Life's Tapestry: Leslee Bond at 100

Leslee (Anderson) Bond was born a century ago on August 31, 1915 in the southern Utah town of Elsinore.  As her story unfolded, I observed how the tapestry of Leslee's rich life parallels the history of the past century.  Living to be 100 is no small feat, and Leslee understandably prefers to downplay her age to avoid being treated as anyone other than the bright, articulate woman I met, who truly embraces life!

Known as "Little Denmark," Leslee's birthplace was settled by Danish converts to the Mormon faith, including her paternal grandparents.  At age 5, her parents packed up the family's belongings in a covered wagon and traveled to the "new frontier" of northern Utah where they purchased a ranch and Leslee rode a donkey to school.  After her father was injured by a neighbor's bullet and her mother had difficulty with the higher elevation, the family of 8 moved again, to Roosevelt, Utah, where Leslee's father bought a bottling plant and ice cream factory.  There they stayed and thrived until 1929...

Resilient is a word that describes Leslee, along with curious, life-long learner, and a lover of people.  Her father had done very well in business and was established in the community and church.  However, good times turned sour when the market crashed.  After losing everything they had, the family moved to Salt Lake City.   As the entrepreneur that he was, Leslee's father found partners to purchase an undervalued mineral water plant in Soda Springs, Utah and the family moved again.  

In Idaho, the family occupied an abandoned house with boarded up windows in a land of weather extremes.  The upstairs had no heat, and the family primarily ate venison, pancakes and choke cherries for several years.  Despite these hardships, her father taught the importance of family and helping one another.  He used the analogy of sticks: one alone is easy to break, but there is strength together.  It was in Idaho where Leslee truly fell in love with nature.  Clean air, pure water.  She wandered through the hills, wrote poetry, and didn't at all mind walking 5 or more miles to school!

As the Great Depression continued, the family moved back to Salt Lake City where Leslee completed her senior year of high school.  Family tragedy struck when her oldest sister died in childbirth due to inadequate medical care, and the experience helped shape Leslee's future when she became determined to continue school to rise above poverty.  Working her way through college at the University of Utah, Leslee majored in English but also studied library science, and her first job was to establish a high school library after graduating in 1939. 

World War II sent Leslee in yet another life direction.  Not one to sit on the sidelines, she took a class in riveting and gave up her job in Elsinore to become a riveter in a California airplane factory.  After only a few weeks, however, Leslee discovered she couldn't handle the noise so she transferred to another department.  She also met her first husband who taught electronics in the Air Force.  After thirteen years of marriage and a move to southern California to be near his family, they parted ways when her daughters were ages 4 and 5.  In the same timeframe, she lost her parents ten days apart.  Divorced and out of the workforce for seven years, Leslee was told she was not hirable, so she went to business school and was ultimately hired by RCA to open a technical library.  Every time Leslie got kicked downstairs, she just climbed up an extra flight! 

Leslee's next opportunity was a higher paying job at an aircraft company, and she bought a nicer home in La Mirada.  It was not easy for a single woman to purchase a home in those days, but Leslee took the leap and increased her mortgage to $100/month. As life twisted and turned, the company went out of business after losing its government contract.  Ultimately, Leslie returned to teaching english and journalism.  Her career had come full circle! 

After her girls finished college, Leslee married Albert Bond and took early retirement to travel in a motor home throughout the U.S.  These experiences, along with a summer trip around the world, remain highlights of Leslee's life next to her children.  

Albert and Leslee ultimately moved to Sonoma County fifteen years ago.  Albert died in 2012 and Leslee moved to Friends House in Santa Rosa in 2014 where she lives today.  She cherishes family time, and has always had a special relationship with her grandchildren, two of whom now attend SRJC.  She has something to look forward to every day, and continues to write.  When we spoke, she was finishing up a story about a past Christmas to share for the holidays.

Leslee's essence can be felt in a poem she wrote about three cathedrals: a walk on a beach...through a college campus...in a redwood grove.  Fully alive and grounded in who she is and where she's guided in life, wherever that may be!

With a little help from mom...and other mentors

Sylvia (Gross) Sucher will celebrate her 101st birthday on July 13, 2013 in Santa Rosa.   Like most stories, hers is one that "didn't come out the way you write the script," according to this former english teacher.

