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November/December

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2014

Milton Kleinberg

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Being Betty The Betty Club

An Omaha Christmas Story Department Store Dreams

Are You Ready for Senior Living? november/december â€˘ 2014

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Seeing the Big Picture Happy Holidays to All!

S A CHILD GROWING up, my immediate

family celebrated on Christmas Eve. Then we’d tuck ourselves into warm beds, visions of sugarplums still dancing, knowing that the arrival of a Christmas dawn meant an even larger celebration the following day with the extended clan. My husband and I continued that tradition when our boys were growing up and we continue it to this day. It is great to see all of the children and grandchildren…and it also sets the perfect stage for family photography. The cousins have remained close. Now as young adults, they continue our family’s ways by planning their own photo shoots. The one shown below is just one example…my favorite.

Happy Holidays!

Contents

volume 2 • issue 6 Bikers with Bells Ringing in the Season_________ S5 Being Betty Remembering Names is Not a Problem for This Club_____ S7

Gwen

Kay Brown

Gwen Lemke Contributing Editor, 60PLUS In Omaha

CPR Essentials

Cowgirl Tough______________ S9

Tips Everyone Should Know_____S11 Milton Kleinberg Holocaust Survivor___________S14 An Omaha Christmas Story Department Store Dreams______S16 Are You Ready for Senior Living?_____S19 Battling for Veterans Know Your Benefits_________ S20

The Lemke Nine: Chad, Danielle, Miles, Sarah, Mitchell, Morgan, Alex, Casey, and Will.

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60PLUS feature by judy horan • photography by bill sitzmann

Bikers With Bells ringing in the season

HRISTMAS MEANS SALVATION ARMY red ket-

tles swinging, bells ringin… and volunteers in biker gear and Santa hats. Navy veteran Bob Swanson is one of the Salvation Army’s most faithful bell ringers. For 10 years, he has rounded up a group of fellow motorcyclists to ring bells at the entrance to Dillon Brothers Harley Davidson in Omaha. The riders share the holiday spirit in their own unique way. “We wear our biker’s gear with leather vests along with Santa hats,” Swanson says. “And some of us hand candy canes to the kids.” > november/december• 2014

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60PLUS feature < All are members of the American Legion Riders. That big guy in the Santa hat vigorously ringing a bell might have spent time in a war zone in Vietnam or Korea. The younger man saying “thank you” may have recently returned from Iraq. People seem to be more motivated to donate to the Salvation Army when donating through a veteran, Swanson says. “One lady said she always feels good donating to the Salvation Army, and the fact that it’s veterans who are bell ringing made it even better.” Swanson formed the chapter of American Legion Riders for Omaha Post 1 in 2005. Members are veterans, veterans’ spouses, or veterans’ adult children who ride motorcycles. Men and women who are American Legion Riders represent all branches of the military with a wide spread of ages. The chapter has about 55 members. Not all who donate are motorcyclists. Some stop to drop money into the kettle as they enter the store to buy a collar with a Harley Davidson logo for their dog. Or maybe they have their eye on a bib with the logo for their baby’s first Christmas. “It’s fun to watch the kids. They see this big, ugly biker standing there and are a little intimidated,” Swanson says. “One of our members is Santa Claus size and last year when bell ringing he wore a Santa suit.” Ringing bells for the Salvation Army is a good fit for the American Legion, he says. “It involves the community, and that’s one of the primary tenets of the American Legion.” After retiring from Physicians Mutual Insurance Co. where he was a vice president, Swanson, who is 72, donned a uniform and joined other military veterans to form an American Legion color guard. They perform at funerals, parades and various functions. “I had always been moved when I saw family reactions to military funerals. It is the final opportunity to show respect for someone who served our country,” he says. “One of the main things we have to do is keep the public aware of sacrifices that go along with military service.” Swanson will lead members of American Legion Riders as bell ringers at the entrance to Dillon Brothers Harley Davidson near 174th and Maple streets each Saturday prior to Christmas starting November 8. By the way, you don’t have to be a motorcyclist to ring bells. Visit RingOmaha.org to learn about volunteering. S6 60PLUS

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60PLUS active living by anthony flott • photography by bill sitzmann

Being Betty Remembering names is not a problem for this club.

