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Active Living, January 29, 2015
A life well lived
Octogenarian fights to stay active and independent
By LOGAN MOSBY
PINELLAS PARK – Ruth
Helen Hartley – heavy on the
“heart,” as her husband used
to say – has spent the last 80
years living life to its fullest
and she shows no sign of
slowing down any time soon.
Hartley has a rich life history, which began 80 years ago
in the Pennsylvania countryside. Born the second child of
three, Hartley said her parent’s early divorce left an early
impression on her.
“They divorced in the ’30s,
which wasn’t very common,”
Hartley said. “Despite that, I
have a very strong sense of
family.”
In 1953, Hartley took the
path less traveled for many
women of her generation
when she joined the U.S.
Navy as an aerographer –
someone who studies weather
patterns and atmosphere –
and joined WAVES (Women
Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) during the Korean War.
Hartley, who said she is
highly competitive, joined the
service, in part, because her
older brother already served
as a crewmember on a supply
ship.
“I was very much of the
mind that anything you can
do, I can do better,” Hartley
said with a laugh. “And I can
still do anything better than
he can.”
It was while in the service
that Hartley met her husband, John W. “Jack” Hartley.
“He told me he was going to
marry me the night he met
me,” Hartley said.
And he was right. The couple married just a year later,
in 1954. While her husband
Salvation Army.
A broken shoulder introduced her to the PACE (Program of All-inclusive Care
continue to be active and
live independently.
“If it were not for PACE, I
would not be able to walk,”
“I’ve come a long way, baby.
And I have done a lot of things.”
– Ruth Helen Hartley
for the Elderly) program
about four years ago, which
she credits for her ability to
Hartley said. “If it were not for
PACE, I would not be able to
talk. If it were not for PACE, I
would not have medicine or
medical care.
“I just can’t say enough
about this program,” Hartley
continued.
Hartley, who said a second
and subsequent broken shoulder left her arms highly immobile, likes to give credit where
credit is due and lauds a heaping of it on the staff at PACE.
“They have kept me out of a
nursing home,” Hartley said,
See INDEPENDENT, page 9
Photo by LOGAN MOSBY
Ruth Hartley, 80, credits PACE for aiding her as she continues to
live independently in Pinellas County.
served in the Navy and later
the Air Force as a missile program technician, Hartley
worked as a stay-at-home
mom to the couple’s seven
children, while still finding the
time to earn an associate degree in mental health.
Following her husband’s
death in 1975, Hartley relocated with her family to the
Clearwater area to be close to
family. During a vacation to
California, however, Hartley
saw an advertisement for a
job and she applied. She got
the job and decided to stay in
the Golden State. During her
time in California, Hartley
worked as a counselor at a
corrections facility that
housed teenage sex offenders.
She eventually oversaw three
group homes and counseled
gang members.
“I’ve never applied for a job
that I didn’t get,” Hartley said
with pride.
Hartley returned to Florida
following her son’s death, but
she did not give up her mission to help others. She took
a position with Neighborly
Care Network, followed by
subsequent positions with the
Homeless Emergency Project,
the Women’s Living and
Learning Program and The
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9
Active Living, January 29, 2015
GARDENING, from page 8
Burdeyny and Mappus do; they are active in
many other ways.
“I used to play golf until some health issues
slowed me down,” said Mappus. “I swam and
did a lot of dancing, although that’s slowed
down quite a bit. But now I paint and of
course get involved in the cabbages, more or
less little things like that.”
Burdeyny, in addition to tending to his
cabbages, plays softball almost every day.
Also, as a retired journalist in Winnipeg, he
led the way for both he and Dorothy to write
their life stories.
“We together have written our own autobiographies,” he said. “It took us over a year to
find a book binder to bind the books in hard
cover just the way you would want. We did it so
my children would know something about me.”
Why all the activity? Doesn’t a person at 90
years of age have earned the right to sit back
and relax and do nothing?
That’s not the way Mappus sees it, and she
speaks for both of them.
“Keeping active keeps your mind fresh,” she
said. “It gives you something to think about all
the time. I’d hate not to have anything to be responsible for and not to have to think. I need
to paint or sew and be creative.”
Photo by BRIAN GOFF
The crop of cabbages thrive in flower pots.
INDEPENDENT, from page 5
who attends the center on a part-time basis,
and receives in-home care four days a week.
Although she battles a number of health issues, including Parkinson’s Disease, diabetes,
high blood pressure and Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease, Hartley said it is the center, along with her children, her 17 grandchildren and 20-something great-grandchildren,
and her many numbered friends that keep her
going each day.
“I’ve come a long way, baby,” she quipped.
“And I have done a lot of things.”
Hartley said one of the greatest lessons she
has learned over her lifetime is the value of
friends and personal integrity.
“Don’t let go of your friends; hang on to
them,” Hartley said. “Don’t forget to be kind
and never be afraid to say you are sorry. Personal courage is so hard to find today.
“I enjoy my life tremendously,” she continued. “God leads it. As I always say, ‘Let go and
let God.’”
Photo by LOGAN MOSBY
Daycenter supervisor Diana McWorter talks to Hartley following a therapy session.
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