TJWC Spotlights

Cheryl Maifert

Cheryl grew up in Kansas City, Mo. After graduating from the university there with a BS in Dental Hygiene she married and moved to Madison, WI where she lived for 8 years.
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She then moved to San Diego in 1984 (Tierrasanta), divorced, and has been here ever since. She married her current husband, Steve, in 1999 right after he retired from 34 years as a Navy Captain. Cheryl worked as a dental hygienist for 34 years before retiring in 2009.

Cheryl officially joined the TJWC in 1994 but had helped with Oktoberfest before that. Over the years she has served as President for 4 years, and many, many years as Recording Secretary and a couple of years as Parliamentarian. Next year will mark her 30-year Anniversary as a TJWC member.
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She goes roller skating twice a week, enjoys traveling, gym time with friends, reading, and jigsaw puzzles.

​Sandy Riddle ​

Sandy has been a member of the TJWC since 2008. She says it’s one of the best things she has ever done because she got to know a group of wonderful ladies.

She was born in San Diego, raised in Pacific Beach and lived in Kansas for three years where both her daughter and son were born. Then she moved back to San Diego and has lived in Tierrasanta for the last 17 years.
 
She has two granddaughters and two great granddaughters, which are all a joy in her life. She is active at Saint Brigid church in Pacific Beach. She also volunteers as an usher at the Old Globe Theater and enjoys gardening.

​She has traveled to Hawaii twice, Alaska, Boston and Sonoma to attend her granddaughter’s wedding.
 
 

Julie Adams

Candi Martinez
Julie was inducted as a member in February this year and she is thrilled to be part of the TJWC sisterhood.
 
​When Covid hit she became a permanent resident of Tierrasanta by moving in with her boyfriend, Fred, of eight years at that time. She didn’t want to give up the beach but it made sense. He has lived in their home on La Cuenta Drive for 32 years, which he purchased immediately after immigrating from France.
 
Her family; including her parents, brother, and Fred’s two young boys are here in San Diego. They keep her quite busy when she’s not selling homes or publishing the Tierrasanta Pulse with her business partner Erika.
 
She says her parents gave her the picture-perfect childhood in Maryland. In 2004, her mother encouraged her to try real estate sales after she had already been an agent for 15 years. Previous to that her career as a graphic designer led her to manage all of Microsoft’s branding on their tradeshow exhibits while living in Portland, Oregon. 
 
In 1994, she left Arizona where she graduated from Arizona State University in Tempe with a degree in graphic design. She traveled with her boyfriend and cat to Woodstock 94’ and then explored our beautiful country for almost 2 years in a VW Westfalia van…before cell phones and GPS.
 
She is forever grateful to be a Realtor in San Diego because it gives her the opportunity to meet awesome people and at least once a month she explores new areas that she hasen’t seen before.
 
​Candi was born in Mexico in the city of Mazatan, a city with beautiful beaches and friendly people. She came to the United States at the age of nine and lived in Chula Vista with her sister Nelly. She attended Chula Vista Jr High and Chula Vista High school.

Candi has a total of seven sisters and two bothers that live in both Mexicao and the United States. Fortunately, all nine are still with us today.
She worked for San Diego Unified School as a bilingual translator for 17 years and as a Preschool Director for the District of San Marcos.

In 2015, our TJWC member Miriam invited Candi to attend a meeting for the Tierrasanta Junior Women’s Club. Candi says she admires the strong commitment and dedication the Tierrasanta Junior Women’s Club has for their community and she is proud to be one of them. She is blessed to be part of this fabulous group of ladies.

Candi has been married to her husband Carlos Martinez fifty-seven years. They have three wonderful children; two sons and one daughter plus five beautiful grandchildren that she adores.
Her favorite time is being with her family, especially during Christmas time when they make Tamales. This brings the whole family together and keeps the traditions she’s learned alive as well as teaching the future generation; her beautiful grandchildren.

In the past fifty-seven years, she has had the opportunity to travel the world with her husband going to Europe (Spain, Germany, Italy, France, England), Egypt, China, Japan and many other cities in the United States.
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She also enjoys watercolor painting, gardening, cooking, trying new recipes, spending time with friends, shopping, traveling and meeting new people. 

