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Resident Kitty Deaven: Loving life at Homeland

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Resident Kitty Deaven relaxing in a Homeland suiteIs Kitty Deaven enjoying her time at Homeland?

“Oh, yes,” she said. “Yes, yes, yes, yes.”

Kitty loves everything about Homeland, and so do her daughters.

“It’s given us peace of mind not to worry about her,” said her eldest daughter, Judy Deaven, of Susquehanna Township.

Kitty came to Homeland on Memorial Day weekend this year and has settled comfortably into her bright suite overlooking one of Homeland’s picturesque courtyards. The décor is straight from the home she lived in for 74 years, with family photos and ceramics on the built-in shelves, a painting of a country church on the wall, and cow figurines lining the windowsill.

The cows recall Kitty’s time growing up on a farm near the village of Linglestown, in Lower Paxton Township. She was one of six children raised by a loving aunt and uncle and attended a one-room schoolhouse through fifth grade.

At a soda fountain off the Linglestown square, Kitty met Harold Deaven. He helped run the family farm, and his hardworking mother sold homegrown vegetables and homemade cottage cheese in her own downtown Harrisburg produce stand.

Harold was also a music lover who taught himself to play the clarinet, saxophone, and piano. They would go to Hershey Park Ballroom on their dates to see big-name acts such as singer Vaughn Monroe.

“It was so full that you couldn’t dance,” Kitty recalls.

Harold served in the U.S. Army, driving a coal truck in Japan and sending love letters home to Kitty. The two married in 1950 and built a house in Lower Paxton, raising two daughters, Judy and Renee.

In addition to tending the family farm, which included cattle, chickens, and turkeys, Harold worked full-time at the Olmsted Air Force Base. Kitty was active in the PTA and served as a Brownie troop leader.

Harold died in 2014, and Kitty stayed in the home they built until this year. Homeland was always Kitty’s choice for a continuing care community because her beloved uncle had lived here in the 1980s.

Kitty never forgot the attentive care her uncle received, and her daughter, Renee Edgett, said Homeland was the family’s first choice.

“It was always Homeland,” Renee said. “I don’t think there’s been a day that she’s been here that she’s sorry. She doesn’t even ask us what’s going on at home. She likes it here.”

Homeland staff helped the family apply and sort through finances. During a tour, President and CEO Barry Ramper II walked up and introduced himself.

Kitty chose the personal care suite adjacent to where her uncle had lived. After moving in, Kitty learned that her neighbor on the other side was a classmate from that one-room schoolhouse.

At Homeland, Kitty doesn’t miss a beat. She loves the food and the people, stays busy taking craft classes, and attends music sessions played by visiting guitarists and a harpist. Kitty said that the Homeland salon styled her hair so perfectly that she didn’t need a perm.

Kitty has four grandchildren. After a visit, one granddaughter contacted her mom, Judy.

“Don’t worry about Grammy,” Judy texted her mother. “She’s really happy. She’s different than I’ve seen her in the last several years. None of us have to worry about her.”

Homeland Resident Art Wiand: Focused on family

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Resident Art Wiand sitting in a reclinerArt Wiand grew up in a family-oriented atmosphere, which is why he felt at home the first time he set foot in Homeland.

“It’s one big happy family,” he said. “The majority of us socialize a lot.”

Art is a central Pennsylvania native who grew up around Sunbury and Northumberland. He is the eldest of six children.

Growing up, Art’s father worked various jobs including feeding the coal furnace at a Sunbury furniture and cabinet company. Sometimes, Art and one of his brothers would bicycle 30 miles on dirt roads to help work on their aunt and uncle’s farm. He also helped at the farm of one of his teachers.

“It was all hand work at that time,” he said. “They didn’t have tractors. Maybe the big farms had tractors, but not the little farms.”

When Art was 18, his father died in an accident. Art, who graduated from high school in 1950, wasn’t drafted due to the policy of not taking the eldest sons of families without a breadwinner.

Two of Art’s brothers served during the Korean War, but the Army deferred Art’s service. He entered the Army after the war ended, serving as a tank commander and then driving a cargo truck known as a “deuce and a half.” After two years in the military, he also served one year in the Army Reserve.

While in the service, Art corresponded with a woman named Connie, but she got mad at him for reasons he can’t remember. Connie gave Art’s address to her best friend, Janet, and the two fell in love.

