FINALS GUIDE
3
Retirees rediscover Lawrence and find joy among the youth
BY LAUREN CUNNINGHAM lcunningham@kansan.com
When Bill Hougland first came to the University of Kansas, it was mostly due to Dr. Forrest "Phog" Allen.
Allen recruited him from his hometown of Beloit to play basketball. Hougland was on the team in 1952 when the University won its third national championship.
After graduating, Houghland traveled with his team to the 1952 Summer Olympics. He served in Japan for two years in the Korean War, lived in New York with his wife for seven years and then moved to Wichita, where in 1991, he retired.
Now, after moving with his wife in 1992,
Hougland is back in Lawrence, but this time it's not just for basketball.
"It is not the athletics particularly, but it's the people and the culture here in Lawrence that made us want to come back," Houland said.
Well, Houghton is not alone as a retired alumnus returning to Lawrence.
In fact, according to U.S. News & World Report, the number of Lawrence citizens ages 55 and older increased 63.4 percent from 2006 to 2007. U.S. News also named Lawrence one of the best places to retire in 2007.
President of the Lawrence Board of Realtors and realtor at McGrew Real Estate, Thomas Howe, said he had noticed this trend in Lawrence.
He explained the trend by saying that generally, people have fond memories of where they went to school, so they're more inclined to want to come back.
"The thing with Lawrence is that it's far more affordable here than Arizona or California or Florida, and at the same time, there's a great access to amenities," he said. "Plus, generally with a university in the community, there are just more things to do and see."
Even area programs and activities are seeing a boost in the amount of participants, particularly the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
This institute is part of KU Continuing Education and has classes geared toward those over the age of 50.
"For the first time, this semester we've been having to turn people away," said Jane Live, program coordinator for the Osher Institute.
Though the trend of retiring in college towns has been noticeable during the past few years, activities offered in these communities have seemed to really spark an interest, said Jane Nesselrode, a Brandon Woods resident originally from Kansas City, Kan.
"I've never seen so many people doing so many things as what I see here," she said.
Nesselrode has lived by herself in a small townhouse that is part of Brandon Woods since 2001 when she moved back to Lawrence. A KU graduate of 1940, this 90-year-old said she remembered her tuition costing $350 and the feeling that "you knew everybody."
Nesselrode married in the December after she graduated and worked while her husband served in World War II. After the war, she lived in Texas for four years and Michigan for six years. She then moved back to the Kansas City area until 2001 when she returned to Lawrence.
Her decision to return to her college town, she said, was partly based on memories of her KU days and on how different Lawrence was from her hometown area.
"I get a kick out of the groups accepted here," she said. "Being around young people is fun. It makes you better, more alive."
She said she also liked the laid-back atmosphere of Lawrence and that she could get anywhere in about 10 minutes.
And with all of the potential activities that a college town has to offer, that is an important factor.
"Really, you could just go some place different every day," Nesselrode said.
Sue Leonard, a Brandon Woods resident originally from Topeka, does just this.
Leonard, 77, volunteers at the Dole Institute of Politics every Sunday for one to four hours by greeting visitors; she works the door at the Spencer Museum of Art every other Saturday afternoon; she goes to her church on Mondays to make food for the Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen; and though she said she didn't really have a set schedule for Tuesdays, she does keep busy through the rest of her week as a committee member for the New Generation Society of Lawrence.
This organization has more than 200 members, most of whom are retirees. Leonard serves in the New Generation Society by scheduling small trips for the group around town, her most recent trip a tour of Bella Sera, the new condominium complex close to Brandon Woods.
Like Nesselrode, Leonard is also a KU graduate. She came back to her college town in 1997 after living a number of places, primarily in California where she taught first and third grade for 25 years.
"I thought about coming back to Topeka, where I'm from, but it just didn't feel like my town anymore," Leonard said. "So, here I am in Lawrence, and I just adore it."
Brandon Woods offers to underwrite its residents' costs to take classes, so when Nesselrode got the course booklet that the Osher Institute sends out, she picked out her classes and hurried to sign up to ensure her spot.
Nesselrode volunteers at the hospital and takes classes from the Osher Institute when she can.
She just finished a jazz music class and has taken a creative writing class. The desire for education is another factor that Nesselrode appreciates about her college town.
"It's all about doing anything to keep your brain going," she said. "That's another thing about Lawrence — people prefer to be learning. They're curious and want to learn new things."
THE UNIVERSITY DABY KANSAN
DECEMBER 15,2008