Candy Yolles​

Janet Leeder
Candy was born and raised in San Diego and grew up in Clairemont. She has been married for 24 years to her husband, Craig. She has 2 sons; Raymond, 37 and Anthony, 21. All 3 of these guys are her world. And of course, she has a fur baby, Honey, who is 8 years old. 
She worked at Paychex Inc for 21 plus years. She had the opportunity to retire in 2005 to be a stay home mom with Anthony. She has spent the last 7 years caring for her parents but lost her dad 15 months ago so now she cares for her mom.

Candy has been with TJWC since 2007 and enjoys helping our own community. She has done volunteer work with the San Diego Blood Bank since 1995 and continues to do so. She also continues to work on many other volunteer projects where she feels needed and can make a difference.
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Since her entire family and friends are like family and are important to her, she works on keeping her family unit together by planning get togethers. She loves to old school skate at Miramar lake, hike, walk, boat and now back to the gym. She love loves the beach and has grown up going to it all the time. She continues to make it a big part of her life by walking and trashercizing (picking up trash and getting exercise) at least once a week. And of course, travel is part of her world ~ which is truly enjoyed.
Janet has been a member of the TJWC since 2004. She very much loves the Tierrasanta Junior Women’s Club and the feeling of working with the community on many events and all the socials. She moved to San Diego in 1989 with her husband, Earl, and their son from Pittsburgh, PA.
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Janet worked for the Department of Defense starting at Miramar then she moved to the Naval Facilities Engineering Command across from the Train Station on Pacific Hwy, working as a purchasing agent. She went on to work at the Office of Naval Research across from UTC in Contracts and Grants. She retired in 2001. Janet’s husband, Earl, had many health issues and had not worked for quite a while. He passed away on Christmas Eve in 2018. 
 
Janet currently lives in the Villa Monterey town homes. She has enjoyed Tierrasanta all these years. She says that San Diego has gotten crowded and was much nicer in the beginning when you could go to the beach and find parking easily but she still loves it here. She especially likes the Tierrasanta community for its convenient location to everything and the nice friendly people here. She would not want to live anywhere else in San Diego.

Janet passed away on February 14, 2024. A Celebration of Life was held in her honor on March 16, 2024 at the Butcher Shop. 

Leslie Larranga-Britt

Michelle McVay
Leslie has been a member of the TJWC since 2004. She joined TJWC shortly after she moved to Tierrasanta in hopes to meet friends in her new neighborhood and give back to her new community. Almost 20 years later, she cherishes the friendships she has made and is proud of the efforts the club has done in giving back to the community.
 
Leslie is a San Diego local who grew up in Clairemont. She moved to San Francisco for three years where she attended SFSU and worked in Advertising, then she returned back to San Diego.
 
She has been married for 29 years and has two boys, one in High School and the other at UC Berkeley.
 
Leslie owns her own Advertising company and when she is not working she is volunteering and spending time with her family and friends. She also enjoys Pilates, walking on the beach and traveling as much as possible.
 
Michelle was born in San Diego and has lived here for almost her whole life. She moved to Villa Portofino with her late husband in 1973. They loved the community then and she still loves it now. She can’t imagine living anywhere else and has lived in Tierrasanta for 50 years!!!

She has had more careers than, as she puts it, you can shake a stick at. She was a flight attendant back in the day when they were referred to stewardesses. As well as, a waitress and an exercise instructor. For 15 years she was a manicurist and for the last 20 years of her work life she was an office manager and medical biller for a great doctor. She retired at 65 after finding out she was, for the second time, going to be a grandmother.

She first joined TJWC in the mid 70’s for a few years but her life got too hectic with work, family and home to be able to really do more than lend a hand when needed. She returned in 2015 and for several years she has been responsible for putting together the TJWC club newsletter each month. She is very glad to be a part of TJWC and is looking forward to the work required to put our upcoming celebrations together for Patriots Day, which includes a parade, TierraFest Craft Fair and the dinner with desserts after. TJWC is the center of her social life and gives her the opportunity to help create a better community, side by side, with her fellow Juniors.
Wanda Heckbert 
Terri McFarren 
Wanda was born in Pennsylvania and has 2 kids; a son and daughter. She also has 4 grandkids. She moved to San Diego in 1992 and opened her business, Canine Cleaners, in 1998. She married the love of her life in 2000.

Wanda is a breast cancer survivor of 2 years and she has completed the 3-day breast cancer walk 5 times!
 
