Born and raised right here in Wellington — this Cherished Friends Residential Health Care Resident of the Month can proudly say that.
Virgil Lowder has been at Cherished Friends for a little over a month and couldn't be happier to be where he is.
"This is a first class outfit here. They've got good cooks, good help, registered nurses..." Lowder said. "It's top of the class I think."
Lowder says the home cooked breakfasts, lunches, and dinners are something he looks forward to. But the atmosphere at the living center is also something he thinks highly of.
"The first day you start in as a just a regular boarder," said Lowder. "And the second day you're family."
This member of the Cherished Friends family is 82-years-old, for the past 63 years Lowder has been married to wife Betty. Lowder made a living painting and hanging wallpaper.
"I liked it, I like to make things pretty. You get to where it's all peeled and scaled, sanded, scrape it down...make it good again," Lowder recalled. "I did that for about 57 years, something like that."
Lowder is a World War II Veteran, he wasn't involved in any battles but he served in the Navy and was stationed on a ship.
"It was a good experience because I've never been out of Wellington very much," Lowder said. "I was just 17, my dad wouldn't sign my papers until I went through school."
Once he was able to serve, he said he got to meet a lot of unique individuals.
"Yeah you meet a lot of interesting people," he said. "And that's what I like. I like people."
Lowder and his wife are both Cherished Friends residents, they have three daughters and a lot of grand- and great-grandchildren. Lowden recently took in an Argonia High School basketball game to watch two of his great-granddaughters play. He enjoys watching his great-grandchildren compete and says he has a good family.
Lowden remembers a time when he was a child and how different times are in Wellington today. He grew up in a time where the only way to get where one needed to go was through the good old fashioned — two feet method.
"We walked, we didn't have any buses and stuff," Lowden said. "Sometimes if there's a train on the track you'd have to stop and wait on it, you know, and you might be a little late getting to school."
Speaking of trains, since his wife's family was in the railroad business, Lowden thought he would give railroading a try.
"I tried for a couple of years, wore out," he chuckled. "Everything was heavy."
Lowden is a sports fanatic. He's been an Oklahoma University fan since 1946. He said his weakness has always been a rod and a reel. He has a lot of big fish stories, but what's the biggest fish he's caught?
"I can't say because it might be illegal," Lowder laughed.
All in all Lowder is highly content with his situation and being a resident at Cherished Friends Residential Health Care. He has witnessed Wellington go through quite a bit of change in his time. He is hoping that more recent trends with the economy change in a hurry.
"I'd like to see the whole thing get better," Lowder said. "These guys out of work, the way prices are. I don't know how they do it."
Wellington, Kan. —
