Reaching Outto friends of Royal OaksWinter 2014

Royal OaksEngaging • Inspired • Vibrant

Retirement Living

A baby born in the mining town of Freeland, Pennsylvania and named Hugh Hughes went on to defy his tough early childhood years to live a beguiling life, including as a music student at Julliard, a performer in professional theater, a hopeful-but-not-quite participant in very-early TV shows, followed by an impressive career for Western Electric/AT&T, where he lived all over the world.

We know this gentle-man by Ed Hughes and he lives right here at Royal Oaks. You may see him with his bright shock of white hair as he exercise-walks around the campus for his daily exercise. And unless you’ve had the pleasure of dining with him, you probably don’t know his back story, since it took a lot of persuading to get him to talk about himself.

He has experienced lots of loss in his life, but somehow doesn’t let that keep him from always having a shy grin on his face. His father died four

From a mining town to Julliard…from the Ballistic Early Missile Warning System to the Man in Space Program…

Royal Oaks’ Ed Hughes lets us in on his intriguing life

months before he was born in 1923; his brother died in 1922 at the age of 7. Mom moved the family—mom, Ed, and an older sister--to Brooklyn so his sister could go to nursing school. Sadly, his sister, shortly after becoming an RN, came down with an ailment that took her life at the age of 21. This was the beginning of the Depression and his mother took a job as a live-in domestic. Ed was sent to live with an aunt in Brooklyn.

Good ballplayer, good musician

In 1934, Ed and his mother moved back to Freeland, where he stood out in high school, playing varsity basketball and excelling in music, particularly the violin. “I was a quite good musician,” Ed shyly says, “but my teacher was drafted in my senior year in high school so my lessons took a back seat to the war.” He sang

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(Ed Hughes continued)

in school musicals and in the high school and church choirs, where he also played in the orchestra.

As most young men did then, he enlisted and was a Radioman in the Navy. He served on a sub-chaser through the South Pacific. After he was discharged, he contacted his vocal instructor, who encouraged him to apply to Julliard. Ed downplays this interesting turn of event, “I was eligible for the GI Bill and they had to take me,” he said, laughing about his acceptance into the prestigious performing-arts school. He studied music, music composition, voice, piano, conducting, German, and Italian. His Music Composition instructor was Lou Teicher, from the famed Ferrante & Teicher duo that was known across the country. “Many residents here are probably familiar with them, as they performed locally in their heyday,” explains Ed.

After he left Julliard, he joined a theater group that primarily performed Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. The photo on the previous page shows Ed in The Gondoliers, performing off Broadway. “In 1948, I tried out for a TV program,” continued Ed. “This was when TV was in its infancy and I was so excited to be a part of it.” He did not land the TV role, but continued to take voice lessons and perform in live theaters. “New York is a tough place to excel in an artistic endeavor, but as the song goes, “If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere,” jokes Ed. After trying his best to make it in entertainment, Ed realized he wasn’t going to have success to the extent he had hoped and “I decided to get a “real” job and thus begun my career that transported me to all corners of the world.”

A career begins to flourish

After spending six years working on a relative’s farm and at the Procter Electric sales office while taking business classes, Ed joined Western Electric, the manufacturing and distributing part of the Bell Telephone System (AT&T). For the next 30 years, Ed’s career became an adventure! As part of a team that was responsible for building the Distant Early Warning Line (part of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS)), Ed shivered his way through the northern U.S., Canada, Greenland, and Iceland. “I was never in any of these sites very long,” said Ed, “but found something interesting in each of them. For example, in the Greenland ice caps, the installations were designed to include hydraulic jacks that would raise the buildings the necessary inches each year to stay ahead of the annual ice and snow build-up. This was before global warming,” Ed laughs.

The United States Air Force BMEWS was the first operational ballistic missile detection radar. BMEWS was built during the decade of the 1950s in response to the Cold War with the former Soviet Union. “Men with the necessary knowledge, skills, and experience were drawn from Bell Telephone companies in every state in the US, and many Canadian

provinces,” explained Ed. “These hardy men lived and worked under the most primitive conditions. They covered vast distances by airplanes, snowmobiles, and dog sleds, working in blinding snowstorms with temperatures so low that ordinary thermometers could not measure them. But they completed their part of the job on schedule and set the stage for the small army of men and machines that followed. The line consisted of 63 stations stretching from the Aleutians to Baffin Island, Canada, covering nearly 10,000 kilometers.” From the frozen tundra to pink beaches

Ed’s role in the BMEWS project was temporarily halted and he was sent to Bermuda to work on the Man in Space Program. This was President Kennedy’s vehicle for landing an American on the moon before the end of the 1960s. Bermuda was one of the many tracking stations circling the globe and allowing the orbiting astronauts to maintain contact with earth. “Much warmer weather there,” grinned Ed.