She joined the TJWC in 2014. She says she has made so many friends with the club and has become part of something amazing; giving back to a community. She also enjoys crafting and helping the ladies make their own crafts. She is so happy to be part of this amazing club and all the beautiful women and to be our honorary member this month.
​Terri was born at Mercy hospital in San Diego just one day after Robbie Dieterle (another TJWC member) was born at the same hospital. They were original roommates at the hospital nursery!

Terri grew up near Pasadena, CA and got her Degree in Occupational Therapy from USC.  She lived several places before moving to Tierrasanta in 1987 with her 2 children; Matt and Kelly who were 5 and 3 at the time. She raised them as a single mom.  She earned her Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) in 1989.

She continued to work as an Occupational Therapist and started her own company, Excel Therapies and ran it for several years. Her company had contracts with several skilled nursing facilities in East County providing Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy services. She decided to leave her business in 2004 and worked as an occupational therapist at Sharp Memorial Hospital until her retirement in October 2019.

Both of her kids went all through school in Tierrasanta. Her son, Matt, lives in Castle Rock, CO with his fiancé and works as a manager with a large company that installs and maintains doors in commercial buildings. Her daughter, Kelly, and her dog Minnie live with her. Kelly is a senior marketing manager with Amazon and has been fortunate to work remotely.
 
Terri enjoys travel and has traveled extensively in the US, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America and Europe. She joined Habitat for Humanity twice in Guatemala building vented stoves and outhouses for the indigenous people in the highlands. She volunteers at the San Diego Zoo and enjoys spending time with her family. She has a rescue dog named Cricket who is best friends with her daughters’ dog, Minnie. Terri and her daughter also enjoy taking their dogs to dog beach and for walks on Mission Trails.

Terri joined TJWC in 2013 after seeing a post in the Tierra Times for a Padres game and tailgate fundraiser. Barby Gengelbach (another TJWC member) brought her the tickets and invited her to a meeting. A big Thank You to Barby for introducing her to the club.
Myke Alaya
Terri Gilberth
Myke began working part time at Nazareth school in 1967, while completing her degree at SDSU and in 1969 she became Nazareth schools first full-time physical education teacher and athletic Director. Actually, Myke first arrived at Nazareth school much earlier, as an eight-year-old, third grade student, along with her twin sister, Pat. Back then she lived at Nazareth school as a resident student "known as Nazareth House" then.
 
Myke grew to value and appreciate the academic and religious ambience of Nazareth school provided by the sisters of Nazareth. She began to dream about someday returning to Nazareth school as a teacher to continue that nurturing tradition of Christian ministry. Apart from her physical education classes and coaching duties Myke also was the drama Director and computer teacher. Her summer job entailed painting the school buildings inside and out.
 
When asked to name her most memorable teaching experiences over 50 years at Nazareth school was the success of the girl’s softball volleyball and basketball teams.
 
Myke moved to Tierrasanta in 1972 and still resides in the same house where she raised her daughter and then her grandsons. After Retiring from Nazareth school, Myke joined the TWJC. Myke also worked with a group called "Toward maximum Independence" on the week-ends for 22 years 2000-2022, which didn't allow for her to join any other social groups. Myke enjoys bowling and golf in her spare time.
Terri moved to Tierrasanta in 1994 and joined the club that same year. She raised her 2 sons in Tierrasanta, while working in the insurance management industry. In 2016, her husband got a job offer in Hawaii and since the boys were grown they moved there for 3 wonderful years and still have good friends there. She decided to become a realtor in Hawaii and continues to do so here in California.

They moved back to Tierrasanta in 2019 to be closer to all of their friends and family. While they missed the warm water and tropical paradise they enjoyed reconnecting with friends here and Terri re-joined the Juniors.

She began to ice skate around 2010 and competes to this day. Lately, she has been learning salsa dancing and has a part time job running the Tierrsanta Village.
Amy Hall 
Ann Massey 
Amy moved to San Diego, got married and joined TJWC in 1999. She joined TJWC by accident after seeing an ad in the Tierra Times for the craft fair and thought it was a workshop for kids. She was excited to get involved. Little did she realize then that 26 years later she would still be working the TierraFest Craft Fair.  

At first, based on the articles regarding the Juniors, she did not think it would be a good fit for her. Boy was she wrong! Amy feels that these ladies have become her family. They have known her since before her boys were born. She has been married to her husband Christopher for 25 years and they have 3 boys; Johnathon, Matthew and Michael. All 3 have/are attending SDSU. She says that these ladies are a big part of their lives and she is glad to have such a great village to be a part of. 

