About Silver Linings
“Silver Linings,” a feature about life after retirement. If you are a retiree with an interesting story about your new life or know of someone who fits the bill, email your suggestion to editorial@cjn.org and include “Silver Linings” in the subject line or tweet us at @CleveJN.
Ann Eland is deeply interested in helping her community.
After retiring from a varied career in 2016, Joan Shall decided her retirement life should be just as varied.
Though Jojo Brown hasn’t worked in nearly 15 years, she still finds ways to fill her days and keep busy.
Long before Elizabeth (Lee) Warshawsky retired, she was a volunteer through and through. Out in her community while still punching the clock, it only made sense for her to continue that endeavor into her retirement.
When Hazel Brown retired in 2012 from her career as a human resources manager, she already had the people-centric skills that you would need when volunteering.
With only two years of retirement under her belt, Cindy Friedman is still figuring out how she’d like to spend the rest of it. But what she does know is she likes volunteering – especially with groups focused on animal adoption like the Geauga Humane Society’s Rescue Village and BREW Beagles.
When Dave Sheinbart retired in 2013, he found himself waking up every morning wondering how to fill his newfound free time. Seven years later, he found community initiatives to do just that.
Cyndy Fellenbaum retired 11 years ago and jumped right into volunteering.
Susan Schwarzwald loves interacting with people.
After retiring in 1995, Denise Butvin found she had a lot of time on her hands. Going from a busy schedule as a pharmacy tech at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, she realized she needed to find something else to fill her days.
Working as a medical technologist, Natalie Skall found herself pulled in many directions – filling in where she was needed. All of the time she spent at the office left her little time to do anything after work. She held many roles at several hospitals and labs, and at one hospital, she was …
Referring to herself as an active person, Susan Wyman said she’s always had a busy schedule – retired or not. Now two years into her retirement, she has no plans to slow down once the pandemic allows her to return to her volunteer endeavors.
Living at the center of a family consisting of three children, two dogs and a husband, Sheila Levine worked for years helping to provide for her family. She rarely had time for herself or to give back to her community in ways that mattered to her.
Volunteering is something Marsha Spitz has done for most of her life.
Married couples tend to share everything with their spouse. This is true for Art and Enid Kraus, all the way down to their love of volunteering.
When working as a chemist, Steve Levitan said he didn’t have much time for volunteering.
Not even a full year into her retirement, Ronna Kaplan is finding many ways to keep herself involved.
One might categorize Sandra “Sandi” Fried as a career volunteer. Even as she worked in geriatrics and as a dialysis and renal social worker, Fried was out in the community doing what she could when she had the time.
When Sheilah Orkin retired 30 years ago, she dedicated herself to giving back to her community. At 88, she maintains that effort.
They say all good things come in pairs. That applies to Beth and Howard Simon, especially with their long grocery list of volunteer endeavors.