The eldest of three children born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Sylvia started overcoming obstacles at age 4 when she developed polio.  Her mother would not let her feel sorry for herself and saw it as a challenge to overcome and made sure Sylvia did the exercises she needed to regain strength.  Her mother also became the primary family wage-earner when Sylvia's father suffered "nervous breakdowns" and multiple hospitalizations throughout her childhood.  As an enterprising woman, Mrs. Gross opened a grocery store where the family lived in three small rooms in the back of the store.  Sylvia recalled her mother getting up at 5:30 each morning to accept 30-gallon cans of milk she would wheel into the store. Back then, patrons would bring quart-size pitchers or cans to fill up for their families.

The baby of the family, Rosalie, was born when Sylvia was 14, and her mother arranged for Sylvia to leave school at noon to be her "assistant."  She always made Sylvia feel like she had a very important job to do and was truly making a difference.  Despite this expectation, her mother was very committed to Sylvia's education and supported her  continuing education at Brooklyn College despite the predominant attitude at the time that a woman shouldn't go to college.  However, the tides were beginning to change on the brink of World War II and Mother was out in front of the pack!

Sylvia strongly believes that to succeed in life, "no one does it alone."  She feels blessed to have had many mentors along the way, her mother first and foremost.  Another was the person who gave Sylvia the opportunity to run the small campus bookstore at Brooklyn College while she was still in school.  She ultimately developed it into a good sized business during her tenure as the manager before going on to become a high school english and speech teacher.

As fate would have it, shortly after college graduation Sylvia was asked by the Dean of Women if she would give a young man in her class a job at the bookstore who had graduated Summa Cum Laude in Physics, but was unable to find work at that time.  She started him at .$50/hour.  Eventually this young man became a physics professor at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute.  His name was Max Sucher and, you guessed it, also became Sylvia's husband.  She fondly remembers him as a very well rounded human being who loved not only science/math but also literature, classical music and poetry. 

As Sylvia prepared for her teaching career, she got her first real taste of prejudice, balanced with a guiding light.   Despite the fact that New York City was a point of entry to the United States and a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities, the board of education had clear biases against Jewish teachers, making it that much harder to pass the required oral exam due to their particular accent. Sylvia fortunately had a wonderful teacher she remembers to this day, Margaret McCarthy, who knew the odds and sent her to an experienced speech coach before the exam.  She passed!

Max and Sylvia had a wonderful life together raising their two daughters until his death in his late 60s, after both girls had left home.  Her family encouraged Sylvia to migrate west to California's Sonoma County to live near her daughter, Elizabeth, who had an infant daughter herself.  So westward she went, quickly adapted to her new surroundings, and developed a strong network of friends over time.  Sadly, in another twist of fate, Elizabeth inexplicably developed lung cancer shortly after she had been promoted to a deanship in the english department at Santa Rosa Junior College, and died when Sylvia's granddaughter was still a small child.  This was a very "jarring" experience for Sylvia with her family support system so far away, but she adjusted over time and remains in Sonoma County to this day.  According to Sylvia, "the living have to live," and so she lived on.

Reflecting on her life and what to pass on, Sylvia reiterated much of what she learned from her own mother:  Be prepared, stand your ground, but don't expect to get through life on some trick.  If you know what you want, don't let someone trample you or use anti-whatever (hostility) of the moment to pull you down.  Fight your way through.  Don't feel sorry for yourself, even if you do have problems.  No one likes to listen to complaining.  Reach out to others and show genuine interest in them.  They will then want to be around you and be there for you, too.

Sylvia, I'm sure those won't be your last words of wisdom.  Thank you!

Life is an Adventure: An interview with Rita Kline

 Rita Kline was born the second of four children on June 8, 1918 in Green Bay, Wisconsin to Albert and Ann Gunn.  Perhaps the seeds of her lifelong adventures began as she watched her maternal grandfather “knit” his commercial fishing nets; mesmerized for hours as he placed the nets on a revolving reel and carefully applied tar as he finished a section to preserve the net.  They never had an actual conversation because he only spoke Kashubian, a language from his homeland near the Baltic Sea between Poland and Germany

Rita remembers her mother being quite popular with local children, so neighbors would frequent the house they grew up in.  She was never afraid of anything and loved being outdoors; particularly outdoor games at night, and the freedom they were allowed that came with a feeling of safety and internalized guidelines of right and wrong. 

Rita always wanted to be a hairdresser, and attended beauty school in Milwaukee after high school.  At her mother’s request, she returned home for a short time after completing the program, but before long a hairdressing client made an offer she couldn’t refuse.  The young woman worked for Standard Oil and was driving to California the next day.  Rita commented that she'd love to go, and the woman had room in her car.  The next thing she knew, Rita and her younger sister, who had just graduated from high school, were off to California! 