Amy says it's an honor to be a part of a group of wonderful ladies who have such big hearts and want to give back to the community.  
Ann joined the TJWC when she moved to Tierrasanta from Albany, NY about 23 yrs ago in 2001! Her children were all grown up and she was looking to meet other women. She signed up her (surprised) husband, Tom, to join the Kiwanians at the same time. She was excited to be involved with a group that helps the local community in a positive and charitable way. Joyce Muinos picked her up for her first meeting and Mike Pence picked up Tom. 

Their 2 daughters; Sharon, with a MA in Business and Monique, with a Degree in Education had just graduated from the University of San Diego. They did not want to return to the cold, snowy winters of upstate, NY so they moved to San Diego to be near them. A few years later their son, Dan, graduated from Emory Riddle University in Florida with an Aero Science degree. He became an Air Traffic controller and moved to SD as well.

Their 3 children are married and have given them 7 beautiful and very active grandchildren. Now they are an involved and active family of 15!

In 2011, they moved from Tierrasanta to Scripps Ranch and Ann remained an active member. They just needed a bigger dining room and more bedrooms for visiting grandchildren. Tom started working from home and needed an office too. Ann wanted a swimming pool and more yard to garden.

Years ago, traveling a lot with Tom, Ann took a break from the Jrs for a few years. Then the amazing and enthusiastic Carol Wasilausky (a former and longtime TJWC member) encouraged her to return!

She has stayed active in the Jr’s. by organizing hospitality for our monthly meetings and participating in some other events like Oktoberfest and Patriots Day. Her latest event has been to organize a social, each spring, for members to attend a play on a Sunday afternoon. Ann and Tom host a party afterward at their home for members and their spouse or guests to come and enjoy their garden!

Several weeks during the year she travels with Tom to their rental homes in Naples, Fl and Kinderhook Lake, NY and enjoy them as well. Ann had also been very active for many years in the La Jolla Garden club where she had served as President, Secretary, Hospitality and program chair. Now she is involved in a few Women’s clubs in Scripps Ranch that include her Book club and Bunco group.
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She is very proud of the many ways, for many years, that the Tierrasanta Junior Women's Club with such dedicated members has helped so many people in the Tierrasanta Community and even in the City of San Diego and that they have especially helped to positively impact the lives of children!!!
 

 
Makayla McGuffie
​Cassandra Hanrahan
Makayla grew up in Campo, CA and then later moved to El Cajon. In 2020, she met the Hall family who invited her to attend a meeting and then she joined the TJWC. She currently lives on her own with the help of an independent agency called Big Moves. They find staff to come in and help her with living independently despite her disability. 
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She is also going to school at Foothills adult school to receive her high school diploma. In her free time, she speaks to college students who are going to become physical therapists because she wants to become a motivational speaker and start her own foundation.

She also has a bearded dragon named Scar and a dog named Chloe.
​After growing up in Walnut Creek, CA, Cassandra attended college in Monterey Bay. She studied business and hospitality management and after graduation worked for Pebble Beach Golf Resort. While her degree and training were in operations management, she ended up in the marketing department working with brand partners like Lexus, Rolex, and Coca-Cola. She met her husband while he was attending the Naval Post Graduate School, also in the Monterey Bay area. 

They moved to Washington DC and then Torrance, CA before settling in Tierrasanta in 2015. Her husband had just retired from the Navy after 22 years and her son was three years old then.

Cassandra was grateful to be a stay at home mom for a few years. In 2019 she saw an ad in the Tierra Times for a part-time administrative assistant at Tierrasanta Village of San Diego, a nonprofit helping older adults to remain in their current homes and communities as long as possible. 

Her marketing experience came in handy when Tierrasanta Village decided to hire someone to help with marketing efforts and now works additional hours for the organization.

Cassandra has been a TJWC member since 2022. She really enjoys helping to raise money at Tierrafest and Oktoberfest. She enjoys spending time with this group of kindhearted, philanthropic women who do so much good in our community. Cassandra is also part of the TJWC Membership Committee, helping to welcome new club members. She recommends that anyone curious about TJWC attend the monthly meeting and take part in one of the social activities to experience the club first hand.
 Barby Gengelbach
Joyce Muinos 
Barby was raised in Los Angeles, CA. She started college after high school but took a break so she could go with her parents to Europe for 6 months! They traveled in a trailer pulled by a French Citroen. They met many wonderful people as at that time only the wealthy traveled that way.

