Dr. Maria H. Koonce first came to East Carolina University in Greenville, NC from Uruguay with an Exchange Student Fulbright Scholarship. In her first week there, she met Bill, her Gringo, and both their lives changed course. They married and had their first child in Uruguay, but returned to the United States to continue their studies. She became an educator in the areas of Foreign Languages and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), teaching in secondary and higher education institutions. Bill became an Engineer, and after twenty-five years he retired and joined Maria in the field of Adult Education. In 1976, they with their two children, Michael and Maria-Paula, moved to Florida. She earned a Doctor's Degree, became an Adjunct Professor at Florida Atlantic University, and was appointed Coordinator of the Adult ESOL program in Broward County. She also represented the county in the Florida State Practitioners Task Force since its inception in 1996. This opened many doors for her as consultant, trainer, translator, and author. Since Bill and Maria retired in 2007, they embraced their Golden Age, moving to a Retirement Community in Cocoa, undertaking a vibrant life-style full of new challenges, including world-wide travel and adventure. Maria-Paula and most of her family live across the state, and Michael, with his new family, in Oregon. They are stronger in their ties to old friends around the globe and new ones in Lost Lakes, and to their remaining families in Uruguay, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
