News

Our Senior of the Month is Joyce Beeney.  Joyce is a “fixture” down at the Senior Center and we are glad that she is among our circle of friends.  Joyce was born in 1941 in Bellevue, Ohio.  She is the third of 6 children.  Joyce has two older brothers and one younger brother and she has two half-sisters who are both younger than Joyce.  Joyce was 9 years old when her mother remarried and that union resulted in the two younger daughters.  Joyce took care of the house while Mom took care of the babies.  The family did not have a farm but lived next door to a farm and those kids would play in the barn, as long as there were no cows in there!

Joyce was a “Daddy’s Girl” and when he and her Mom got divorced, he moved to Arizona.  Joyce grew up and married.  She also developed bronchitis and had a very difficult time with her health in Ohio.  Her Dad, and the doctors, thought it would be a good thing if she moved to Arizona to improve her ability to breathe.  Her husband thought she should be gone no more than a week and when she stayed longer, he filed for divorce claiming desertion.  She had to send the kids (her son was 6 and her daughters were 4 and 5) home to Ohio and it was the hardest thing she has ever done.  She has been married three times, divorced twice and widowed once.

She did get a high school education and graduated.  She has failed to turn in her Senior Class Essay and was sure she would not get a signed diploma but she did and is a certified home health care-giver.  Joyce is work brittle and conscientious.  She has been on her own for most of her life and has always had a job and maintained her own home.  She worked at Motorola for 17 years and she worked at the Pony Soldier near Fred Meyer for a couple of years.  Otherwise, she has been in the business of caring for folks who cannot care for themselves.  She cared for her step-mother and actually saved her life.  She found her hemorrhaging quite severely and was able to get her the help that she needed to survive.  Her step-mother resented it, as she was an alcoholic, but it was the best thing Joyce ever did.   Joyce maintains, justifiably, that she threw herself into work to save herself from going insane without her children.  The first job she had was at Green Springs Sanitarium which housed folks with tuberculosis.  Her Mom wanted her to be a nurse, and she would have been good at it, but she did not have any Latin and they required Latin at that time.  During her time at Motorola, she rose to the position of Quality Assurance and was managing people.  She liked this job and it was her favorite.

Joyce’s family has many members who served in the military, including several members who were in the Navy and some in the Air Force.

When asked about high points in her life, she says her most interesting escapade was a trip she made in 1979 to the Holy Land.  While there, she traveled to Amsterdam, Jerusalem, Cairo (where she saw King Tut’s Tomb), and the Garden of Gethsemane.  The most impressive part of the trip was walking where Jesus walked as he bore the cross.

Joyce continues to keep occupied.  She currently loves working at the Upper Rogue Independent and she really likes Dan and Laura Mancusco, the owners/editors.  The life lessons she has learned are to do your best, keep no regrets, look to the future and the Golden Rule.  She is looking forward to being 100 but only if she is in good health and able to get around.

September has Linda Gonzaga as our Senior of the Month.  She was born May 12, 1956 in Roseburg, OR, the fourth child of five and the second girl.  Her Mother stayed at home and cared for 5 Italian “little brats”.  Her Father was a miner at Hanna Nickel Mine in Riddle.  A good childhood and learning from mistakes makes her an honest woman.  Her middle brother, Carmine, died many years ago from injuries suffered in a car accident.

Linda has two children, 5 Grandkids and 1 Great Granddaughter, Grandma’s pride showed through as she spoke of them.

When she was 20 she cared for a friend’s mother which led into the career of care giving.  She’s also worked at Marlin Boat Works in White City, 10 – 12 years ago inside the boats to make sure they were polished and ready for a buyer.

Five years ago she joined the group known as “The Red Hat Ladies”.  This group wears Red Hats and Purple dresses. “It’s a license for women to play” They like to travel and make their own ensembles that they wear to their conventions high teas and “Steam Punk” (take past items and drag them into the future).  She’s called the “girly girl princess”.

When asked what her biggest accomplishment was – she stated “I’m 62 – I made it!  She’s grateful and thankful.”

She’s a prankster – poor William (her husband) and Joyce Beeney (her best friend) are her targets.  Watch out!

Her philosophy is when you’re with someone (whether you like them or not) whether they are black or white, tall or short, big or little, from toddler to elder they are human – treat them as such –  we all hurt and bleed the same.

Joy is in my heart!  Looks forward to seeing her Great Granddaughter.

Our Senior of the Month for August, 2018, is Rose Kercher.

Rose was born in Marshall, MO, in 1943 and is the middle, and only girl, of three children.  Her family moved to Oregon when she was 3 years old so she does not claim to be a Midwesterner.

Both of her brothers have passed away, the youngest just a month ago.  Her eldest brother died teaching Rose to swim.  He was nearly 15 and Rose only 12.  It was more than a tragedy and it took Rose a very long time to get over it.  Truly a sad and terrible thing to happen to children.  Her younger brother, who just passed recently, was riddled with arthritis and was crippled.  He began drawing disability at the age of 35.  After being in pain all his life, he was a cranky child and a cranky man.  Rose is the only one left and we are glad she is with us still!

Rose was a very athletic person.  She played baseball, basketball, touch football, track and field, long jump, and many other sports.  She spent all 12 years of her education in the Central Point School District.  When she was 13, she went to a track meet in Klamath Falls and she ran the 100-yard dash in 12 seconds, the 50-yard dash in 6 seconds and was able to long jump 21 feet!  She started to prepare for the Olympics!  The summer Olympics that year bestowed the gold medal on a woman who ran the 100-yard dash in 12 seconds so Rose was right.  She could have been in the Olympics, were she older!

Rose lived in Los Angeles from 1962 until 1969.  While there she was offered a chance to model Hanes hosiery.  She declined as she was too bashful to have her legs displayed on billboards across the U. S.!

Rose had one bad marriage and she is not unhappy to be out of it.  She has one daughter, Deirdre, who lives in Belgrade, MT, and Deirdre has a daughter who is married to a military man, lives in Colorado, and has a child of her own.  So, Rose has a child, two grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.

Rose has worked all her life.  She has done everything from waitressing in a bar, to putting in electrical wiring in mobile homes, to operating a switchboard at a stock exchange.  Truly a “jack of all trades!”

Rose’s younger brother was not a very nice guy due to his illness and her mother was a harsh and controlling woman.  She had been undermined as a child and it was pleasant to discover who she was and to see that she is a nice and caring person.to Rose was delighted to discover that she had value and was worth something.  She believes one should not cry over spilt milk and one should not stay angry, all lessons learned as she evolved from a timid girl who was treated poorly to a conscientious and caring woman.

Rose is looking forward to moving to Montana next Fall.  Deirdre’s home in Belgrade is just up the road from Bozeman which will become Rose’s future home.  The apartment building, she is considering, is not yet built but Deirdre is “in charge” of things on that end so Rose is not worried and is looking forward to the move.