Art and Janet married in 1957 and moved to Green Street in Harrisburg, just a few blocks from Homeland Center. In those days, stores and banks were all around, so he could walk across the street for a loaf of bread.

“It was peaceful,” Art said. “You could leave your car door unlocked.”

Art spent most of his career as a draftsman for Gannett Fleming, utilizing a skill he learned in high school. He and Janet raised four kids, eventually moving to Middletown, where they lived for 54 years. Janet worked as a teacher’s aide when the kids were young and served as an executive assistant for the American Red Cross when they were older.

Though it all, there was family. The children were involved in band and sports. There were family reunions and visits. As Art and Janet’s siblings married, the in-laws became brothers and sisters, too.

Art joined the Homeland family in March 2024. Life at Homeland hasn’t slowed him down. He visits family every week. He attends Wednesday Bible study and Sunday services at his home church in Middletown. His pastor is “a lot of fun,” he said. “She knows the Bible, and she’s a good teacher.”

With Art around, she sometimes has to keep her flock in line. Art and the pastor’s mother enjoy sitting together and chit-chatting. One day, the pastor had to stop her speaking to admonish, “Will you two children please be quiet?”

After Art’s wife died in 2017, he stayed in their home until it was time to find a retirement community for his safety and health

“He deserved to have a more enjoyable life,” said his daughter, Becky.

Together, Art and his children researched all the possibilities. He knew immediately that Homeland was the right place. It was near the first house that he and Janet shared, “so maybe it brought back some memories,” he said.

He made friends quickly, and the staff is taking good care of him. In his bright and roomy personal care suite, he passes the time doing jigsaw puzzles.

“I try to get involved with everything,” Art said. “We have movies. A couple of us go down to the main gathering room and sit there and talk.”

It’s all part of his active, sociable life. He recently visited his three great-grandchildren in Nashville. This fall, he plans to visit his son’s family in Oregon.

“As long as I can go,” he said, “I’m going.”

Homeland Resident Pino Filardo: From Italy to Pennsylvania

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Homeland Resident Pino Filardo smiling with his wifeWorld War II came directly to Pino Filardo’s childhood hometown of Catanzaro, Italy.

The beautiful capital of Calabria, known as “the City of the Two Seas,” was under siege from bombings. Even his school was bombed, but young Pino wasn’t there that day because he was home sick. Most of his family was able to escape to a nearby mountain village.

“A lot of people died, and we were very, very fortunate to get out of the city,” Pino said. “My father and oldest brother stayed in the city, and one bomb got close to where my brother was, but thank God, nothing happened.”

Pino is one of Homeland Center’s newer residents, bringing a sense of humor and stories of perseverance. He and his wife, Janet, are happy with their attentive care and his bright personal-care room overlooking the Fifth Street garden.

His journey to Homeland began with a move from his native Italy to the United States. With his artistic skills, he forged a career with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and you can even see his artwork on some iconic Pennsylvania license plates.

Pino was the third of eight children in his Mediterranean town, near the “toe” of Italy. His parents met during a pre-Lenten carnival.

His father, who owned a large stationery store, hated dictator Benito Mussolini, but he had to keep quiet to protect his family.

Pino’s birth name was Giuseppe, after St. Joseph, but that was a mouthful for a small child to pronounce, so his mother called him Giuseppino, diminutive for “Little Joe.” Soon, his family shortened it to the manageable nickname of Pino.

As a young man, he studied art in Naples for one year and then went to Rome, where an uncle lived. He emigrated from Italy at age 28 after meeting his first wife and coming to her hometown of Mt. Carmel. The adjustment to life in a quiet, coal-region town was difficult.

“I didn’t know any English at all,” he said. “The only thing I knew was ‘yes’ and ‘no.’”

But he persisted, learning English by watching TV shows.

“I learned words and how they’re pronounced day after day,” he said. I started with the numbers: one, two, three, four, five. As soon as I got to 12, I said no more.”

His first job in the U.S. was with an engineering firm, drawing warehouse designs. Someone told him that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, now the Department of Environmental Resources, had an opening for someone with artistic skills. He took his portfolio to a supervisor, who looked it over and asked, “When can you start?”