Betty Winther

ETTY WINTHER WAS NAMED

for her grandmother. Betty Chin got her name because it was easy for her Chinese immigrant father to pronounce. No matter—both are in the club. The Betty Club, that is. For more than a decade, Bettys from across metropolitan Omaha have been gathering on the third Friday of each month, eating lunch, shooting the breeze and keeping things lively, just because they’re all…Bettys. “It’s just been so much fun,” Winther says. “Some of us are middle class, some are upper class, but it makes no difference.” Everyone’s a Betty. The group formed in 2001, Winther says, by a few Bettys who had been attending a Betty Club in Fremont. The Omaha chapter has grown slowly but steadily since, now numbering about 15 members. Dues are $12 a year—mostly to cover postcard mailings reminding the Bettys where the next lunch is. If funds are available at the end of the year the Bettys will buy cookies and take them to veterans around Christmas. And once a year they join other Betty Clubs for a state convention. About 100 Bettys often attend. “They’re talking about maybe having one in western Nebraska,” Winther says. “We thought we’d get a bus from here out to there.” > november/december • 2014

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60PLUS feature < At their monthly luncheons, held at various restaurants, they mostly use last names to refer to each other. There are games and plenty of chatter. “We share about our lives and what’s going on,” Winther says. “We talk about all kinds of things, from current events to things that happened years ago. We never are at a loss of what to talk about.” Some Bettys discover the club by word of mouth. “We keep our ears open,” says Winther, who got a Betty to join after meeting her at a jewelry sale. Betty Chin joined in 2008 at the suggestion of the owner of her spa (not a Betty herself). “I’m the youngest one,” Chin says, without divulging her age. “They like to see me because I’m the young one. I bring energy.” Winther, 83, says they’d love to get some young blood. “We’d be very happy to find a 20-year-old to join us,” Winther says with a laugh. “It’s so neat to get somebody new and to hear about them and talk with them. “We have to have somebody new all the time to keep going.” There aren’t too many 20-year-old Bettys around, though. Winther was born in 1931—one of 300,335 Bettys named such that decade, according to a count by the Social Security Administration. That made it the second most popular name in that 10-year stretch. But by the 1970s, Betty wasn’t among the 200 most popular names and hasn’t been on the list since. But the Bettys are hopeful. “We keep saying it’s going to come back some time,” Winther says. Mary is the gold standard for names with a whopping 3.6 million of them in the last 100 years. But despite the dearth of Bettys in the past two generations, Betty is 14th most popular with a count of nearly one million. That’s a lot of Bettys. The group will consider Elizabeths as members if they go by Betty. Maybe even a Betsy, Winther says. In general, though, “We kind of want to keep things Betty,” says Chin. That’s what Bettys do.

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60PLUS active living by jason kuiper • photography by bill sitzmann

Kay Brown cowgirl tough

NIMAL LOVER AND VOLUNTEER Kay Brown isn’t one

to shy away from hard work. Her busy life includes her job of working with disadvantaged teens, her yoga classes, her volunteer hours for the Nebraska Humane Society, and her horses. Brown loves all animals, but one look around her rural Omaha home and visitors know which animal reigns supreme in her heart—the majestic horse. Of course. “Yeah it doesn’t take long to know this lady loves horses,” Brown says referring to her living room. A quick glance around and you see horse pictures, horse lamps, horse statues, a horse calendar… oh, and by the front door is the obligatory horse riding equipment. Yes, Kay Brown is serious about her horses. > november/december • 2014

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< She currently has two horses. One is hers and the other is a rescue horse that she is working to rehabilitate. Brown first caught the horse bug when she was a young girl growing up on a farm outside of Flandreau, S.D. An older sister had a horse and Brown first started helping out and doing chores to care for the animal. It was then that she developed her work ethic. “Being the youngest, I pretty much got all the jobs at the bottom of the rung,” she said. Nowadays, Brown is used to being tapped to do, well, just about anything. Early on at the first International Omaha, a world-class, worldwide horse jumping competition held each year at the CenturyLink Center Omaha, Brown became the go-to person for those in need. “Kay can you...” was heard early and often there. Brown takes it all in stride and has the rare yet highly sought gift of always keeping her cool. Her jobs at the International have included giving tours to school kids and groups. She loves dealing with all the youngsters, especially the ones whose attention spans tend to drift. “I’m right there with them. I think they’re great,” she said of some of the groups. Other times she’s playing chauffeur, taking out-of-towners around the city during their stay. Or she’ll just make the rounds to the S10 60PLUS

