Tag Archive for: Resident Spotlight

After 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.

“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.”

Sipping 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.