by Leslie Wendel
DO YOU KNOW OF SPECIAL OR LONG-TIME RELATIONSHIPS HERE AT PENNSWOOD? Help us update the list of “family connections” as well as longtime friends who followed each other here or friends who reconnected here. (reply here)
Pennswood is not just a welcoming, friendly community. There is almost a family feeling, not too surprising when you consider the many family relationships at Pennswood.
There are eight groups of siblings, including two sets of three sisters and one set of twins. There are also several second-generation residents.
Three are children, and one is a daughter-in-law, of “Pennswood Pioneers,” those who moved here in 1980, our opening year. And, of course, there is Carolyn Cadwallader, whose late husband, Sidney, was one of Pennswood’s six founding board members. The Cadwalladers moved here in 1989.
The first of the current resident siblings to move in was Kay Davis who arrived July 8, 2003. She was followed by her sister Mary Davis, eight years later. Virginia Weinle moved here from Massachusetts in September 2003 to be near her sister, Carolyn Eady, who was living in Newtown at the time. Carolyn arrived in September 2012, and the two sisters now share a Caton apartment. “Fortunately, I had a two- bedroom apartment.” Virginia said.
Daisy Grubbs and her husband Don moved into Mott when it opened in the fall of 2003. Daisy’s brother, Art Crooke, followed, moving into Dyer nine years later in 2012. Also moving into the new buildings in the fall of 2003 were sisters Barbara Stokes, in Mott, and Ginny Schmunk, in Newman. Ten years later, their sister, Ann Whelan, moved to Newman just down the hall from Ginny. Their remaining sibling, Richard Kaufman, will be joining them this summer with his wife and dog. Although the three sisters live independent lives here, each with her own interests, activities and friends,2 they often have Sunday dinner together. And, they said, it’s nice to have someone to call on for help, even for something as mundane as watering flowers when one of them is away.
Ursula Serkin arrived in 2005, and her sister Liz, with husband, Herman Silverman, moved in four years later. The Alderfer twins, Margi and Mary, arrived in 2007. Margi had taught English at George School for 31 years. During this time, she lived in a school dorm that overlooked what would be Pennswood’s campus. “I remember the cornfields. Then, all of a sudden, there were buildings,” she said.
After retiring from George School, Margi moved to St. David’s, PA, joining her twin in the same building, but in a separate apartment. They continued this together-but-separate pattern when they moved to Pennswood. Margi and Mary live, with their cats, on opposite sides, and on separate floors, in Loe. The cats are sisters too.
Olga Sarre came to Pennswood in 2009. She was joined two years later by sisters Elinor Bannwort and Helen Bennett, who share an apartment in Dyer.
Pennswood’s newest sibling residents are Anne Baber, who arrived from Kansas in 2012, and her sister Lynne Waymon, who moved here with husband Todd, from Washington, DC, in 2014.
Second-generation resident David Swain’s father, Henry, was Pennswood’s official First Resident. He moved from Chicago, arriving on opening day, 35 years ago. David and his wife Caroline moved here from Florida in 2009, 29 years later.
Dolly McGee’s parents, Elmira and Charles McGee, were also Pioneers. Dolly and her two sisters lived in the area and visited often. “It was a blessing for all of us that they were here,” Dolly said. Dolly moved to Pennswood in 2001, as soon as she reached 65. “If they had let me move in sooner, I would have,” she said.
Beth Barnes’ mother, Frances Solomon, was scheduled to move into an apartment in that 1980 opening year. But, after she had a stroke, she ended up moving into Woolman instead. While her mother was here, Beth and her husband, Bob, signed up for Pennswood’s waiting list. At the time, Pennswood had “the longest waiting list—10 years—of any retirement place in the country,” Beth said.
Just 10 years later, in 1993, Bob had emphysema and was already on oxygen. By then, Beth and Bob were at the top of the waiting list and were able to move right into an apartment in Gurney. “If we hadn’t signed up, just to support Pennswood, we would never have gotten in when we needed it,” she said
Three years later, Bob died, leaving Beth a very young widow, as she had been just 65 when they moved in
“I’m really too young to live at Pennswood,” she told her son, Rick
“Don’t worry, you’ll grow into it,” he replied. “And, I did!” she said. “When I first moved to Pennswood, they used to call me ‘the teenager.’ Now, I’m one of the older ones.” Kay Silberfeld is another second- generation Pennswood resident. Her mother, Jane, moved here from Connecticut in 1990. Their time at Pennswood overlapped a few months when Kay followed, moving here from Washington, DC, in 2008
Ashby Denoon is also a second- generation resident. His parents, Eleanor and Clarence Denoon, moved here in 1991. Ashby arrived in 2009
Chick Hastings is our newest second- generation resident. Chick’s mother, Mary C. Hastings, lived here for 14 years, arriving from North Carolina in 1993. Chick and his wife, Lucy, moved here from Princeton in May 2014. “Of course, we knew about Pennswood because my mother had been here,” Chick said. “But Lucy researched several places in the Princeton area. Pennswood beat the stuffing out of all of them.” And, one more connection to our opening year: Helen Dowdell’s mother-in-law, Emily Dowdell, was another Pioneer. Emily “put down her deposit when they were breaking ground,” Helen said. “She said if the Quakers are doing it, it’s going to be done right.” Helen moved here 34 years later, in 2014. Helen volunteered another family connection. She is also related, at least by marriage, to Caroline Dowdell Underwood, who has lived here since 1995. Caroline’s mother was the sister of Marc Dowdell, husband of Pioneer Emily and thus Helen’s father-in-law. “I’ve been flying around here on Dowdell coattails ever since I moved in,” Helen said
[Editors’ Note: If you know of any family connections we missed, please let us know.]