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different stalls, checking to see what the riders and their crews might need, fulfilling any last-minute requests for items that may have been forgotten or misplaced. “It’s all different but I love it all,” she says. “It’s pretty much go, go for four days, 24 hours.” And then there’s the job Brown often finds herself doing that isn’t for the sensitive of stomach or smell. With a sturdy “muck rake” Brown gets down and dirty and starts to shovel the...horse doo-doo. “There’s a lot of it,” she says. “A single horse can produce 50 pounds a day.” It’s a job that not everyone would be able to tackle with aplomb, but Brown does. “I come from a family where you just help people,” Brown says with enthusiasm. All the help and work also have a side benefit for the diminutive Brown. She stays in fantastic shape. A former fitness instructor and Tai Chi practitioner, Brown is becoming more “seasoned” rather than aging. Working with horses, doing chores, Brown isn’t going soft. Don’t believe her? She’ll tell you to poke a finger at her rock-hard obliques. “That’s from a lot of raking, a lot of throwing hay,” she says, explaining how she stays so fit. “It’s cross fit on the farm.”.

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60PLUS feature by susan meyers

CPR Essentials The life you save will likely be a loved one’s.

CCORDING TO THE AMERICAN Heart Asso-

ciation (AHA), for every minute a cardiac arrest victim goes without life-saving CPR and defibrillation, the chances of survival decreases 7 to 10 percent. Learning the basics of CPR is especially vital for seniors. The statistics are frightening: About 92 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital. “But if more people knew CPR, more lives could be saved,” says Jennifer Redmond, executive director of the AHA. “Immediate CPR can double, or even triple, a victim’s chance of survival. What most people don’t realize, is that almost 80 percent of cardiac arrests occur at home. So most likely, the life you save will be that of a loved one.” Several years ago, the AHA issued guidelines for hands-only CPR, hoping that this would encourage the use of CPR among bystanders. “Hands-Only CPR is recommended for

use by people who see a teen or adult suddenly collapse in an “out-of-hospital” setting such as at home, at work, or in a park,” explains Redmond. “In a national survey, Americans who had not been trained in CPR within the past five years said they would be more likely to perform hands-only CPR than conventional CPR on a teen or adult who collapses suddenly.” However, there are times when conventional CPR with rescue breathing may provide more benefit than hands-only CPR. The AHA recommends CPR with a combination of breaths and compressions for all infants up to age 1; children up to puberty; anyone found already unconscious and not breathing normally; any victims of drowning, drug overdose, collapse due to breathing problems, or prolonged cardiac arrest. To administer chest compressions correctly, place the heel of your hand in the middle of the chest on the breastbone between the nipples. Put your other hand on top of the first with your fingers interlaced. Compress

the chest at least two inches at a rate of 100 compressions per minute. Haysam Akkad, MD, an interventional cardiologist at The Nebraska Medical Center, stresses the use of hard, fast chest compressions, which keeps the blood circulating to vital organs. “You want to see the chest wall moving up and down,” he says. He also recommends that you always start CPR immediately and then call for help. Chest compressions should continue until help arrives. If an AED is close by, use that instead of CPR, he says. Sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of cardiovascular death and is not the same as a heart attack. Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when electrical impulses in the heart become rapid or chaotic, which causes the heart to suddenly stop beating. A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to part of the heart muscle is blocked. A heart attack may cause cardiac arrest. Currently, only about 41 percent of cardiac arrest victims get CPR from a bystander. november/december • 2014

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60PLUS feature by leo adam biga • photography by bill sitzmann

Milton Kleinberg Omaha resident who survived little-known chapter of Holocaust history releases new edition of his memoir. S14 60PLUS

