May/June 2015 60 PLUS in Omaha

november/december • 2014 60PLUS S1

Past LivesOmahans are

increasingly digging into their family histories.

Iron WomanWorld-Class Triathlete

Marianna Phipps

May/June • 2015

Dr. Antoinette Turnquist: “A Living Legend” of OPS

S2 60PLUS may/june • 2015

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GwenGwen LemkeContributing Editor, 60PLUS In Omaha

Time Travelers This issue has history stories that remind me of my father—a

man ahead of his time, and, also, a man sometimes looking at the past.

When he was in his 80s, he did extensive research on his family’s history, tracing it back to the Mayflower, the American Revolution, and the Civil War. He became a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and Descendants of the Mayflower.

He had plenty of stories to tell from that research, like the tale of John Howland, our ancestor who was the famous “man overboard” during the Mayflower’s journey.

My father put everything into a book for me and my two sisters. It included some fascinating treasures; photos of rela-tives, of course, but also some letters from soldiers writing back to loved ones as they fought in the Civil War. To have that epic conflict from a century before come to life in an ancestor’s words was a powerful connection to our past.

When I would visit him he would always get out “the book” (he kept the original) and we would talk about the memories. He lived to be 102.

In this issue of 60Plus, you’ll learn about the boom in the number of people in Omaha who, like my father, are research-ing their family histories. As my father showed us, you can find some pretty interesting things if you’re willing to take that dive into your past.

Until next issue!

may/june • 2015 60PLUS S3

ACTIVE LIVING World-Class Triathlete

Mariana Phipps ................................. S4

HOBBIES

Omahans increasingly are digging into their family histories...........................S8

HISTORY Omaha’s First Black Fire Crew .................S10

COVER FEATURE Dr. Antoinette Turnquist ...........................S14

HEALTH Keeping Knees Healthy ............................S18

FACES “Mr. Memories” Joe Taylor ........................S20

THE GRANDPA CHRONICLES The Torn Page ..........................................S22

Contents volume 3 • issue 2

Iron Woman Mariana Phipps:

Grandmother.

Reformed Chain Smoker.

World-class Triathlete.


by ryan borchers • photography by bill sitzmann

60PLUS active living

T HE IRONMAN TRIATHLON CONSISTS of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile

run. Surely, one might think, such a feat of athleticism would explode the joints of a human over, what, 40?

Not so, at least for the super-human. Mariana Phipps will be 71 this coming May. She’s a mom to three boys. Heck, she’s grandma to six children. Yet, she’s still a top competitor in one of the world’s most grueling test of human endurance.

Phipps was a swimmer as a girl, but couldn’t compete in high school or college in pre-Title IX days. By the time she started taking classes at Creighton University, it seemed that her serious days as an athlete were behind her.

“I was a pretty good, heavy smoker, and didn’t even think about doing any sports,” she says. “I had kids and I was busy.”

When her husband found out he had heart disease, they both quit smoking. However, she says, when you quit smoking, you need to do something else, “otherwise you blow up pretty fast.” She got back into swimming, and since many of her fellow swimmers were runners as well, she took up running and, later, bike riding.

Phipps ran her first marathon at age 51 in 1995 in Lincoln. She did her first Ironman at age 56 and qualified for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii in her first year of qualifying. She routinely finishes in first or second place for her age group in triathlons and won the World Championship for her age group in Hawaii in 2005.

Kurt Beisch, who works as the race direc-tor for Race Omaha, a Nebraska non-profit organization in the multi-sport industry, says the World Championship in Hawaii is like the Super Bowl for triathlons.

Race Omaha puts on several annual racing events, including the Omaha Triathlon, the Omaha Women’s Triathlon, and the Omaha Kids Triathlon. The competitors, Beisch says, are definitely an eclectic bunch.

“They range from newbies, first-time multi-sport athletes, to very decorated nationally ranked athletes,” he says. The women’s tri-athlon field is made up of about 38 percent first-time athletes, which makes for a great amount of camaraderie.

Indeed, Phipps says, the triathlon com-petitors make the sport a very social one.

This may seem a bit odd for an activity that, on its surface, seems to depend entirely on the individual’s stamina and endurance. But competitors feed off each other’s enthusiasm.

“We have a very good brotherhood of tri-athletes here in Omaha,” she says. “And I am fortunate enough to know a lot of younger ones and more mature ones.”

