Inspiring Women SUMMER 2020

On occasion we would travel to Switzerland to visit my grandparents. When my grandmother
passed away in 1974, my mother remained in Switzerland with us children for about six months
and helped her father take care of all the things that need to be done when there is a death in
the family. During our stay in Switzerland and to keep us kids busy, my mother enrolled us in the
local primary school. Living and going to school in Switzerland at this time in my life (3rd grade)
was probably the driving force that made me want to live in Switzerland when I got “older”.
In 1977, we moved to Austin, Texas where I completed high school, then went to the University
of Texas, in Austin, where I completed my Bachelors of Business Administration, double majoring
in Finance and International Business. It was at this point I decided it is now or never. In addition
to a US passport, I also held a Swiss passport. I figured, what did I have to lose? I was going to do
what I had always told my parents as a child that I would do. In October 1987, I packed up two
suitcases and booked a one-way ticket to Switzerland. I stayed with my godmother in the Bern
area until I found a job and an apartment. My thought was, if I didn’t like living in Switzerland, I
could always return to the United States. Well you know how
that goes. You start your life in your new surroundings, you meet
a man, you marry that man, you start a family and before you
know it, after 33 years, you are still in the same place with no
intention of going back.
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My Spanish husband and I started our own international fruit
trading company in 1992, which to this day is our livelihood. I
also work as a tax accountant for a small accounting firm in
Solothurn, Switzerland. My daughter (21) is almost at the end of
her one-year internship at Roche, a pharmaceutical company
in Basel. She will start her studies in Chemistry this September.
My son is in his second year of his apprenticeship at the
Watchmaking School in Switzerland.
When did COVID-19 first become part of your FAWCO work and
what were your first thoughts about it all? ANGIE: Patricia and I
are co-chairs for FAWCO Events Planning, and had been very
busy organizing the Interim Meeting in Luxembourg for many
months. I am also VP Programs for the FAWCO Foundation and
also had been putting the presentations together with Barbara Bühling, Foundation President,
for announcing the recipients of the DGs and EAs, Foundation Night and other responsibilities
that we would have at the conference.
PATRICIA: We had spent many hours organizing the
event before COVDI-19 came along and I was absolutely
convinced that this issue would only affect us once the
conference was over. I knew that things were severe in
Italy and since the borders to Italy were closed. But I
assumed that these measures would slow the spread of
the virus to the rest of the European countries and allow
us enough time to carry on with the meeting. As long as
there weren’t any travel restrictions between Switzerland
and Luxembourg in place, I was determined to go.
ANGIE: We had quite a few meetings with Emily van
Eerten, FAWCO President, about the implications it would
have on us and the Interim Meeting. My first thoughts
were really it wasn’t going to affect us at all. I really have
a positive nature and really thought, if it gets worse, it will
be after the Interim Meeting. I just kept thinking all of the
work we put into organizing the event couldn’t be for