His title was “cartographic supervisor,” but his duties varied. He drew maps and designed book covers. When the state wanted to produce a “Conserve Wild Resources” license plate, Pino designed the familiar plate depicting an owl – in Italian, it’s “gufo” – sitting on an evergreen branch.

After 30 years of marriage, Pino’s wife died of cancer. In time, he enlisted with a dating service and met Janet, whom he married in 1986. For her 50th birthday, he drew adorable pictures of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Together, they visited Pino’s childhood hometown and where his father had his business.

When they first visited Homeland, Pino and Janet toured the room that is now his home. Large windows overlook the Chet Henry Memorial Pavilion and adjoining garden, with its fountain, seating, and winding path.

“I was mesmerized,” Pino said. “I said I would like to go here. The sunshine is fantastic.”

Janet agrees that the view helped convince her that Homeland was the place for Pino. Plus, she was impressed with Homeland’s excellence in medical care.

“Our doctor said this is the best place in the whole area for total care,” she said. “We like this little cozy room.”

Pino added: “They are so nice. They treat me like I was here 10 years.”

Homeland resident Loretta Colestock: A life of love and service

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smiling resident Loretta ColestockAfter 65 years of marriage, Loretta Colestock lost her husband to Alzheimer’s in 2015.

It was a challenging time. In the years after his death, she got tired of rambling around alone in the house, but she also wanted to retain her independence.

Loretta had heard about Homeland Center’s stellar reputation and decided, “Homeland is a good spot for me.”

“I told the kids and surprised them,” she said. “They went on the tour with me and seemed to like everything about it.”

Since coming to Homeland last August, Loretta has settled in comfortably. Enjoying crafts, attending music programs, hosting family visits, and singing with the staff — it suits her joyous and dynamic nature.

Loretta was born in Harrisburg and lived in the area between Harrisburg and Hershey, known as Lawnton, from sixth grade on. She was the second of five siblings raised by a hard-working single mother.

“She was a jewel,” Loretta recalls. “She never wanted to ask for help. She thought she could do it all herself. My siblings, we all got along so well. We were very close because we knew that Mom was doing her best. We were brought up on hand-me-downs, but we survived, and I think it made us stronger.”

Loretta graduated from high school in 1955 and worked at the former Harrisburg National Bank. In those days, Loretta would attend games fielded by the bank’s softball team. One player recruited a friend who was a good hitter and pitcher, and that’s how she met David Colestock, “who kind of swept me off my feet, I guess.”

David and Loretta were married in 1959 and raised four children. They settled in the Lenker Manor community of Swatara Township. He worked as a draftsman designer for Gannet Fleming, the engineering firm.

They stayed active in the community, with David coaching Little League, serving as a Swatara Township commissioner, and volunteering on the Swatara Township Police Commission.

Together, they served in the Paxtang Lions Club, participating in projects such as providing eyeglasses for the visually impaired. Loretta also sang soprano in their church choir, taught Sunday school, and joined church outreach efforts, including volunteering at a local nursing home.

“We always did a lot of volunteer service work,” said Loretta. “It’s kind of in our blood. They say if you want something done, ask a busy person. People would ask me, ‘Can you do this?’ and I’d say, ‘I don’t know,’ but I’d always give in.”

After the kids were grown, Loretta taught nursery school for 20 years.

“It was fun,” she said. “Kids today need more playtime rather than being on devices and the TV all the time. They need to play with other children.”

The Colestock children all did well, and Loretta is very proud of them. While still in her home during the pandemic, she heard voices singing outside. Looking out the window, she saw her children and their families there to serenade her.

Music remains an integral part of Loretta’s life. When Homeland CNA Aprile Greene breaks into song in the dining room – maybe singing “You Light Up My Life” or “You Are My Sunshine” – Loretta sings along.

Often, Loretta enjoys the peace of her personal care suite. Still, she’s also likely to be found playing bingo or dominoes, making wreaths in a craft session, or enjoying the performance of a visiting musician. For her first Christmas in Homeland, she adorned her room with cherished decorations she brought from home, including small glass lanterns inherited from her mother.

resident Loretta Colestock and some of her family members at a decorated table“I’m happy at Homeland,” she said. “I think it’s good. I like that it’s so clean, and the girls are so nice when they come in to help.”

But her independent streak still shows sometimes.

“They want to make the bed,” Loretta said. “I won’t let them. They say, ‘We’re supposed to do that,’ but I say I have to do something. I can’t just sit around.”