Beisch, who is also a decorated triathlete, estimates that about 15 percent of the par-ticipants in the field at the events are aged 50 or older, and some of them are some of the most accomplished athletes in the country.

“[They] make me look like a grade-school triathlete compared to the achieve-ments they’ve had in the course of their lifetime,” he says.

Older competitors, he says, have an advan-tage in qualifying because there are fewer of them, so there’s less competition.

But more so than the competition, Beisch says, triathletes experience a great sense of accomplishment and that “coming across that finish line is an event.

“You have covered a lot of ground, you have pushed yourself in different ways and you have competed in three events,” he says.

Phipps has worked for Nebraska Furniture Mart for the last 39 years, and the company has been very flexible with her hours to allow her maximum training time. When getting ready for a triathlon, her weekly schedule involves two swims, two bike rides, and two runs. She trains 10-20 hours a week for an

Ironman and may bike up to six hours a day (though shorter triathlons don’t require as much training time).

She gives the impres-sion of someone who really knows her stuff. In spite of the many jokes she makes about her age, there’s a quickness and vitality to her manner.

She’s also, it seems, just about unstoppable. She has a plate and several screws in each arm and a visible scar running down from her wrist. Before one event she broke her foot and couldn’t take pain-

killers because painkillers can cause kidney damage. She competed anyway.

This year, she plans on competing in the Boston Marathon for the sixth year in a row. In 2013, she was having a great race and was approximately four blocks from the finish line when the race was stopped and she was escorted to safety.

Later, she saw the local Boston media’s coverage of the bombing from her hotel room. “It was grotesque. Just blood everywhere. Obviously, people crying and moaning. It was just horrible.”

However, there wasn’t any hesitation about returning the next year.

“It wasn’t even a question about going back,” she says. “We weren’t about to let the enemy stop our dreams.”

So what keeps her going? Part of it, Phipps says, is that you compete against yourself.

“You can’t compare yourself to what you were 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago,” she says. “Every time you enter a new age group you have to think it’s almost like a whole new ballgame.

“Luckily, they have age groups every five years. You think of yourself as trying to stay as fast as you can in that age group, and it’s the one thing that you look forward to get-ting older…because let’s face it, getting older is not fun. But, when you do go over that next hump, into the next age group, then you realize it’s a whole new set of personal records for your age. That helps a lot.”


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Past Lives Omahans

Increasingly Are

Digging Into Their

Family Histories

W HEN WE RESEARCH OUR genealogical histories, we sometimes find we’re related to some pretty interesting people, says Max Sparber, Research Specialist for the Douglas County Historical Society.

Before Sparber, who is adopted, investigated his own history, he knew his biological parents’ ethnicities. But that was it. Then he did some digging.

“I found out that I have a great deal in common with my biological mother,” he says.Sparber and his mother both attended the University of Minnesota where they studied

theater and journalism. She became an expert in Irish studies. Sparber writes frequently about Irish-American studies. He also learned he had long owned a book written by his biological mother long before he knew who she was.

The thrill of discovering such an ancestor—or maybe learning that you’re related to someone famous—may pique many people’s interest in family history. Regardless of the reasons, though, genealogy has turned into a wildly popular pastime in the United States. >


by ryan borchers

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< According to ABC News, as of 2012, gene-alogical research is the American people’s second favorite hobby behind gardening. It’s an industry worth about $1.6 billion.

“I think everyone has their own reasons,” Sparber says about why so many people are interested in genealogy now. “[They’re] just looking for their own story.”

Sparber says the interest is driven by popu-lar media like the television show Who Do You Think You Are? There’s an attraction to discovering your ethnic identity, and many enjoy the elements of mystery and puzzle- piecing. Ease of use has played a big role, too, with things like birth records and newspaper articles going digital. DNA tests can help pinpoint who your ancestors are. Two or three years ago, such tests might have cost $1,000, but now popular websites like Ancestry.com and Family Tree DNA will perform them for less than $100.

For Omahans interested in learning their genealogical histories, resources like the Greater Omaha Genealogical Society, which is affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, may help (the Church has long been interested in genealogy and can accept members into its faith posthumously).

The Douglas County Historical Society, Sparber says, fields requests related to geneal-ogy daily. Twenty to 30 percent of what the organization does involves genealogy, and it has access to many records that haven’t been uploaded digitally. The society’s archives hold Douglas County records that date back to the mid-1800s, including city directories that identify where people lived and what they did for a living.

