.

Click here to see that image.

Originally aired April 9, 2016, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.

Eva Vega-Olds and Leonardo Vega

In November 2015, Leonardo Vega was diagnosed with liver and lung cancer.

After multiple unsuccessful rounds of chemotherapy, he left the hospital and returned to his New Jersey home to spend his remaining days receiving hospice care while surrounded by his family. His eldest daughter, Eva Vega-Olds, decided to use the StoryCorps app to capture some of her father’s memories and preserve the sound of his voice.

During their time together, Leonardo was bedridden and hooked up to an oxygen tank. Finding the strength to answer questions was difficult, so Eva also took the opportunity to tell her father how much he has meant to her.

This recording turned out to be the last conversation they ever had together. Leonardo died days later on January 29, 2016, at the age of 73. Soon after, Eva came to StoryCorps to remember a hardworking man with a great sense of humor who loved his family.

Originally aired March 25, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Top Photo: Eva and Leonardo on her wedding day in May 2009.

Above Photo: Eva and Leonardo on January 26, 2016.

Marjorie Finlay, Nathan Williams, Denise Clancy, and Shane Clancy

Last year, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that as of April 1, all military combat jobs would be open to women. As part of StoryCorps’ Military Voices Initiative (MVI), this week we are presenting two broadcasts from woman who served at a time when their roles and expectations were defined almost solely by their gender.

Marjorie Finlay enlisted in the Air Force in 1973 at a time when there were few women in the military. She was excited to be in uniform, but the training she received was not what she had expected when she joined up.

Instead of completing obstacle courses and firing guns, she was instructed on how to sit with her legs crossed at the ankle, how to do her hair and makeup, and how to dial a telephone with a pencil.

Even though this disappointed her, Margie (pictured in a yearbook photo at left) still loved being a member of the Air Force. But while enlisted, she became pregnant with her first child, and was told by her commanders that in order for her—a married pregnant woman—to remain in uniform, she would need her husband to sign a waiver giving his permission for her to remain in the military.

Her husband refused sign a waiver and in 1974, just before the birth of her son, Margie was forced out of the Air Force.

Margie missed being in the military and reenlisted in 1993. She and her husband divorced in 1996. Today she is a captain in the Air National Guard. She came to StoryCorps with her son, Nathan Williams (pictured together above), to talk about her early experiences serving in the Air Force. (Listen to their conversation in the player above.)

Denise Clancy comes from a long line of soldiers. In her family there are more than 200 years of combined military service. Growing up she always knew she would continue her family legacy.

Denise enlisted in the Navy in 1990 serving as a cryptologist and within a few years, when the Navy began allowing women to serve aboard combat vessels, she was deployed to the U.S.S. Enterprise. There were few women on ships at the time and Denise remembers being warned by her fellow enlistees not travel around the Enterprise at night without an escort.

While on the aircraft carrier, Denise met her future husband, Shane (pictured together above). They are both now retired from the military and came to StoryCorps to remember the ways women were treated on their ship, and what it has been like to raise their daughters in a military family. (Listen to their conversation in the player below.)

Originally aired February 27, 2016, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.

Susan Kaphammer and Joshua Myers

Joshua Myers, 29, was born with Down syndrome. Growing up, he often felt overwhelmed by his condition and struggled with depression.

Once, when he was a teenager, Joshua attempted suicide by walking into the middle of a busy intersection, but was saved by a passing motorist.

For his mother, Susan Kaphammer, it was difficult to watch her son suffer and know that there was very little that she could do to make his pain go away.

With those tough times behind them, Joshua and Susan came to StoryCorps to discuss what he now loves about his life, and his dreams for the future.

Originally aired February 19, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Benny Smith and Christine Ristaino

In 2015, 11-year-old Benny Smith began feeling strange sensations in his body that felt like small electrical jolts. Soon after, the jolts began lasting longer and growing more intense—Benny was suffering with grand mal seizures (a condition characterized by loss of consciousness and muscle spasms).

The seizures would come at various times, including during the school day where the resulting falls led to multiple concussions.

Often, his mother, Christine Ristaino, would have to pick him up in the middle of the day and bring him home since his condition made it unsafe for him to be in a classroom. Soon after the beginning of sixth grade, Benny was forced to remain at home, being taught by a tutor. An outgoing social kid who loved being around his friends, to him this was one of the most difficult parts of the illness.

In January 2016, his condition began to improve and he was able to return to the classroom. Benny and his mom, Christine, came to StoryCorps to mark the occasion and discuss how he has lived with the seizures.

Originally aired February 12, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.