The car trip itself, which took about a week, was quite an adventure.  At the time, automobiles were only permitted to travel 35 miles per hour to save fuel due to gas rationing.  Rita typically drove the ‘night shift’ and made up a bit of time as she traveled 60 MPH while the others were sleeping.  While driving through Iowa, the women met 4 young police officers who took them on quite a joy ride, hitting speeds of 100 MPH in the police car.  They had so much fun that they stayed over an extra night, and in retrospect Rita is surprised they didn't stay forever!

Rita’s Aunt and Uncle lived in the Wilshire district of L.A., and the two sisters were invited to live with them.  She quickly found a hairdressing job on Wilshire Blvd. through a family friend and her adventurous spirit also led her to meet her husband-to-be, Ken Kline, the very first Sunday she was there.  They met while strolling down Wilshire Blvd. as Rita and her sister were returning home from church.  Ken, from Ohio, and his Navy buddy called out, "Hello girls” and since they were also new to the area asked what there was to do.  Rita invited them to the house, and her Aunt promptly invited them for dinner. Her Uncle was impressed with the young men and let the four use his car after dinner to explore the area.  There was an immediate attraction between Rita and Ken, and they ended up seeing each other almost daily for three weeks before Ken left for the South Pacific.  Upon his return two years later, they were married in California on December 17, 1945. The couple then embarked on a three month honeymoon adventure to “meet the families” before returning to California where her Aunt and Uncle had built a second floor apartment for Rita and Ken to live.   

At age 94, Rita has enjoyed every stage of her life.  She loved her youth, marriage, and raising two sons.  Her husband passed on 10 years ago, and she fell in love a second time to a man who has also since passed.  As with Ken, the attraction was immediate, and they had a lovely time together.  Yes, at age 94 Rita still has a lot of adventure left in her, so be careful not to judge this (or any) book by its cover!

Reflecting on changes over time, Rita feels that people were more trusting when she was growing up.  You expected people to be ok and do the right thing-and they were/did.  She does believe people are more trustworthy than they’re given credit for, although some seem to lack the internalized guidelines or moral compass that helped her make good decisions.  Regarding openness, she doubts families are even equipped to invite extra people to dinner like her Aunt did; much less inviting a stranger into the home. 

Rita’s parting comments on an adventurous life well lived:  Seize the moment and follow

your dreams.  She’s continuing to love life and wouldn’t change a thing if she were to live life over. Yes, she made mistakes (no one’s perfect), but mistakes provide valuable lessons.  If you’re confident that everything will be alright and trust yourself, life will work out well.

May the adventure continue!

1917...1941...2012: The Memory-Filled Life of Maynard Epps

Maynard Epps warmly greeted me as I visited the comfortable country home in Kenwood where he currently resides. Born on March 9, 1917 in Lyons, Kansas, he was raised by adoptive parents and lived with his maternal grandparents when his father died.  He remembered his hometown as a warm and friendly place to grow up.  As his personal story unfolded, I was impressed with Maynard's introspective, unpretentious and seemingly unflappable demeanor; and I couldn't help but wonder if this was at least a contributing factor to his continued health as a nonagenarian at age 95.

Perhaps every child has pondered at one time or another whether they were adopted, and much has been written on the subject of adoption.  Maynard didn't learn that he had been adopted until he was in high school, when he intuitively announced to his mother one day, "I was adopted, wasn't I?"  The truth was openly acknowledged in that moment, and his reaction was one of deep gratitude that his adoptive family loved him as their own.  He couldn't imagine being loved by a mother any more than he was loved by his adoptive mother.  Maynard chose not to pursue learning about his birth parents, in part out of respect for his adoptive family, and has no regrets.  His adoptive Grandmother, a dressmaker in Lyons, was his very favorite person, because of her genuine kindness to everyone she met.  He knew she was adored by all of her grandchildren. 

Maynard recalls being a "happy kid" who did well in school.  After high school graduation, he worked in accounting for the Otis Elevator Company in Kansas, and then in accounting for the Army Corp of Engineers under the direction of Lt. Colonel Theodore Wyman, District Engineer in Hawaii.  The Corp of Engineers was focused on building airfields in the Hawaiian Islands and across the Pacific.  Maynard was working in their offices in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 7, 1941 when he looked out the window and noticed foreign-looking planes flying by.  He distinctly remembers the experience and his feeling of imminent threat, despite not actually hearing the air strikes that ensued.

Shortly thereafter, Maynard was drafted into the U.S. Army and directly recruited by Colonel Wyman to serve as his administrative assistant in Canada as they completed a major engineering project: The Alaskan Highway.  He was directly involved in recruiting laborers to work on the project, and deeply admired Colonel Wyman as a man of action able to complete very significant projects, and for his problem solving skills.