Most people who investigate their gene-alogical histories hope to find that they’re related to royalty or movie stars, Sparber says.

In Omaha, people sometimes hope to be related to criminals.

Locals come with family stories about ancestors who were bootleggers or brothel owners, and they often hope the stories are true. One woman, Sparber says, wanted to find some information about an ancestor from early Omaha who was a doctor. Sparber found a newspaper article that identified a man who went by the same name as the woman’s ances-tor and who was, indeed, a doctor. He was also the first man in Omaha to be arrested for murder, though he claimed self-defense and was never charged.

Sparber says the woman was “thrilled.”


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Speaking Out and Standing Up The story of Omaha’s

first black fire crew

“

Marvin Ervin


M ARVIN ERVIN KNOWS HIS history. When I first met him at a Hot Shops

exhibit in 2012, he carried a black folder brimming with photographs and old docu-ments under his arm. “I keep my history around with me,” he said with a grin.

Ervin had worked on a display of his col-lection that details the story of Omaha’s first African American fire crew. Established in 1895, it was not the first black-only crew in the country (though it was among them), but it was the first to succeed. Its founding is a story of a great orator and a community willing to stand up for what it needed—it’s a proud history that Ervin wants remembered.

Now retired, Ervin was as a longtime fire captain in the Omaha Fire Department. He grew up in segregated South Carolina where he saw the country’s tense racial history unfold first-hand. (His high school class in Anderson was one of the last to be integrated.) In Omaha, he started digging into this city’s racial history, and after years gathering docu-ments by word-of-mouth and scouring old newspapers and tattered photographs, he has built up a small treasure trove. It’s currently exhibited as a portable display, and Ervin, along with the Omaha Black Firefighter Phoenix Foundation, is in talks with Great Plains Black History Museum to find a permanent home.

The story Ervin has accounted begins with his favorite character: Dr. Matthew Oliver Ricketts. Nebraska’s first African-American state senator, Ricketts was born to enslaved parents in Kentucky. After moving to Omaha, he became one of the first African Americans admitted to Omaha Medical College, and in 1892, he was elected to the state legislature, where he served two terms. In a handbook published in 1895, Ricketts was described as “one of the best speakers in the house” and a “ready debater.”

“What really amazed me about him was they were talking about his oratory skills,” Ervin says. “He was probably one of the top legislators in the state of Nebraska at the time. He came from slavery, educated himself, and then [became] the best at what he did.”

Ricketts made his mark in the legislature. He was instrumental in Nebraska passing a civil rights statute in 1893 (even while the South set up Jim Crow laws) that prohibited discrimination and provided “equal privi-lege” to all Nebraskans. When he petitioned the state to establish an all-black fire crew, the community rallied behind him. “The African-American community back in 1895 had enough…power that they could go and petition the city and…get black firefighters hired,” Ervin says. “They had businesses and homes, and they wanted some protection.”

The Omaha Negro Fire Department Company moved into its new fire station at 27th and Jones streets in 1895. Other cities had hired black crews, but they didn’t last. Omaha’s succeeded until it was officially inte-grated in 1956. But the men had to work by different rules. The black fire crew was always

the first to arrive and the last to leave. The men had to clean their own equipment and that of all the other stations. And sometimes, they had to stand outside while a building burned. Some white patrons didn’t want black firefighters to enter their homes, so they had to fight the fire from outside until the white crews arrived.

When Ervin joined the fire department in 1992, he could still feel the impact of its his-tory. He was 38 years old at the time; he had 20 years of military experience, a bachelor’s degree, an EMT certification; he scored well on written tests and passed the physicals. But he was still an affirmative action hire. And he was often the only black firefighter in the station.

But being able to place his experiences in the context of history encouraged him to get past them. “Even the small things that happened to me, I could kind of laugh at it and move on,” Ervin says, “because of what I know those guys had to put up with before me to get me to where I got to be.

“There’s nothing like learning your own history.”

“There’s nothing like learning your

own history.”

“”


60PLUS historyby robyn murray • photography by bill sitzmann

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“

Dr. Antoinette Turnquist “A Living Legend”

after 51 years

with Omaha Public

Schools


60PLUS cover featureby sandra martin • photography by bill sitzmann

S HE’S BEEN DESCRIBED AS “Dynamite.” “Amazing.” “Unique.” “A Living Legend.”

These are just some of the words Dr. Antoinette Turnquist’s former students use to describe her and the difference she has made in their lives.

