Ro Reddick
Laurie "Ro" Reddick (born September 18, 1956) is the youngest of five children born to Sage “Jack" Alphonse Normand and Genevieve “Gene” Adams Normand. Called “the caboose” by her dad, she has three brothers and one sister: David Arthur, Glenn Anthony, Jeanine Anne, and Robert Andrew. She was told her name came from “Annie Laurie,” a traditional Irish song written in the late 1800’s. She was born in Fairhope, Alabama at the (now nonexistent) Jordan Clinic. Her birth was not uneventful, as her mother, who was ill with kidney disease, was told that her baby would probably be stillborn, as they could not hear a heartbeat. Emerging in a flood of black fluid (meconium stained), Laurie surprised the doctors by being alive, but tiny, weighing in at under 5 pounds. (Her mother was a 2-pack-a-day smoker, and at this time the hazards of smoking were not fully known.)
Nickname
Ro was Laurie's nickname. She acquired it before her marriage to Jon Reddick while they were the Command Team (President/Vice President) of the USS Khai Tam, and began using it nearly exclusively as her name in the late 1990's after having several confusing episodes at work involving herself and a co-worker named Lori.
Why Ro?
Ro is a character from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987-1994). Played by Michelle Forbes, she introduced in the fifth season episode "Ensign Ro," but was brought back for several other episodes. The character, Ro Laren (and Ro is actually the family name here) is from a race in of people in the Star Trek Universe known as the Bajorans, a displaced and nomadic people. Laurie felt the characteristics of the character of Ro Laren were similar to hers, and as many people in the Star Trek Fan Association adopted personas, Laurie adopted the Bajoran persona, and the family name of Ro as her own. Club members agreed with the persona and began calling her Ro. The name has stuck ever since, and Laurie prefers it to her (family) given name as it is easier for others to pronounce and remember, since it is short, unusual, and alliterates nicely with Reddick.
Making It Official
After going by "Ro" for so many years (even well after having left the job with the co-working with a similar name), using "Ro" even on her checks, all her friends and even family calling her "Ro," Laurie decided to make it official and have a legal name change in 2012. Not wanting to completely rid herself of her birth name, she simply added "Ro" as another first name, and on November 6, 2012 became Ro Laurie Normand Reddick.
Childhood
Her entire childhood was spent in the small southern town of Fairhope, Alabama, on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. Growing up on the water, nearly every day was spent playing on the beach, swimming, fishing or crabbing. Her father, “Jack,” was a musician, and discovered that all five of his children had musical talent. Laurie’s talent was that she had perfect pitch, and a very good ear for picking out songs, such that at around age four, her father would ask her to help him learn songs from the radio for which he had no sheet music. If he played a wrong chord, she could show him what notes needed to be in the chord, even though she didn’t know the names of the notes or chords. She began playing in public with her father at age five when her father’s trio played the opening of the Delchamps shopping center in Fairhope. She played trumpet on the song “Tea for Two,” not having any idea of the relation of the valves to notes, but rather “lipping” the entire song.
The Normand house was always an open house. People were always stopping by unannounced. Gene Normand was a great listener, and kids and adults were always stopping by to talk and pour their hearts out. They knew no strangers.
The Normands were always playing music at their house. Sometimes people would hear music while walking along the beach and would just walk up to their house to listen from the porch.
While growing up, there were always large family gatherings. Nearly all of Laurie's relatives lived in the New Orleans area – then about 5 hours away – and Thanksgiving and/or Christmas always meant a full house or lots of visiting. There was always someone to play with, always someone to stay with. She grew up believing that family and traditions were important.
From the age of six, Laurie began wanting a horse. She got her first horse (a pony named Rex) at age 12 from her sister-in-law's grandfather. With love and patience, she trained him to be a top-notch competitor, and entered horse shows for six years with him. He placed in everything he entered, winning more firsts and seconds than thirds, fourths, and fifths combined. After Rex, she had two more horses: an appaloosa she named J.D.R. Spooks, and a quarter horse/Arabian mix named Romulus (Rom, for short). Although J.D. won a few places, neither of the other two horses were ever as talented a competitor as Rex.
After graduating high school at age 17, she worked a half year before leaving for the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Education
She attended Fairhope Elementary, which, when she began, contained all 12 grades. She attended Fairhope Elementary for grades 1-6, but finished grades 7-12 at the new Fairhope High School where she had a singularly unimpressive academic career.
She attended a variety of colleges and universities, putting herself through school, finally receiving her BS degree in English from the University of South Alabama in 1989 with a 3.45 GPA. She went on to attend graduate school at Florida State University, but elected not to finish the degree.
Colleges/Universities attended:
- Faulkner State Jr. College, Bay Minette, AL
- University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
- Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
- Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
- University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL
- Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Occupations
This is a general list of the different types of jobs Ro has had. There is also a detailed list available.
