jandris' VirtualTourist Home Page

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Jim in Shaw's Gardens

Who I Am

I am a retired teacher and grandfather with many interests, some of which I will say more about. I was a professor of education at a local university for 33 years. My best qualities as a teacher were patience and being well-prepared. I never married, but I have been sharing my life with Stephen for 25 years. His family and mine have become blended, so now I have a step-daughter and a grandson. I originally hailed from Marietta, Ohio, where my mother, brother, sister and their families still live. My father was a grocer and realtor. I try to be a loyal friend and family member, and do my best to stay in touch with even my grade school, high school and college chums. Friendships are very important to me. The picture was taken last summer in the daylily garden at Shaw's Gardens. Currently, I have just bought a Yamaha keyboard and am practicing and performing as part of a pop/jazz duo Just in Time: Heidi and Jim.

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Forsythia on Accomac

Where I Live

I live in an area of the city called Fox Park, but I am just two doors east of Compton Heights. The building I live in (on the right in the picture) was built in 1895 around the same time the famous Water Tower was built. My building was designed by Ernst Janssen, who also designed many houses in Compton Heights. It is a six unit fee-simple townhouse, and a historic building. You are looking east on Accomac Street here in the early spring. Fox Park is a residential place with lots of still affordable housing, quiet streets and great diversity. It's more than a mile to the grocery store from where I live, but Lafayette Square, Soulard, Tower Grove East, and Benton Park West are all less than five minutes by car. I have lived here for 10 years and I love it. Before moving to Fox Park, I lived in the Central West End for 18 years. My church is still there, and it's only a 12 minute drive from here.

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Me and my sister, Vicki in Monshau

My Roots

My mother was the family genealogist for decades, but gradually the torch has been passed to me. I am descended from Belgian French, German and Irish ancestors. In the summer of 2000, my brother, sister and I took a two week vacation in Germany with side trips to Belgium and France, where we visited our ancestors' birthplaces and met several relatives. See the website Recollections of Europe for a travelogue of this trip. Since 1997 I also have maintained a website for our family's genealogy. This website is regularly visited by people from all over the world, and I have met many new relatives through this means. It is an exciting and continuing part of my life. My brother, Tom, a German and French language teacher at Marietta High School, took the picture of me and my sister, Vicki, having spaghetti in Monshau, Germany.

Studying foreign languages and cultures has been a steady love of my life. I studied Latin for one year in the 8th grade, but quickly transferred to German. I heard German songs and stories from my grandmother and mom. At Marietta High School, my German teacher, Thelma Geiger, inspired us with German music and history. At Marietta College, my German teacher, Herr George Blake, tickled us with his droll sense of humor. I also studied Russian for a year in college with Dr. Pettit. As a graduate student at The Ohio State University, I took a year of Mandarin Chinese, and was even offered a teaching assistantship. Once I began my work life, I got too busy to study languages, but as soon as I retired in 2003, I took a year of French at St. Louis Community College-Meramec with Prof. Roy Day. This year I am studying Spanish at SLCCM with Prof. Marco Romero "de Colombia." So as you can see, my interest in travel and different cultures goes well with my interest in languages. According to Wikipedia's article on the number of native language speakers, there are almost 4 billion people who speak a language I have studied.

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My fans, the Ragtime Rascals and I at Dressel's.

My Music

You don't know very much about Jim Andris if you don't know that music is in his bones. I have played piano for as long as I can remember. One of my fond memories is singing three-part harmony with my brother and sister in the back seat of my parents' car as we were driving somewhere. I know popular music, really, from 1900 to 1980. After that, I kind of lost touch. I can play hundreds of pieces on the piano from memory. I also have worked at classical, jazz, and especially ragtime piano music. I wrote the article Ragtime in Saint Louis on VT. I also have my own page on facebook. Currently, I have just bought a Yamaha keyboard and am practicing and performing as part of a pop/jazz duo Just in Time: Heidi and Jim.