First lady-elect: Former Jill Biden classmate shares “hometown pride.”
Montco woman recalls Upper Moreland High School experience with first lady-elect
WILLOW GROVE » On Inauguration Day, Presidentelect Joe Biden, 78, will become President Biden, and his wife Jill, a Montgomery County native, will become first lady.
For many who knew the first lady-elect, 69, the honor didn’t come as a surprise.
“It couldn’t happen to a better person,” said Liz Leonard, a former classmate of Biden at Upper Moreland High School. “She’s just so giving, and she’s a hard worker … and when she sets out to get something done she does it.”
The soon-to-be first lady was born Jill Tracy Jacobs on June 3, 1951 in Hammonton, N.J. to parents Donald Jacobs and Bonny Jean Godfrey.
Biden is the eldest of five sisters, according to a profile in The Philadelphia Inquirer. The family of seven later moved to Montgomery County — first to Hatboro, and then to Willow Grove where she later attended Upper Moreland High School.
“She’s a joy,” Leonard, 69, of Willow Grove, said of Biden.
The Huntingdon Valley native estimated there were roughly 280 students in Upper Moreland High School’s class of 1969. Leonard, whose maiden name was Essler, remembered being in high school with the first lady-elect, formerly Jill Jacobs.
“We were in quite a few activities over the years, over that four years of high school,” she said.
Biden and Leonard worked together on the high school’s senior prom committee in 1969. Biden was also a cheerleader while Leonard was in the marching band.
“She was a lot of fun, and she loved life, and I did too, and I think that’s why we were good, good friends,” Leonard said.
Biden and Leonard ended up at Brandywine College together, which is now Widener University in Chester, but eventually, they lost touch.
Leonard ended up studying medicine. She later got married and had two children.
Biden went on to transfer
to the University of Delaware, where at 18 years old, she met her first husband, Bill Stevenson. The two married in 1970, and the marriage lasted five years, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer profile.
In 1975, a date was arranged between Jill and the Delaware freshman senator Joe Biden, as reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer. At the time, Joe Biden had recently lost his wife and daughter in a tragic car accident. He became a single father to two boys, Beau and Hunter.
On their first date, they went to dinner and a movie.
“It was kind of a blind date that we went out on and I didn’t think I’d really — I
thought, ‘OK, I’ll go out with him once and that’ll be it,’” she told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I just didn’t think he would appeal to me.”
They were married two years later, and had a daughter, Ashley in 1981, according to the article.
Jill Biden received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware in 1975, as well as two masters degrees: one in education in 1981 from West Chester University and another in English ten years later from Villanova University. She obtained a doctorate degree in 2007 from the Delaware university.
She became a teacher, and even taught classes at Northern Virginia Community
College during her time as second lady as her husband served as vice president.
The last time Leonard said she saw Jill Biden was in 2008 at the former second lady’s mother’s funeral at Abington Presbyterian Church.
“It’s been a while because then she became second lady and … our paths really changed as you can imagine,” Leonard said.
As the Montgomery County native is set to assume one of the most powerful roles in the nation, Leonard noted the sense of “hometown pride.”
While she admitted that personally she’s not much for “talk[ing] politics,” Leonard said she’s “thrilled ... to get somebody gracious
back into the White House,” and added there wasn’t a better person for the job.
“We’re just so excited, and happy, that a lovely lady will be first lady, and that’s just so glorious to us. She’s gonna be wonderful,” Leonard said. “She and Joe are making a wonderful team, and they’ll be a great team from Wednesday on out.”
Leonard said she planned to watch the historic event with her family. She had a message of congratulations, best wishes and luck for her former classmate turned first lady.
“We love you, and we’re just so proud of you, and we love Joe, and we know you’re going to be the best first lady and president, and we just will be right behind you 100 percent,” she said.