After WWII and his departure from the Army Corp of Engineers, Maynard worked in accounting for the Grace Line shipping company in their San Francisco office.  He worked his way up the company ranks to the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in this company until his retirement, but never traveled on one of their ships despite the opportunity to do so.

Maynard may have retired from Grace Line, but he wasn't ready to stop contributing so he became a licensed nursing home administrator in a care facility only blocks from his home in San Mateo.  He was attracted to this position because he always liked helping people, and the position made him feel satisfied that he was giving back.

Reflecting on his 95 years of life experiences to date, Maynard Epps is quite content and has no regrets.  He never married but has a close circle of extended family and friends. He recognizes that the job opportunities he had without a college degree would not be the experience of a high school graduate today, and he strongly encourages today's youth to get a college education.  As for him, Maynard simply takes each day as it comes, one day at a time.

Maynard effuses a sense of peace and serenity so many people seek in today's roller-coaster world.  May you, too, find peace and serenity!

Reflections on Elections

Meet Helen Rudee, who was elected to the Santa Rosa City Schools board in 1965, and named its first female president in 1973.  She then became the first woman elected to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors in 1976, where she served until her retirement in 1989.

Asked why she decided to run for public office, Helen said she felt they "needed a woman's perspective" on the Board of Supervisors when it came to issues such as development, the environment, and health issues, and as a nurse she was very sensitive to people and their needs.  Her husband, Dr. Bill Rudee, was her biggest supporter!

While serving on the Board of Supervisors, one of Helen's proudest accomplishments was when she appointed a task force to study hunger in the county.  The task force was astonished to discover how many hungry families lived in Sonoma County.  Between cars, insurance, and child care, many of these families found themselves with limited funds by the end of the month.  The task force  became so interested in the problem that by the time they presented their final report they decided to open a free food pantry on Petaluma Hill Road, which became the  Redwood Empire Food Bank in 1987.  According to its website, the Food Bank now serves 78,000 hungry people each month.

Helen was also very involved in developing the county's first General Plan in 1978.  She found this to be her most challenging project, as they were tasked with rezoning the entire county outside city limits. The General Plan defines where new development will go, and what areas are off limits for development.  She was also one of two supervisors assigned to research the building of a new jail.

When asked to share advice for anyone running for public office today, Helen was quick to offer the following:

·         You must take the 'hits' along with the praise

·         Be willing and able to listen to both sides of an argument

·         You must like people

·         Be prepared to make hard decisions that affect other people

·         Know HOW to make decisions (you can't be personal about it, or take it personally)

·         Avoid personal pledges; only a pledge to uphold the constitution

·         Know yourself and maintain your principles of integrity and honesty

·         Don't take a 'party position' as a supervisor

What brought Helen to this "political" juncture in her life?  She was born in 1918 and raised in North Dakota, the youngest of 7 children.   After attending a small country school, Helen lived in a boarding house in the town of Anamoose during high school because it was too far to travel daily from home.  Her father was a farmer, and the stress of living in North Dakota during the Dust Bowl years was "tremendous."  Helen still vividly remembers seeing the black cloud of dust on the horizon, hoping for rain, and how it would blow so hard for 2-4 days that they would have to wear masks.  Yet, the family was still able to preserve enough grain to feed their animals and replant crops. She fondly remembers her family's musical leaning and how they enjoyed singing on those long winter nights.  Helen played both piano and violin, and was in both the high school orchestra and city bands. Reflecting on challenging times, Helen believes, "If you have a personality that finds life interesting, you will find good times along with the hard times."

Growing up during the Great Depression, Helen couldn't afford to attend the University of North Dakota, but her grandmother lived in San Francisco and California offered something unique: a  junior college system, so she moved west in 1935, attended a community college, and went on to attend the Stanford School of Nursing where she met and married her first husband, Dr. Ford Shepherd, a radiologist.  During WWII, he served in that capacity in Virginia and Maryland, and the family returned to California after the war.

Helen's husband died when their youngest of four children was only 4, and she later married another Stanford MD, Dr. Bill Rudee of Santa Rosa.  According to her children, Helen became a "professional do-gooder," actively involved in the community before she stepped up for public office, and continues to volunteer her time and expertise to this day for a number of organizations.  Her passion for learning and care for others have clearly helped keep Helen vital into her 90s.

Offering advice to today's youth, Helen encourages them to face new challenges and always learn new things, "which will open you to all sorts of opportunities."  She concurs with the saying, "the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know."  I hope future political candidates also keep that bit of humility in mind!