What makes one teacher stand out among so many others, and make such an impact on his or her students…an impact felt even years later? It might be her basic teaching philosophy: “Every student matters; every stu-dent can learn,” as she puts it. Or, her “great joy in watching them learn…watching them discover things.” Whatever the reason, these glowing remarks are about someone, surpris-ingly, who never even wanted to be a teacher.

Dr. Turnquist, a teacher in the Omaha Public School System for 39 years (1964-2003), says she had planned to go directly to graduate school for a Master of Fine Arts degree. “I wanted to become a producing artist,” she explains, “but I took just enough

education courses to be certified as a kind of insurance policy.”

That, of course, was before she ever stepped into a classroom. “I did my first semester of student teaching,“ she recalls, “and fell in love with it…with the kids, with the process, with the whole concept of public education.” She adds, “I myself was a product of public educa-tion, but I had never fully comprehended the significance of it until I stood there in front of all those waiting faces.”

Her long and illustrious teaching career began with three years of teaching in both the old Monroe Junior High and McMillan Junior High schools and ended at Omaha South High School, where she taught for 36 years. And though her teaching days are over, (she admits she misses her students), she is still indirectly impacting them…52,000 of them, to be exact.

In 2003, her dedication to public education led her, quite naturally, to the Omaha Public Schools district office, where she served as

Coordinator of Business Services. In 2008, she was named Director of Business Services, and today, she is the Executive Director of District Operational Services, respon-sible for the many support services for all district students.

Todd Andrews, who works with her as communications director at the district office, says, “At 50-plus years with OPS, Dr. Turnquist is one of the living legends of the district. She has humbly and energetically dedicated her entire professional life to edu-cational excellence. The district is extremely fortunate to have her.”

Looking back on her teaching days, Dr. Turnquist fondly recalls that “one of the first things I discovered at South High was their wonderful diversity, which included Hispanic and Latino as well as Caucasian students, and the whole philosophy at South, which was to implement programs for every student.”

She started out as an art teacher, serving as department chair for the Visual Arts >


< department. One of her former students, Jeff Koterba, a 1979 South High graduate, also recalls those days: “I took Toni’s art classes, and if not for her, I wouldn’t be the artist I am, but more importantly, the man I am,” says Koterba, the longtime editorial cartoonist for the Omaha World-Herald. “Because of her belief in me, her patience and her wisdom, I found a better path, the path I was meant to follow.”

Eventually, she chaired the newly-cre-ated Fine Arts department, which included Visual Arts, Theater, Drama, Vocal Music, Instrumental Music, and Humanities, giving students many new opportunities, including working at Opera Omaha on local productions.

“It was an exciting time to be a teacher,” she recalls, “as we looked for new avenues of education for our students.” That goal, in fact, led to her and another teacher creating a new course for young women, so they could see what opportunities were available to them, and also to learn about their own history. They called it “Women’s Studies,” and “it proved to be a very popular class.”

Another former student, in fact, can per-sonally attest to that. Lenli Corbett, a 2001 South High graduate, says, “Dr. Turnquist’s Womens’ Studies class was incredibly impor-tant to me, to my development as a woman and as a future professional. She brings out the best in you…not every teacher is able to do that.”

When asked if she considers herself success-ful (her list of achievements include Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers (1994), among many others), Dr. Turnquist quoted Lee Iacocca, who said, ‘Your legacy should be that you made it better than it was when you got it.’ Thus, I would say yes, I think I have been successful both as a teacher and as a central office administrator. What anyone else might think about my success along that line is anyone else’s call, not mine, and I am quite comfortable with that.”

Turnquist says she has no plans to retire anytime soon, either from OPS or her 50-plus years of working as a visual artist. “Some may think it’s strange,” she says, “but I still like getting up every day, getting dressed, and trying to make a difference.”


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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER • 2013

The Road Home

Prescription Drug Abuse

Among Teens

Nebraska’s Premier Wealth Advisors

The Making of NebraskaJohn Jackson

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Nebraska Cancer Specialists was recently awarded QOPI® Certification for our outpatient oncology-hematology practice by ASCO, the largest oncology society in the U.S.

This certification is an honor, a testament to our high standard of care — and a reminder that we must always strive to exceed our own expectations in order to better care for our patients.