- Professional musician
- Secretary for various universities and colleges
- Salesperson
- Insurance secretary
- Server/waitress at fast food restaurants, a Chinese restaurant, a steakhouse, and a college dormitory
- Ensign in the U.S. Navy
- Factory Day Worker
- Gymnastics Coach and judge
- Co-director of a gymnastics summer camp
- Music director at a summer camp
- Acrobatics instructor
- ESL instructor in Brazil
- Medical terminology and transcription instructor
- Medical Transcriptionist in 12 specialties
Residences
When Laurie was born, she lived at 58 Fels Avenue in Fairhope, Alabama. Her father paid around $8,000 for the house (which her eldest brother inherited and later sold in Nov, 2001, for $150,000). In those days, people left their houses unlocked, and keys in their cars. Since then she has lived several cities:
- Nashville, TN
- Murfreesboro, TN
- Orlando, FL (while in the Navy)
- Mobile, AL
- Tuscaloosa, AL
- Ft. Walton Beach, FL
- Pensacola, FL
- Tallahassee, FL
- Jacksonville, FL
Marriage/Children
In late November of 1990, Laurie/Ro met her future husband, Jonathon Reddick, when she attended what was only the second meeting of the USS Khai Tam (then Shuttle Heritage) on the campus of Florida State University.
The short story:
After a long courtship, they were married in a quiet, legal ceremony in the Leon County Courthouse (Tallahassee) on September 26, 1997, and then had a second ceremony with all friends in attendance on November 1, 1997. They have one child, daughter Dana Kathyrn Reddick, born January 17, 1998.
The long story:
After a courtship lasting approximately three years, Jon and Ro moved in together into an apartment on Hidden Place. Not long afterwards, during a weekend trip to Disneyworld, Ro and Jon were waiting in line for a ride when Ro spotted a man holding a baby in front of them. As if an arrow had been shot through her heart, Ro suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to now, at this point in her life, become a mother. The desire didn't wane over the ensuing weeks and months, and on Christmas day, Jon proposed to Ro, wanting to "do it right." Within two months, before a wedding could even be planned, Ro became pregnant. Jobs and life got in the way, and wedding plans were pushed on the back burner. Finally, in September, Ro began to panic as she began to show, and was afraid they would not get married before their child was born, which was her wish. She suggested they go ahead and marry quickly, to make it official, and plan a later ceremony. They were married at the Leon County Courthouse on September 26th, with no friends in attendance. They made plans to marry, with great ceremony and all their friends in attendance, at an upcoming Star Trek convention put on by Vulkon Enterprises on November 1, 1997. The marriage ceremony was held in the convention hotel ballroom with Ro and Jon in their Star Trek finery (Ro in a Starfleet uniform with Bajoran nose ridges, and Jon in his entire Klingon ceremonial wear), as were all their friends, with Chase Masterson (from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) as Maid-of-Honor, and George Sumpter, from the club's Marine Strike Group, as Best Man. The ceremony was fully Trek, everyone costumed but Chase, with the ceremony first being lead by Adm. Terry Hilliard (the Starfleet International club regional director), and then a Bajoran Kai and Vedek (Bajoran religious leaders) stepping in to perform the Bajoran wedding ritual.
As their September 26th legal wedding date is very close to Ro's birthday, Jon and Ro have opted to celebrate the November 1 ceremony date as their wedding anniversary.
Achievements
- Plays five instruments: piano, bass, drums, clarinet, guitar
- Inducted into Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honor Society (1974)
Awards
- Won summer highpoint trophy at Jubilee Saddle Club with her pony Rex, 1971
- Placed 1st twice in SCCA (Sports Car Clubs of America) rallies held in Mobile, Alabama in the late 1970's with her 1976 Toyota Corolla 1600
- Won 1st in Class III uneven parallel bars in the Alabama State Gymnastic Championships, 1978, at age 22
Trivia
- Is a closet geologist and collects rocks and fossils
- Collects miniature tea sets
- Biggest fears are sharks, alligators, tornadoes, and out-of-control elevators
- Dreams in color, serialized
- Is a descendant of James "Jim" Bowie, the 19th century pioneer for whom the Bowie knife is named.
- Wanted to be a ballerina (1st grade), racehorse jockey (high school), archaeologist (beginning college), geologist/paleontologist (mid college), but settled for medical transcriptionist
- Her family was featured on Paul Harvey's radio show in the 1970's
- Started beginner gymnastics classes at age 20, and went on to coach and judge gymnastics for 15 years
- Judged gymnastics for the Special Olympics in 1981 held in Nashville, TN
- Played music for two presidents (Reagan and G.W. Bush, Sr.), one vice president (Quayle), and 50 governors (U.S. Governors Convention held at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Alabama, 1969)
- Had her first (and only) child at age 41
- Speak Brazilian Portuguese
- Discovered geocaching in November 2009
