EVANSTON — On May 1, I moved into the senior housing called The Homestead. There are 13 apartments in the addition to the old Evanston hospital at the opposite end of the Senior Citizen center. It is a locked community and very private, which most of the residents love for the security and comfort it provides.

Having reached the ripe old age of 76, I decided that I didn’t want to shovel a driveway or sidewalks any longer, and I needed the security of a home that wasn’t going to raise my rent every year. So I went to the Evanston Housing Authority (EHA) and was lucky enough to get a two-bedroom unit that had just been vacated. 

As the holiday season approached, I wanted to give recognition to the wonderful people who live in these apartments and are sometimes forgotten. I have found that when I tell some people where I live, they don’t even know The Homestead exists or where it is. So I decided to interview as many of the residents that would agree to share their stories with me. 

On Sunday, Dec. 9, seven of the residents and I gathered in the common room to decorate a tree and have refreshments. We range in age from late 60s to 86, so we were all born or grew to adulthood in post-WWII and the 1950s.

Those born before or during the war came from families who had suffered through the worldwide financial depression of the ’30s and the loss of too many young men in WWII. As children and in young adulthood, we would experience a different atmosphere in the nation from what our parents had grown up in.

The late 1940s and 1950s were a time of renewed prosperity and hope in the U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was a WWII hero and gave the nation a vision of a better world. The emphasis was on rebuilding the nation with strong families. We were a nation that no longer had food or gas rationing.  A phenomenon of mass commercial advertising spread the word that we were now able not only to have daily needs met, but could enjoy luxuries, as well. Housing developments spread and family sizes increased with the post-war baby boom. 

One of the most popular songs of the day was Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas,” and films of the time were all about romance, baseball and returning war heroes. “Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me, till I come marching home,” were lyrics from a top hit of the day. 

I asked my fellow residents about their childhood memories of Christmas and how they felt about their lives now and living at The Homestead. 

Barbara Hager and her husband moved into The Homestead 14 years ago to be near their daughter, who lives in Ft. Bridger. Her husband has since passed away but she has stayed here. Barbara and her husband lived in Montana when their three children were growing up.

Her husband worked for Hormel, and she worked as a waitress. They enjoyed life with their kids.

“We didn’t have a lot of money,” Barbara said, “but when you don’t have much, you don’t expect a lot. I always had a garden for food. The best thing about Christmas is being with family and a 24-hour fruit salad I make.”

Ed Close, musician, author and the expert flower gardener for The Homestead, said his favorite Christmas memory is when he bought his first banjo. He added carvings and inlay to it.

“I call it my ‘folk banjo,’” he said, “because of its mellow sound.”

Ed has no family living close by, so he likes to have hot buttered rum and visit the other residents on Christmas day.

Helen Dorethy was born in Waukeegan, Illinois, and lived in Florida as a child. She and her husband moved into The Homestead 13 years ago. Her husband has since passed on, and she has one daughter who lives in Gunnison, Utah.

“When my husband first suggested we live here, I kicked and screamed and didn’t want to, but now I love it,” Helen said.

She remembers when she was 8 years old, and for Christmas she got a western outfit complete with skirt, blouse, vest, hat, boots and a cap gun. She loved watching dime westerns with Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers. 

Glenna Richins is a familiar face at the senior center, where she volunteers. Her favorite Christmas memory is unique; she told how some of her high school classmates of 1950 would get together on Christmas day and go to each other’s houses and exchange gifts.

Richins moved into The Homestead 17 years ago. She has three children and they all live here in Evanston. She will go to her stepchildren’s homes first and then to her daughter’s for dinner on Christmas day. They spend the day playing board games and playing with the great-grandchildren.

Shirley Pobst is the youngest resident at The Homestead. Shirley recalled a bad memory of a Christmas when she was in junior high and she desperately wanted a clock radio. On Christmas, there was a box under the tree with a clock radio picture on it and her mother let the children pick a box to unwrap first. Shirley kept telling her she wanted the box with the radio on it and her mother kept saying, “No, you don’t want that.” But Shirley insisted.

When she opened the box, she found not a clock radio, but instead, “the ugliest pair of white rubber boots I ever saw. I was so mad, and it ruined the day for me.”

Her favorite tradition at Christmas was when her four children were at home and she would bake a birthday cake and they would all sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. The youngest child would get to blow out the candles.

“We should do that here,” Shirley said with a smile, “I could blow out the candles, as I’m the youngest.” 

Jan Maggard had a wonderful Christmas memory; it was when her father came home from WWII in his uniform. She was 13 years old and so excited to see her father.

“My dad was an architectural engineer who built homes for veterans after the war, and my mom had a gift shop,” Jan said.

She moved to Evanston in her 60s after closing her private practice as a psychologist. Her late husband, Charles Maggard, was from Evanston and he wanted to retire here. A tradition of Jan’s for the holidays is to open gifts on Christmas Eve with her daughter, Mary, and family. Jan’s son-in-law, Ran, fixes a great meal.

“He’s a gourmet cook,” Jan said proudly. She spends Christmas Eve and Christmas day with them. Her favorite Christmas food is fruitcake.

As a child, Shirley Campbell went ice skating and roller skating, but said she never had much of a Christmas. Campbell was reluctant to talk about her childhood. She said the best Christmases were when her nine children were at home and they decorated. Campbell will spend Christmas day reading and being quiet. She loves candy and anything sweet. 

Al Ringle’s Christmas memory is a sad one. When he was 5 years old, he got a wind-up train set. His older cousins were fighting, and one of them stepped over the track, right on his train, and broke it. 

“That was a bad year,” Al said. “That summer I went through a plate-glass door and almost cut two toes off and cut my leg bad.”

Al said that he moved to Evanston because he has four children with their families here and he will go to his oldest son’s home for dinner.

“I love all the traditions of Christmas and keep the joy of the Lord in my heart at all times,” Al said. His favorite food is anything he doesn’t have to cook. 

There are five more residents who live in the Homestead who weren’t available to be interviewed. Some declined and others were out of town. However, I was asked to share my own story with those I interviewed. 

My family moved to Evanston in 1954, and my father, Al, managed the radio station here. My favorite Christmas memory was when we lived in Broken Bow, Nebraska. Like many of the others, we didn’t have a lot of money, but my two younger sisters and I wanted these fat teddy bears and Bonnie Braid dolls (they were from the Dick Tracy comic series).

I don’t know how my mother did it but the three of us each got our bear and doll. My mother and father always made Christmas special for us. We got a book and new homemade pajamas every Christmas, and I have carried that tradition on for my children. As with all holidays, I will spend it with my children and grandchildren. 

I was surprised that so many of the residents have lived here so long and that all of those I interviewed were born in other states. Though we come from different family backgrounds, education, political and religious beliefs, I found that we have much in common. We share the values of a strong work ethic, love of country, love of family and traditions. Plus, we think of each other as an extended family and are willing to lend a hand or a moment of comfort to a fellow resident. The Homestead is a perfect name for this residence.