CHI Health Cancer Center - Bergan (402) 393-3110Methodist Estabrook Cancer Center (402) 354-8124

Based on careful analysis and on-site inspections, we met core standards in all areas of treatment, including:

Midwest Cancer Center Papillion (402) 593-3141Midwest Cancer Center Legacy (402) 334-4773

Margaret Block, M.D.

M. Salman Haroon, M.D.

Ralph J. Hauke, M.D.

Timothy K. Huyck, M.D.

Robert M. Langdon, Jr., M.D.

Kirsten M. Leu, M.D.

John M. Longo, M.D.

Patrick J. McKenna, M.D.

Geetha Palaniappan, M.D.

David A. Silverberg, M.D.

Gamini S. Soori, M.D.

Yungpo Bernard Su, M.D.

Stefano R. Tarantolo, M.D.As the largest independent QOPI-certified cancer practice in Nebraska, we are dedicated to providing superior treatment and services to cancer patients and support to their families.

Receive the Highest Level of Cancer Care

NEBRASKA CANCER SPECIALISTS IS NOW QOPI® CERTIFIED!

• Treatment planning• Staff training and education• Chemotherapy orders and drug preparation• Patient consent and education• Safe chemotherapy administration• Monitoring and assessment of patient well-being

Call Nebraska Cancer Specialists today.

Fremont Health (402) 941-7030

BAILEY LAUERMANImmanuel When It’s Time to TalkImmanu153502Pub: Small Talk Magazine - Q2 Color: CMYK Size: 7.625" x 4.917"

When it’s time to talk, we can help.Sometimes the only thing more uncomfortable than having the conversation about retirement living, is not having the conversation about retirement living. Fortunately, we’re here to help with information and advice that can make a potentially awkward situation—just a little bit easier.

Now is the perfect time to give us a call at 402-829-2900 or visit ImmanuelCommunities.com. Together, with your family, we will help you find a place that’s uniquely your own.

Affiliated with the Nebraska Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Immanu153502 Time-Talk_Mag.indd 1 3/31/15 4:28 PM

may/june • 2015 60PLUS S17may/june • 2015 60PLUS S17

http://www.nebraskacancer.com

I F YOU’VE NEVER COMPLAINED of knee pain, consider yourself lucky. The knee is the largest joint in the body and

one of the most commonly injured.While acute or overuse injuries are the most

common causes of knee pain, arthritis is also a common source of discomfort.

To avoid knee pain and injuries, there are some things you can do to help keep your knees healthy and strong, says Dr. Beau Konigsberg, an orthopedic surgeon at Nebraska Medicine.

One of the most important of these is to maintain a healthy weight, says Dr. Konigsberg. Losing as little as 5 percent of your body weight can dramatically reduce your chances of developing knee arthritis, which is the most common cause of knee pain among people in their 60s and 70s, says Dr. Konigsberg. It is estimated that every extra pound you pack on puts about four extra pounds of pressure on your knees.

Staying active is also key to keeping the knee joint supple and to prevent injury, he says. A knee that isn’t used stiffens and the muscles around it will weaken.

Maintaining flexibility, as well as regular strengthening exercises is also important. Focus on the muscles and tendons that connect directly to the knee, such as the hamstrings and the quadriceps, which help support the knees and reduce stress on the knee joints.

There has also been a lot of attention in the news surrounding glucosamine and chondroi-tin. “While there have been no studies that have proven these supplements can regrow cartilage or slow the degenerative process,” says Dr. Konigsberg, “some people swear that they provide some relief of knee pain.”

If knee pain becomes debilitating, it might be time to consider a knee replace-ment. Thousands of knee replacements are performed each year, and for many people,

they provide significant relief and a return to mobility, notes Dr. Konigsberg. If you have lost weight, tried anti-inflammatories and cortisone injections and still have significant pain that may be waking you up at night, it may be time to consider a knee replacement.

“A knee replacement is considered only after all other treatment options have been exhausted,” says Dr. Konigsberg.

For 70-year-old Dennis Chin, a knee replacement allowed him to resume his favorite pastime—playing golf. Chin had injured his knee several times in high school sports and had undergone several arthroscopic knee surgeries.

Over the years, the pain in his knee returned and gradually got worse. When he retired, he stepped up his golf game, which made the pain worse. “I was using my club as a crutch and taking Aleve everyday,” he says.

