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TROPICS RESIDENT OF THE MONTH
LORENE GOULTER
When I approached Lorene Goulter to tell her story, I did not know her
birthday had been October 3. At the October Ladies' Club meeting, she and
Jeanne Larsen, who also had an October birthday, celebrated with two lovely
cakes. Lorene and I were sharing root beer floats on one of our Indian
Summer afternoons. She is grateful for the friendships she has made and the
general camaraderie that occurs in the Tropics. This has been important to
Lorene since she moved here in 1986, about a year after her husband passed
away.
Lorene was born and raised North of Wichita, Kansas. Here is one event
from her childhood for which she is grateful. One afternoon the family was
in the living room of their home when her sister yelled, "Daddy there
is a big black tail coming this way." There was not enough time to get
to the cellar. The wind blew. Five adults pressed their bodies hard against
the door. Miraculously the tornado did not carry the family and the house
into oblivion. Lorene also emphasized the floods in Kansas which were not
easy to endure.
In 1940 she moved to California. She met Francis Goulter, from Iowa, who had
had polio, and unlike her brother, who was wounded twice in World War II,
did not get drafted to serve our country. They resided in Berkeley where he
found a job with Oldsmobile Company. Lorene helped her husband deliver cars.
Francis was born in 1918 and died in 1985. They had four children. Lois who
lives in Montana, Thomas who lives in Utah, Danny who lives in Ben Loman,
California and Darlene the youngest who lives in Fremont and is helping
Lorene with her care.
During the years of their marriage Lorene and Francis loved to go dancing,
they had a boat, they liked to fish on the banks of water ways. Occasionally
they went to Reno and Lorene enjoyed these trips. Mostly they stayed at
home. In 1950 Lorene and Francis moved to Hayward. Lorene went to work for
Eden West rehabilitation facility in Hayward until 1985. Both she and
Francis became ill and wound up at Stanford Hospital.
Lorene and Francis played BINGO at The Tropics and liked the mobile home
park. Lorene talks about her work with nostalgic memories. Lorene's
personality attracted many of the patients to her. She was called to
substitute for a breakfast once after she moved to our park, laughingly, she
relates, "That was enough."
Charlotte's comment:
Thanks George for your encouraging note. It is residents like Lorene
who share their delightful stories who keep me doing these articles.
To the residents:
Please contact me, I am interested in yours.
Respectfully submitted,
Charlotte O'Donnell |