Perseverance: Seniors reflect on tough times of the past

By Kristine Thomas

If you are looking for truth in the saying “Tough times don’t last but tough people do,” just visit with a few of the folks living at Mount Angel Towers, a retirement community.

On a crisp December day, several residents shared their memories of living during the Great Depression, wars and unexpected personal or financial downturns.

They tell how sometimes there wasn’t much money for gifts but they always had a way of providing for their families and making sure there was food on the table.

As they watch younger generations grapple with the current recession, these experienced elders offer some wisdom.

Ann Beckwith tells how at age 54 she had to flee in her home in Tillamook with just the clothes she had on her back, her Bible and her car.

“I had a neighbor who was threatening me,” she said. “I ended up in St. Joseph’s Shelter.” As Christmas approached, Beckwith wasn’t sure what the day would bring.

“I expected nothing and instead I was blessed by the kindness of the Benedictine Sisters,” said Beckwith, now 65. “The Sisters put on a beautiful Christmas dinner for the homeless residents and I received a sweatshirt, gloves and socks.”

That Christmas, she said, was memorable because she felt blessed by the kindness of Sister Terry Hall and the now late Adele Mansfield.

“They were encouraging and supportive and helped me find my way,” Beckwith said. “I think that Christmas taught me to be thankful and grateful for what I have.”

Paul Senecal, 89, said when he was growing up on a farm in Canada during the Great Depression there was always food on the table. However, he recalled the Christmas he was 8 years old when gifts were scarce.

“I remember receiving an orange and an onion in my stocking for Christmas,” he said, adding he was grateful for the gifts.

His wife, Libby, 91, said she thinks people who were children during the Great Depression were taught valuable lessons by their parents such as the importance of extended family and learning to do without.

“Back then, many people were living on the farm and had enough to eat,” she said. “People who needed help would come to our back door and we would give them food. … Today, it seems more people are going hungry.”

Artie Neuwirth, 88, was living in Wisconsin in 1929, the beginning of the Great Depression. He remembers his parents telling him there wouldn’t be much for Christmas.

“My father had bought a home a month or two before the stock market crashed and his only income was the money he made doing landscape clearance,” Neuwirth said. As he came downstairs on Christmas morning he expected it would be a sad day.

“Then I saw my Uncle Dave, Mom and Dad singing ‘Jingle Bells,’ and I looked up to see them with commercial balloons such as Santa Claus, deer and a teddy bear,” he said. “That was one of my favorite Christmas memories.”

Neuwirth said he remembers many times when all he ate was bread and jelly for a few days until his father got paid.

“I think back then people worked more efficiently and they were more thoughtful than today,” he said. “I think people’s nature today is to be more self-centered.”

To survive tough times requires people working together and being more accepting of one another, Neuwirth said.

“The best thing to do during these times is put your best foot forward and work and hope for the best,” he said.  “We also to accept the things we have and the things we don’t have. We should be thankful for what we have and strive to have a better world and community.”