Let’s Get Acquainted


Doris and Bob Clement





Bob and Doris have been married for fifteen years.  They have four children and four grandchildren.  They live in Sun Lakes year round.  Way back when, Bob is a native of Wisconsin and Doris is a native of Iowa.  They lived in Chandler before retirement.



FINDING A NICHE

    All of us can relate to this search we embark upon.  Many people wait until retirement to discover interests or hidden talents that were tucked away because of  busy lives led in the working world.
     Bob said he, more than Doris, had to discover what he wanted to do in retirement.  Doris said they had to find out what would make it worthwhile to get up each morning.  They followed some advice given on retirement that says at first do nothing for three months and allow your mind and body to rest.  When you get bored you will have the incentive to go out and find a path to follow.  Apparently this was good advice as they have discovered volunteering in a variety of ways.  They are leaders of a Block Watch in their neighborhood.  Once a year they have a meeting with their neighbors to discuss safety issues and listen to a guest speaker usually from the Fire Department.  Although the level of crime and vandalism is low in Sun Lakes, Bob says it is very easy for all of us to develop a false sense of security.
     As a result they know all of their neighbors and look out for each other.  For example, if a neighbor is going to be away for any length of time, they are given a contact person in case of any problems such as a water leak.
     Bob is a volunteer hospital chaplain at Chandler Regional Medical Center two mornings a week.  We were surprised when he described the level of training and certification necessary to hold this position.  He comes home many times after a shift at the hospital with stories to tell.  Doris volunteers as a secretary in the surgical area.  
     Doris said she spent her life as a secretary and is proud to remain one instead of adopting the term “administrative assistant.”  Her organizational skills have been put to good use on many occasions including on the home front.  Bob said she is very good at what she does.
     Bob spent time in the military with two tours in Vietnam.  He said he was given the opportunity to jump out of planes as an airborne ranger, and got paid extra for it, which amounted to half of his pay per month.  Although he loved it, after about five years he decided that was enough.  The thrill was gone.  He worked on satellite communications during his years in the service and his Systems Engineering ( a wrestling scholarship got him into college to work for the degree) led him to a job for Motorola in the private sector after he retired from the military.  This bit of information led to a very interesting conversation about his role in developing a satellite communications system that was very important during the Cold War era.  He told us that the technology was not what it is today and therefore when the Red Phone was picked up, there was a four second delay between here and Russia.  This was not acceptable to President Lyndon Johnson, and he expected it to be fixed.  When he was flying from here to there, he expected a voice on the other end the instant he picked it up.  He also wanted a phone in every room of the White House including the bathroom and it always seemed to be on a weekend that this needed to be worked on.  Bob worked on this daunting task.  Once again, we went down an unexpected path which seems to happen with every interview we conduct.
     The last project he worked on before retiring from Motorola was the development of a hand held satellite radio so downed pilots could communicate immediately without detection.  
     Doris did her part for the military when she worked for FMC Corporation, a defense technology lab where they built mortar shells to be filled elsewhere in the US.  Everything was going well until they lost their government contract and what had grown to sixteen hundred employees and two plants went back to the original small number of employees in an instant.
     In case you are wondering, Bob and Doris met at Motorola.  We thought it sounded like a song title and we had a good laugh over that.
     Now that they are settled in Sun Lakes, they have taken nine cruises.  They like to stick with the same cruise line because of the perks they receive for being previous guests.  Doris said she likes to pack once and cruises fit them perfectly.  They also go to California a lot to see their grandchildren.
      Other ways they volunteer is through Neighbors Who Care and their church, Episcopal Church of the Epiphany.  They are involved in a program to feed the homeless on Monday nights which they have done for fourteen years.  Doris quickly informed us that they are called the PBJ people and have made over thirty-five thousand peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
     We asked why they moved to Sun Lakes since they lived nearby.   They spent a year looking for the right home. They both said when they walked into their model home in Sun Lakes they knew they had found the right place to continue their retirement.  Like many others, they are well aware of the fact that living in communities such as Sun Lakes enables them to remain independent longer because of all the support services associated with our community.  Bob pointed out that his neighbors are very friendly, and always there to help each other and especially if there is an emergency.
     Being planners, they have already looked into the next step in case they need more assistance and told us about their plans to move to Friendship Village when the time is right.  They talked about a balancing act in knowing when to make a move before it is too late.
     While we talked about our experience in moving to Sun Lakes we found that we had a lot in common especially from the planning stage before we packed up our possessions and made the move.  Sun Lakes during the daytime seems to be a very quiet little town, but after you have been here for awhile, you find out about all the activities that are taking place.  During the summer months when it is extremely hot people stay in the air conditioning.  These are the times when reading murder mysteries, knitting and crocheting are things that Doris enjoys, while Bob likes to read history books and murder mysteries.   Until the time comes to make another move, they will continue volunteering and traveling, just enjoying the life they have in Sun Lakes.
     We found Bob and Doris to be very warm and caring people, and are happy they have found their niche.