Susan Schappert Harper

After graduating from HRA, I attended Wake Forest University where I earned my BS in accounting and met my future husband, Jim Harper. I graduated from college, took the CPA exam and got married all within a month! We settled in Raleigh , NC where I had accepted a position with KPMG Peat Marwick. After 4 years, I decided to give up public accounting for the corporate world, and worked as a financial analyst for Golden Corral Corporation until the birth of our first son Jimmy in 1992. We moved to Cary, just SW of Raleigh, in 1993. Jim works as a director of sales engineers for Nortel.

Jim and I have been married almost 16 years and have been blessed with 4 (yes 4!) beautiful children. That has to be some kind of record for the class – any one out there with 5?

Jimmy is the oldest at 11, our daughter Madison is 8, Bobby is 5, and Emma Grace is 15 months. I am a stay at home mom, but it is VERY full time work! I put my financial background to use as treasurer of the PTA and also coordinate the family taxi service to soccer games, dance lessons, scout meetings and a barn.

I have enjoyed pursuing some new interests including horseback riding, learning the violin, and running. We have 2 labs – Belle and Sunny , and a cat named Whiskers.

We get back to Newport News several times a year to visit Grandma and Grandpa Schappert. By the way, they put a pool in the backyard the year AFTER we graduated from HRA!

I’m looking forward to seeing all of my classmates and their families in July!