Then Ed was sent on to Denmark for two years to wind up the BMEWS project. This ended up one of his favorite place to live as he got to

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Explore Pueblo Heritage With Royal Oaks ResidentsRoyal Oaks Priority List members are invited to join Royal Oaks residents on their first Road Scholar trip, organized through The Learning Tree, the campus lifelong learning program. A resident-run and staff-supported program of continuing education, The Learning Tree offers a wide range of lectures, classes, discussion sessions, field trips, tours and hands-on activities for the residents of Royal Oaks. The faculty consists of resident authorities in a variety of topical areas as well as invited outside experts.

On the Road Scholar trip, the group will be exploring the Pueblo Heritage, April 27–May 3, 2014. The itinerary includes:

•CliffdwellingsinFlagstaffat Walnut Canyon National Monument and on the Hopi reservation; explore Old Oraibi, the oldest continually inhabited American settlement.

•OntheNavajoreservationenjoya4x4jeeptrip into the heart of majestic Canyon De Chelly, native arts demonstrations, and a visit to historic Hubble Trading Post.

•JourneytothecenteroftheAnasaziworld,ChacoCanyon, and explore the architecture of Pueblo Bonito, Chetro Ketl, and the Great Kiva of Casa Rinconada.

•Walkingupto1.5milesonpavementorpackeddirtandgravel. Exploration of ruins at Chaco Canyon requires agility to maneuver around rocky, uneven trails.

The price per person is $985 (double occupancy) or $1200 (single occupancy) plus $90 for the trip to Flagstaff where the program begins. You will receive:

•6nightsofaccommodations–2nightseachin Flagstaff, Chinle and Gallup

•17meals:6breakfasts,5lunches,6dinners•3Expert-ledlectures•6Fieldtrips•OneHands-onexperience•Grouptravelandtransfersthroughouttheprogram•AGroupLeadertoaccompanyyouthroughthe

program to handle all logistics

•Modestgratuities,taxesanddestinationfees•TheRoadScholarEmergencyandTravelAssistance

Plan, including 24-hour assistance for medical and other emergencies

“The Southwest is the keeper of America’s best-preserved and most compelling archaeological treasures. That heritage continues today in the modern Hopi and Navajo

culture of northeastern Arizona. Our residents will enjoy personal insights as Native

American guides share cultural achievements, historic struggles

and modern challenges,” explained Carol Bryan, Learning Tree Associate Dean. “We think this is going to be a very popular trip and encourage

early registration. Priority List members should contact Vicki Ullery

in Marketing, 623-815-4131 to inquire about availability.”

The Learning Tree Spring semester will launch in January. Priority List members are welcome to attend any of the offerings. Please visit www.RoyalOaks.com to view or print the catalog (click on Documents Library at the top of the home page). A sample of two of the classes are previewed below—there is something for everyone, from the sports fan to the arts fan!

Shakespeare. Four hundred years have passed and William Shakespeare is still the most produced playwright on the planet. Why are his works still relevant to audiences today? Where did he get his ideas? And why is he so hard to understand? Using Richard III and Comedy of Errors as a backdrop, come explore the playwright, the plays, and the world that has so captivated generations of theatre goers.

Armchair Quarterbacks meet alternate Thursdays at 9:00 a.m. beginning January 16 and continuing through April 10. Past, present and future developments of ALL SPORTS will be examined at the desire of every participant. Meetings last an hour.

New Memory Care Center to Open in Early 2015

We Walk Toward a World Without Alzheimer’sMore than 80 Royal Oaks residents and staff members joined together on 10/19/13 to walk in support of the end of Alzheimer’s.

A sea of blue Royal Oaks shirts dominated the Beardsley Recreation Center in Sun City West as Royal Oaks’ residents and staff members gathered early on a Saturday morning to support the end of Alzheimer’s.

“We are so thrilled that so many residents and staff came out to support the Alzheimer’s Association,” said Kendra Eberhart, Royal Oaks CEO. “On the Wednesday prior to the walk, we had our groundbreaking for The Friendship House, our new memory care building here on our Sun City campus. So it was fitting that, in the same week, we were able to walk in support of such a good cause.”

To learn more how you can support Alzheimer’s, go to www.alz.org.