After returning, Barby married her now husband Gerhard in 1962. Ten years later they moved to San Diego to open an Empress Pearls Office. The first year they rented a home in Villa Portofino and decided that the ‘Island in the Hills’ would be a great place to raise a family so they bought their home on Guincho Road in 1973 where they still reside today. They had two children, Scott and Nicole, who both attended the schools in Tierrasanta.

Barby joined the TJWC in 1976 and is one of our longest serving members. She has supported many of the club’s projects including the annual Canyon Hills High School Student Scholarships, the campaign to complete construction of State Route 52, adding amenities to the Tierrasanta Recreation Center and providing project funding to the community at large. Grant funds include donations to Dollars for Scholars, Rachel House for Homeless Women, the Children’s Center and many other causes. Over the years, she has held several officer positions in the TJWC including President.

Barby and Gerhard introduced the idea of a community Oktoberfest in 1980, as they wanted to carry on their traditional German celebration like they had done when they lived in Los Angeles. In 1990, Barby proposed the idea of the TJWC and the Kiwanis Club of Tierrasanta working together on an annual Oktoberfest. Her plan was accepted and this longtime community event will be celebrated for the 34 time this year! Because Oktoberfest grew into such a large event over the years the Tierrasanta Recreation Council works with the TJWC and the Kiwanis Club to raise large amounts of money that is given back to the Tierrasanta community.
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Barby and Gerhard retired from their family business, All City Pest Control, in 2023 after 43 years but it’s still in operation and run by their son. They have enjoyed traveling in every way possible from their boats, motorhome, road trips and plane to places like the Colorado River, Mexico and Europe. As longtime Tierrasanta residents and avid entertainers they also sponsored a local Super Bowl party for 38 years. 
Joyce was born in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in the small town of Festus, which is about 50 miles south of the city.  She had a brother 4 years older and one 2 years younger.  With that position in the family, she often acted as the “negotiator” or “peace maker.”  Of course, she was also often the brunt of their jokes, schemes, and tricks! She had to grow up tough!
Joyce enjoyed the small-town atmosphere where everyone knew everyone, school classes were small, and most crimes were petty. Her wish was to live in a city with sidewalks!! 
Joyce’s Mom & Dad were Scout leaders and very busy with community activities. Volunteering was a big part of the family’s life and there was always a camping trip, hike, or event to attend. 
Joyce's oldest brother joined the Navy as soon as he graduated from college and after basic and Officer Candidate School he was stationed at Miramar, in San Diego. Joyce was then at the University of Missouri and his letters talking about coming home to his apartment in Mission Beach and going for a run along the beach sounded idyllic to her and her roommate! Neither had ever seen a beach, other than those on the Missouri or Mississippi Rivers!! Pretty soon, they weakened! California was calling! The plan was to visit San Diego and head to San Francisco, the home of the flower children and hippies! Just a note:  Her roommate was even more “country” and naïve than she!!  Of course, they had to find jobs because the money was running out, so, no SF.  Move to Plan B.
Joyce landed a job at Cubic Defense Systems and loved the family atmosphere and the job. She stayed for 26 years and retired at 48 as a Product Support Manager, overseeing spare parts programs, hardware modifications and upgrades, and repair depots. She prepared proposals, participated in contract negotiations and managed the resulting contracts from “cradle to grave.” Travel was part of the job and one of her favorite parts. She even managed a one-year stint as the logistician in Sardegna, Italy.
She met Jerry at Cubic and they married after dating for 7 years. They shared a committed work ethic and strong family relationships. Family is still a very important part of their lives!
After Cubic, Joyce started volunteering. Since most of her friends were from Cubic and still working, she needed something to do! She worked for Child Abuse Prevention Foundation (now, Promises4Kids) and the San Diego Humane Society with Mobile Adoptions. She met Terri Stowe and Mary Larkin at a Tierrasanta Craft Fair and was introduced to the TJWC!  Joyce was hooked! She has served on the Board more years than not, as Treasurer, VP and as President. The TJWC has been a very important part of her life and she has made lifelong friends with whom she remains in contact long after they leave the organization. The TJWC has also helped her connect with others in the community. Through those connections, she was invited to join the Tierrasanta Foundation in its infancy and the Tierrasanta Village of San Diego during its early years. All play a big part in her life and all are reasons to love T-Town!