Loretta has nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren and is a frequent guest at birthday parties and weddings. When she hosts family visits, the youngsters enjoy running around the Homeland gardens and getting ice cream sandwiches in the Gift Shop located in Homeland’s ‘50s-style diner.

Her suite is decorated with family pictures and furnished in antique pieces refinished by her husband. All provide mementos of a rich life, and she said she’s received compliments on her decor from the staff.

“They love the room,” she said. “They like the way I have it decorated.”

Homeland resident Mary Robinson: A blessed life

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Homeland resident Mary Robinson smiling next to a pianoAsk Mary Robinson one of her favorite gospel songs, and she’s happy to sing it for you.

“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine,” Mary sings from her home in Homeland’s Skilled Care. Her daughter, Delphine Walker, sings harmony.

Mary believes that God brought her to Homeland, where she is a regular presence at activities and a beloved friend to many.

“I know she’s getting well taken care of,” Delphine said. “The people love her, and she loves them.”

From her bright room filled with family photos, Mary reflects on a life devoted to family and God, serving her church and being a mom to all.

Mary was born in Philadelphia, the oldest of nine children. Her father was a World War I veteran and worked with the Civilian Conservation Corps. She enjoyed attending church, including Sunday services that stretched into the afternoon. It’s where she learned to play the piano – self-taught, without lessons.

Mary’s mother was busy raising the kids, with considerable help from Mary. Her mom would say, “I don’t have to worry about anything while Mary is there because she takes care of everything.”

And Mary would think, “As soon as I get to 18, I’m going to get out of here.” Then again, those early responsibilities nurtured her growth into a reliable adult.

At age 18, she did exactly as planned: Mary married Jamaican immigrant George Robinson – and then introduced her mother to her new son-in-law.

“My mother really loved my husband,” Mary said. “He was a good man. He was a good father.”

In 1949, Mary and George left Philadelphia for Harrisburg. She didn’t consider it a culture shock.

“I liked Harrisburg because it was smaller,” she said. “Philadelphia was nice, but it’s a big city.”

George worked for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as an auditor. Mary devoted herself to their four kids, volunteering for everything from helping with Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts to chaperoning school trips.

“They kept me busy, going all the time,” Mary said. “They would volunteer me for things sometimes. They didn’t even ask me, but they knew I enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun.”

Everyone at school knew her mom, Delphine said.

“She was ‘Mom’ to everybody,” Delphine recalls. “We didn’t mind sharing.” Her parents included the kids in everything, she adds. There were country drives, outings for ice cream, excursions to watch planes taking off, or visits to museums.

“All the other kids used to say, ‘Where are you going? Ask your mom if we can go with you,’” Delphine said with a laugh. “There wasn’t a whole lot that we had, but we felt rich just because of the love and support they gave us. They were always looking for ways to enrich our lives that, now when we think about it, made us what we are today.”

The church continued to play a central role in family life. Mary played piano, sang, and taught Sunday school. George was an elder. During services, the kids sat by themselves in a pew. Usually, they behaved well, and if they did start to act up, their mom, sitting at the piano, would stop it with just a glance over her shoulder.

Even after their kids were grown, Mary and George adopted and raised a niece. They were married for 64 years until his death 10 years ago. Mary came to Homeland in November 2021. Knowing of Homeland’s reputation for excellence, the family felt there was only one place for her, and a room opened at just the right time.

Mary hangs a calendar of Homeland activities on her wall and attends nearly everything offered, from music programs to weekly Bible study.

“I love this place,” Mary said. “People are very friendly, and everybody is nice. Whatever I need, they’re right there.”

She can even practice on the chapel piano when she wants to, maybe playing and singing another favorite hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”

“God has blessed me,” Mary said. “I’m very thankful. I’m very blessed. God is the love of my life. He’s first in my life and then my family. I enjoyed my life and family and felt like I was the queen.”

“They call her the queen here, too,” Delphine adds.

Mary nods. “They sure do.”

Betty Hungerford: A Homeland resident and cherished friend

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Betty Hungerford, Homeland residentSipping a Coke float delivered by a kind Homeland Center aide, Betty Hungerford shared why life is better in a top-rated continuing care retirement community.

“When you reach a certain age, you’re better off in a place like Homeland than you are at home because you build friendships and relationships and have opportunities you couldn’t have if you lived alone,” she said.