In October, Royal Oaks residents, staff, and vendors were treated to an outdoor bar-b-q, complete with picnic food and musical entertainment, for the official groundbreaking of The Friendship House, the memory care building to be built on the east side of the Royal Oaks Sun City campus.

Pictured here are members of Royal Oaks management team and Board of Trustees turning over the first shovel of dirt, signifying the groundbreaking. “We are so excited

about this new building,” said Dick Herrmann, Board of Trustee President (second from left). “Ten years ago, we opened The Illingworth Center, our Assisted Living Building. And now we get to service

our residents and the greater community even better with a 54-suite Memory Care Center.”

The Friendship House was nominated for a national award through the American Institute of Architects and Leading Age, the trade association for senior living communities, and has been named as one of the winners. Kendra Eberhart, CEO, and Dan Brusnahan, Todd & Associates architect, accepted the award in Dallas in October at the Leading Age National Conference.

“This award is very significant,” explains Herrmann. “Our architects designed a building that “feels like home” for the residents that will reside there. It is so much more than just brick and mortar.” To find out more about The Friendship House, call 623-815-4132.

Royal Oaks, the only continuing care retirement community in Sun City, threw a party on September 30 when “Flashback to the ‘80s” was held. The retirement community opened in 1983 and continues to thrive, with full occupancy and, it was announced in October 2013, another “A” rating from Fitch, showing the strength of the financials and management team.

The Flashback to the ‘80s event delighted residents who joined in the fun with dancing and partying. A Richard Simmons impersonator kept the crowd laughing while a Michael Jackson look-a-like took to the dance floor, with the MJ Dancers (Royal Oaks residents), decked out in the famous glitterly glove, backing him up. A best legs contest gave prizes to male residents with best tan, whitest, and most hairy legs, among other categories. The Administration group rounded out the event with their rendition of You Can’t Stop This, the MC Hammer hit tune from that era.

Similar events are planned throughout the year and Priority List members are welcome to join in the fun. To inquire about becoming a Priority List member, call 623-815-4132.

Royal Oaks Throws an ‘80s Party!Royal Oaks Throws an ‘80s Party!

NONPROFIT ORGUS POSTAGE

PAIDPHOENIX, AZPERMIT # 498

People of Faith, Inc.10015 West Royal Oak RoadSun City, AZ 85351-3164

Royal Oaks is the only full Lifecare community in Sun City and one of only a handful of CCRCs in the country who have been granted an “A” rating by Fitch, a global credit rating organization.

Contact Marketing for further information:

(623) 815-4132

Visit our interactive website: www.RoyalOaks.com

travel all over Europe when he based out of Copenhagen. “In fact, on holiday one Christmas in Lillehammer, the Norwegian ski resort, I met and had several meals in Norway with the famous science fiction writer, Harry Harrison, and his family. He was a very interesting guy. He also lived in Copenhagen so we established a very nice friendship, getting together often for movies and the like.” Harrison’s book, Soylant Green, was made into a movie that just recently showed here at Royal Oaks on Channel 33.

AT&T wasn’t done with Ed yet. Off to Nigeria he went, on a contract with the Nigerian government to improve their telephone systems. Following stints in New York and California, Ed found himself on the way to Saigon where the project there was updating US military communications

throughout Vietnam and Thailand. His three years there afforded him numerous opportunities to explore all of Asia. The Viet Cong’s incursion into the city during the Tet Offensive of ’68 also gave him a close-up view of the war from his 7th floor apartment. “My career was really exceptional,” said Ed, “and although I missed out on having a family, I had the most incredible experiences.” A review of photos and postcards Ed has kept over the decades confirms that he did indeed have a full life that included lifelong friendships from all walks of life.

His final job with AT&T was in California where they tapped Ed’s management expertise to work in the Benefits department, helping retirees make sure they were getting all of which they were entitled. In the late 1970s, Ed fulfilled a personal goal to

finish his college education, receiving a degree in political science from San Jose State—and also re-starting piano lessons. Once an entertainer, always an entertainer!

“I retired in 1983 and moved to Sun City West and became the poster child for active retirement,” laughed Ed. An avid bike rider, he has done a fair amount of traveling with Elderhostel through Europe, including three bicycle trips in various European countries. He hiked the Grand Canyon 5-6 years in a row, and nearly made it to the top of Mt. Rainier with a group of his hiking friends. Tennis was another love, and of course, keeping in shape through walking, which he continues to do daily. “I was 90 this year and when I look back on all I’ve done, I realize how adventurous it has been. I wouldn’t change much.”

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