Some people spread joy wherever they go, and John Roe is one of those people. As a teen, he began working at Disneyland, playing the roles of various beloved characters and ensuring anyone he came into contact with left with a smile. During his time in the Navy, John continued positively impacting those around him and using his gift of creating a positive atmosphere no matter where he went. He still spreads joy within his community today, bringing smiles to those around him.

Jacqueline Hairston is an accomplished pianist and composer and continues living out her dreams to this day. She has been passionate about music for as long as she can remember and as a young girl,  would drum her fingers along the kitchen table, pretending to play the piano. Her parents quickly noticed and she began piano lessons. Her passion never waned and her impressive talents earned her an invitation to perform at world-renowned Carnegie Hall. 

At Eskaton, we pride ourselves in providing compassionate, professional care and valuable resources for older adults and their families across Northern California and throughout the state. An important aspect of being a thought-leader in our industry is our dedication to innovative thinking and being a catalyst for change.

A young girl of 15 clambers out of an oil truck and onto the wings of a plane, swiftly filling its tanks with gas and oil before it roars down the runway, a young Army recruit just learning to fly behind the controls. Her sister, just two years older, sits in the cab, hollering at her younger sibling to hurry so they can fuel the next waiting aircraft. Both young women have put their high school educations on hold to work at the airfield, because if they hadn’t, they (and the rest of their family) wouldn’t be eating that night.

If you’re lucky enough to catch Gloria Ruth out and about at The Reutlinger Community in Danville, CA, make sure you’ve got your best smile ready. Known as the community’s “resident paparazzi,” Gloria has been snapping pictures of the care team, fellow residents and the beautiful grounds since she arrived in 2012. Her shiny red camera—a gift from the TRC staff as a thank you for her contributions to the life and culture of the community—is almost as familiar as her irresistible laugh and good-natured sense of humor.   

For Stocktonian and O’Connor Woods resident, Glen Mortensen, “going back to the drawing board” is just another Monday morning. Architect, dreamer, and perpetual problem-solver, the man once dubbed “Stockton’s Leonardo da Vinci” has been putting his creative mind to good use for nearly a century. And he’s nowhere near packing up his drafting tools and calling it a day.

Sometimes the path of life takes us places we’d never thought we’d go, and yet, we find ourselves right where we were always meant to be. For Eskaton Village Grass Valley resident Inge Roberts, this is especially true. Born in Berlin in 1938, Inge spent the early years of her childhood scrambling for the safety of her father’s pre-stressed concrete basement while bombs from Allied planes rained from the sky. When the second Great War was finally over, Berlin was decimated, but Inge and her family were alive and safe—and ready for whatever life had in store.

I like to think that God meets us wherever we are.

For many, discovering their life’s purpose is a challenging, and often complicated, process. For Linda Whiteside, Eskaton employee, artist, and humanitarian, it is an ever-evolving journey that has enabled her to wear many different hats and fill many different roles. And she’s just getting started.

Keeping a promise isn’t always easy, but for Judge Rudolph “Barry” Loncke, keeping one made to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became the work of a lifetime. One of the youngest African-American students to ever attend Yale, he met the illustrious leader of the civil rights movement when Dr. King visited the university to speak about racial inequality in America. In a moment he’ll never forget, Judge Loncke gathered his courage and approached what he recalls as a gracious, soft-spoken man sitting alone by the fire in the early hours of the morning.

Skip is a veteran, farmer, logger, fisherman, adventurer, and feels most at peace in nature. Skip Slaymaker, born in California in 1945, attributes his longevity to living a life of purpose. “The secret to a happy life is love everything you do,” says Skip. 

“The secret to a happy life is people.” Michael Catino, born in New York, attributes his longevity to living a happy life and having a healthy social life. Mike is the grandson of Italian immigrants and is 99 years old. His passions in life are his family, staying socially connected and baseball.