At Homeland Center, Betty is a resident, and she is a treasure. For 20 years, she was Homeland’s development director, raising the funds that propel Homeland’s growth and sustain its stellar reputation for unmatched care.

Betty recently retired at the age of 90! Even as a Homeland resident, she volunteers to serve on the Board of Managers and advises the Board of Directors chair.

A native of Kentucky, Betty was born in a tenant house on her grandfather’s farm. Her father worked in local shoe factories, rising to supervisor, until he moved the family to Palmyra, PA, to work in a plant there.

“He was a learner,” Betty said. “He was a reader. He liked people. He talked as much as I do and lived to 40 days short of 100.”

He was also married to Betty’s mother for better or worse, as he once told a psychiatrist who advised him to get a divorce. Betty’s mom was mentally ill with manic depression and schizophrenia. She was institutionalized for 13 years until new medications helped her manage. Some friends didn’t know about her struggles in her final years.

“That’s her miracle story,” Betty said. “It’s a story I don’t mind sharing because it can give some people hope and understanding about mental illness. It’s a good lesson in never giving up your faith.”

Betty is a proud graduate of Lebanon Valley College, where she majored in economics with minors in political science and English. Music always played a central role in her life, and she sang with the LVC Glee Club.

After graduating in 1954, Betty married and had the family she had always dreamed of – a houseful of three boys and one girl.

“Everybody came to our house,” she said. She laughs about when one son got permission to invite “a few friends” after graduation rehearsal, only to bring the whole class of 125 kids.

Betty’s professional life began in the Pennsylvania Department of Highways (now PennDOT) communications office. She learned to stand up for herself, once telling her boss to stop slamming his door in anger because it disrespected her and the women she supervised.

“He was so shocked, I thought he was going to fall out of his chair,” Betty remembers. “We became long and fast friends.”

It was the beginning of a career devoted to communications and development. She learned fundraising as a March of Dimes volunteer. When she believed in the cause, she didn’t hesitate to ask for money. “If you tell your story and get people to understand how important it is, then it makes them want to give,” she said.

Betty was an independent contractor for Homeland projects. But Morton Specter, the late Homeland board chair, and Homeland President and CEO Barry Ramper II “just wouldn’t give up until I came to work here.” She relented in 2002 and started her remarkable run in an office equipped with a wingback chair and a telephone table.

She built connections to the community and raised funds as Homeland grew. Homeland Center’s 155th Anniversary Celebration Event in 2022 wasn’t meant to honor her, she insists, but she was humbled when organizers and her kids convinced her to let it become a tribute to the “Queen Bee.”

The event raised record amounts for Homeland’s benevolent care fund, ensuring that no resident is ever forced to leave Homeland due to depleted resources. The outpouring of love was “a little overwhelming,” she said, but it served as a testament to her love of people.

No profile of Betty is complete without her love story with Paul Hungerford. They first knew each other through friends, but in those days, she thought he was a snob, and “he thought I was a ditzy blonde.”

Then again, he had a dry sense of humor and “always looked like a million dollars.” In 1974, she joined him in Florida to get married. Until he died in 2010, they played cribbage before dinner, attended concerts and theater, and enjoyed each other’s company.

“We truly adored each other,” Betty said. “Everyone should be so lucky.”

Today, Betty provides fundraising guidance for Homeland Board Chair Carlyn Chulick – “She is marvelous,” said Betty. Betty also serves on the Board of Managers to help maintain Homeland’s homelike feel.

“I’ve never worked with such a dedicated group of volunteers,” Betty said. “Never. They all believe in Homeland and what we do.”

As a Homeland resident, Betty enjoys the activities, including musical performances. She loves reading as much as she did as a child when she hid under the covers with a flashlight and a book. Her room is filled with photos of Paul, her children, and grandchildren. The people of Homeland, she said, “have very kindly taken care of me.”

“I feel very secure and well-cared for,” she said. “I know that if my needs change, they will be met. I feel I’ve been blessed.”

 

Homeland Center (www.homelandcenter.org) offers levels of care including personal care, memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation. Homeland also provides hospice, home care, home health and palliative care services to serve the diverse and changing needs of families throughout central Pennsylvania. For more information or to arrange a tour, please call 717-221-7900.