But when the pain began waking him up at night and he could barely get through a golf

Joint Griefs How to Keep Your

Knees Healthy and

Pain-Free


by Susan Meyers

60PLUS health

game, Chin knew he had to do something. Dr. Konigsberg took X-rays and said there was so much damage that his only real option was a knee replacement.

Chin had a knee replacement in January 2013 and was back on the golf course by March. Now he plays five times a week and sometimes twice a day.

“I have no pain and I’m not limping any-more,” says Chin. “No one can even tell that I had an operation.”

Chin couldn’t be happier. He’s doing what he loves and that’s what retirement is all about.


• Baby Boomer Generation: Born between 1943-1964• Silent Generation: Born from 1925-1942• Greatest Generation: Born between 1901-1924

Generation Insight is dedicated to the technology which helps these three generations:

www.GenerationInsight.com | 402-905-2794

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http://www.generationinsight.com

Memory Lane “Mr. Memories” Joe Taylor

croons the classics.


60PLUS facesby april christenson • photography by bill sitzmann

T HE WAY JOE TAYLOR became “Mr. Memories” sounds a little like a scene from a movie.

One afternoon in the spring of 1994, he was working in the Council Bluffs thrift store he’d owned for many years. In walked a woman who would change his life forever.

She was a special education teacher plan-ning an event for 300 students and her enter-tainment had fallen through. “Heck, I can come down and do a show that will fill in about 30 minutes for you,” Joe offered.

That might sound a little crazy, but this wasn’t Joe’s first time on a stage. In fact, you might say he’s a born performer. As a kid, growing up in 1930s and ‘40s, he’d climb on a bench in the backyard of his family home and pretend he was on stage. Later, as a teenager, his older brother and sister would take turns driving him to resorts in the Catskill Mountains where he’d sing with the house bands.

He always dreamed of making it big as a singer, but life had other plans. He met and married his wife of nearly 60 years, Jan, and they started a family. Joe’s musical ambitions took a back seat to the responsibilities of being a husband and father.

Then, on April 28, 1994, after a near-40-year hiatus, Joe put on a tux, dusted off his singing voice and became “Mr. Memories.” He sang the songs of his heyday—Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and the like—and by the end of the month he’d booked three more shows. During his third performance, a hat was passed around and, at the end of the show, there was 31 dollars inside.

“I went home and told Jan ‘They paid me!’ and I’ve been singing ever since,” he says with a chuckle.

Soon he was making more money perform-ing than he ever had operating the thrift store, so in 1996, he sold it and became a full-time entertainer. Today, he books from 10 to 20 shows a month—for the elderly and disabled, corporate events, birthday parties, weddings, and more. He gets paid for doing what he loves and it can be incredibly rewarding.

Once during a performance at a retirement center, Joe remembers a woman sitting in the front row who looked thoroughly unen-tertained throughout the show. But then, afterward, something surprising happened.

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She came up to him and, with a tear in her eye, said, “Thank you for helping me remem-ber that I was young once.”

“You can’t put a price on that,” he says.Another woman hired him to sing at her

birthday party every year from the time she turned 102. She lived to be 108.

“Every year she’d say, ‘See you next year, Joe!’” he laughs. “I was starting to think she’d outlive me!”

Hanging in his home, among photos of him performing at various venues, is a car-toon drawing of Mr. Memories being trailed by three little old ladies with cartoon hearts floating above their heads. He loves every minute of it.

“If you love what you’re doing,” he says, “you never work another day in your life.”


http://www.friedfoodfest.com

M Y KIDS GREW UP not knowing the complete story of the Dr. Seuss clas-

sic, The Cat in the Hat. And until recently, my preschool-age grandsons didn’t either. That’s because the last leaf of our copy of the book, the one containing pages 59 and 60 of iconic illustrations and copy in the author’s trademark bouncy cadence, had been torn from this childhood masterpiece in the long distant past of at least 50 years ago.

The copy that my wife and I had read to our own kids was a prized hand-me-down from her family’s library, a treasure trove of musty children’s literature. We had scored this forgotten stash in 1980 simply because we were the first in my wife’s family to reproduce.

The funny thing is that it mattered not to us that our kids never knew, as the legend-ary commentator Paul Harvey was prone to say, “the rest of the story.” The good doctor’s magnum opus, you see, is actually better with its final two pages missing. Read it to you own kids or grandchildren that way and I think you will agree.

