Went to the memorial for Jane Freeman, founder of the Sun City Museum today. She died at 93 years of age and had lived in Sun City since 1970. 43 years in Sun City had given her the opportunity to do almost everything in the way of volunteering and she did almost all of them. Jane epitomized Sun City and almost better than all the volunteerism she was always optimistic and upbeat. Interesting the difference in how she lived compared to some who go through life moaning and groaning about everything. I did a post on my Suncitiestoday blog once called COP's and as we listened to people talk about Jane today I couldn't help but smile when comparing those Crabby Old People (COP's) to her enthusiasm for all things Sun City. I did take advantage of the preacher's offer to say a few words about Jane at the service today. She was one of the people I have most admired and truly believe there has never been a single individual who has done more for the community than Jane did. That's saying a lot when you consider the 1000's and 1000's of folks who have helped shape Sun City in the past 53 years. Here is the essence of what I said: "L. C. Jacobson, Tom Breen, Joe Ashton, John Meeker, Bob Johnson, Jim Boswell and Del Webb were all giants in building this country and more importantly, Sun City. For more than 50 years they helped define America. Yet when all is said and done, virtually everything they did is lost somewhere in construction archives. It took a diminutive woman named Jane Freeman to make sure these incredible gentlemen would live on in the hearts and minds of people for generations to come. Every time the front door of the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum opens, the men behind Sun City are showcased in ways i'm sure they never imagined. And all of it because Jane had the energy and the wisdom to understand how important it was to preserve Sun City's history." I concluded my remarks with this simple synopsis: "Some people measure one's success by what they take from life, what they manage to accumulate. In Jane's case, I use a wholly different measuring stick. Her greatness can be seen in what she left behind...a legacy of caring and giving back to the community she so loved." Easy to see why Jane is simply my inspiration. If I can do half the things she did, i'll leave this earth delighted.
I'm curious as to what you did in your former life. That is, before living in Sun City. You seem to like to write.
Hold on to your seat peg, I know this will seem out of character: I was a union boss. Ouch, Truth be told I ran against the seated president and won (in fairness I was on staff when I did so but if I lost I was out of a job). We had 7500 members and when I won I promised members we would rebuild the local from the ground up. My campaign was predicated on transparency, communication and education. I truly believe that at the heart of every successful organization or company is great (not good) communication. We produced in house a full color monthly newsmagazine, ran 4 websites (3 of them interactive) and turned the whole concept of top down unionism on its ear. We inverted the pyramid and made everything we did about the members. In turn I had great working relationships with the employers because we dealt with them openly and honestly. The problem for me was I hated the bureaucracy and the folks in DC didn't care for me all that much. It's why I fell I love with Sun City; a giant collective akin to a union...but more pure.
Bureaucracy in DC....nah...lol.... Your a good man and I for one enjoy the posts that both you (BPearson) and Pegmih both do here... good stuff and very informative info about Sun City
True Ken and best of all is she had 40 plus years in the community she loved. We should all be that lucky eh?