In our truncated world of the impish feline that unleashes havoc with Thing One and Thing Two, the story ends:

Then we saw him pick upAll the things that were down.He picked up the cake,And the rake, and the gown,And the milk, and the strings,And the books, and the dish,And the fan, and the cup,And the ship, and the fish.And he put them away.Then he said, ‘That is that.’And then he was goneWith a tip of his hat.

Done. Game over. Fade to black.Read the unabridged version of the story

and the perfect symmetry of the book is inter-rupted by shifting the focus from where it belongs—the circular arc of the narrative where a series of crazily convoluted hijinks is sublimely bookended by the most dramatic of entrances and exits.

Besides, there is no power in having a char-acter—the mother, in this case—speak for the very first time only in the last-gasp stanzas of a work. And have you ever noticed how she is given almost the final word when she is, in fact, much better left to be something of a cypher, that disembodied set of nylon-clad legs in high heels that only suggests the presence of a calming authority figure in the author’s otherwise chaotic world? After all, it is her very absence that drives the plot.

Mostly to preserve and protect for future generations our moldering copy of our grandsons’ favorite book, we finally caved and bought a crisp, new, un-smelly version. I have read The Cat in the Hat in its entirety to the kids exactly once before since abandon-ing that anticlimactic last leaf. Their puzzled looks were more than just a reaction to the introduction of what, to them, represented an incongruous, even silly, plot twist.

No, these discerning young minds know a good story when they hear one.

The Torn Page


60PLUS the grandpa chroniclesby david williams • photography by bill sitzmann


DIRECTORY


by david williams • photography by bill sitzmann

Elk Ridge Village on the Lake Retirement CommunityElk Ridge Village provides Independent and Assisted Living and Alzheimer’s Care and is committed to providing services of the highest quality.

19303 Seward Plaza402-312-1198/402-216-8835www.elkridgeseniorliving.com

Brookestone MeadowsBrookestone VillageSkilled nursing communities provid-ing short-term rehabilitation including physical, occupational and speech ther-apy as well as long-term nursing care.

www.BrookestoneVillage.com402-614-4000 • Omahawww.BrookestoneMeadows.com402-280-2696 • Elkhorn

Home Care Assistance

Our services are distinguished by the caliber of our caregivers, the respon-siveness of our staff and our expertise in Live-In care. We embrace a positive, balanced approach to aging centered on the evolving needs of older adults.

402-763-9140homecareassistanceomaha.com

EJ Militti, Jr.,Financial AdvisorThe Militti Group at Morgan Stanley

Wealth and Estate Planning, Risk-Management, Executive Services, Foundations & Endowments.

(402) 399-1513www.morganstanleyfa.com/milittigroup

Saint Jude Hospice

Rooted in Christian Love and Guided by the Holy Spirit, our Radical Loving Care brings healing to those when their hope has changed from a cure to comfort.

10506 Burt Circle402-609-4818saintjudehospice.org

Steven D. Wegner D.D.S.

Dr. Wegner has 35 years of clinical experi-ence and thousands of hours of continuing education. He knows how to help seniors, and all ages, to achieve and keep a healthy smile.

11840 Nicholas StSuite 210,Omaha, NE 68154402-498-0400

Travel and Transport

Travel and Transport is proud to be the 5th largest travel agency in the US, servicing clients throughout the country, as well as globally.

travelandtransport.com 402-399-4500

Nebraska Cancer SpecialistsNebraska Cancer Specialists is dedicated to providing complete cancer treatment for patients, medical oncology, radiation oncology, surgical specialists and diagnostic services.

5 Convenient Locations.For address and phone info,visit our website:nebraskacancer.com

Kohll’s Pharmacy & Homecare

8 locations & free delivery. Providing retail & compounded prescriptions; all medical equipment & supplies.

402-408-1990 www.kohlls.com

Home Instead Senior Care

If you’re looking for someone to help you or a loved one a few hours a week or need more comprehensive assistance, Home Instead Senior Care can help.

Metro: 402.498.3444West: 402.932.4555

Nebraska Low Vision

Regain the Joy ofreading and writing today.

In Home Demo: Call 402-905-2794www.NebraskaLowVision.com

Answering God’s call to serve.

Compassionate caregivers, providing

Radical Loving Care under the Catholic

Church’s teachings on End of Life Care.

“Although there may not be a Cure,

there can always be Healing.”

Omaha: 402-609-4818 • toll free 1-888-980-1226 • www.saintjudehospice.org

http://www.saintjudehospice.org

May/June 2015 60 PLUS in Omaha

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