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S A CHILD IN Poland, Milton

Kleinberg got caught up in a little known chapter of the Holocaust when he and his family were among Jews exiled to Soviet labor camps. The forced journey took them from occupied Poland to the siege at Stalingrad to the vast wastelands of Siberia. To be uprooted, thousands of miles from home, was awful, but it also meant being beyond the reach of death camps. The 77-year-old native of Poland and longtime Omaha resident endured many hardships. Forced to travel on foot and by train, he was confined to warehouses, barracks, and institutions. He witnessed starvation, disease, suicides, beatings, executions. He weathered illness, injuries, predators. The epic ordeal spanned thousands of miles and many years. He experienced things no child should face. To defend himself and others he took actions no one should have to take. His saga continued after the war in displaced person (DP) camps. After reinventing himself in Milwaukee, he went years not saying anything about his odyssey, not even to his wife and children. After moving to Omaha in his middle-years he still kept quiet. Keeping silent is not uncommon among the survivor community, for whom the trauma of loss is difficult to relive. “When I came to America I made a pledge to myself I was going to put this behind me, that I was not going to dwell on the past, and that I was going to start a new life,” Kleinberg says. “My whole attitude was that the past was the past and I didn’t care to look back.” Then circumstances conspired to break his silence. His grandchildren visited Holocaust sites and pestered him with questions. In applying for Social Security benefits he discovered his birthdate was different than what he thought it was. A genealogical search turned up two step-sisters, with whom he shared a father. The women posed more questions. Always alert to anti-Semitism and to events in Israel, which he’s visited several times, he’s grown concerned by the rise of militant,

extremist elements around the world. Finally, he decided, he should recount his story. In 2010 he self-published Bread or Death. He gave it to friends and relatives as well as clients of his successful business, Senior Market Sales Inc., which employs more than 170 people. This past year he expanded the book with the help of professionals, including Institute for Holocaust Education staff who developed a teacher’s guide, a glossary, study questions, and historical background sections. IHE develops Holocaust curriculum for schools state-wide. Released in August, the new edition is available to schools and youth-serving organizations as an educational tool. IHE executive director Liz Feldstern says Kleinberg’s made a valuable contribution to understanding the Holocaust survivor experience. “Bread or Death adds another important voice to understanding a narrative that affected millions of people in millions of different ways,” Feldstern says. “Anne Frank has become the voice of those who went into hiding. Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi are the voices of Auschwitz. Gerda Weissman Klein is the voice of the death march. Hadassah Rosensaft is the voice of the DP camps. Perhaps Milt Kleinberg will be the voice of those deported to Soviet labor camps.” The memoir completes an obligation Milt felt to himself and his family. “I wrote the book as a legacy for my children, grandchildren, and siblings that were born after the war,” he says. “Everyone had bits of information on what happened during the war. I was the only one with all the pieces

of information. I could connect all the dots. So, I have written it all down.” “Milt has fulfilled his responsibility admirably to share his story and break a lifetime of silence so that others can learn from that history…and hopefully not repeat it,” Feldstern says. Though reticent most of his life about his own experience, he’s never shied from confronting anti-Semitism. While residing in Milwaukee he actively opposed a neoNazi group there through the Concerned Jewish Citizens of Wisconsin, a group he helped form. “We decided we were going to respond to the Nazis rather than stand silent or lay down. Some of us had learned hard, tragic lessons and sacrificed far too much to allow these haters to get a foothold in our city, in our neighborhood.” It wasn’t the first time he stood up. He and his wife, Marsha, co-hosted a Milwaukee radio program. They bought the air-time for themselves in order to present and comment on Jewish news. His book is a cautionary tale of what occurred as the world slept. It may help ensure another holocaust doesn’t happen in this new era of hate. “After what happened to me and my family and to millions of Jews in the war, I simply would not keep silent about things I perceived to be wrong.” Ultimately, Bread or Death is a testament to how a life well-lived is more powerful than any retribution. november/december • 2014

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60PLUS faces by judy horan photography provided by the nebraska state historical society

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An Omaha Christmas Story Department Store Dreams

HEN BILL EUSTICE FIRST saw the movie

A Christmas Story, he thought, “I’ve been there. That’s me.” Just like Ralphie in the classic holiday movie, Bill Eustice as a child was enthralled by a department store at Christmas. His store was Brandeis in downtown Omaha in the 1950s. The anticipation of seeing Brandeis store windows light up for the holidays kept Eustice and his mother anxiously driving up and down 16th Street. They were waiting. And waiting. Hoping to see the beautiful window displays finally appear. It was a major event in Omaha at the time. “We drove around weekends until the day they were revealed,“ he says. “Brandeis was so secretive about it.” > november/december • 2014

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< Finally the day arrived. Eustice thinks it may have been right before Thanksgiving. Crowds formed to see inside the five windows. The brightly lit displays were left burning all night. Eustice remembers mechanical Santas and reindeer in motion in the window displays. He became wide-eyed seeing a toy train run around and around. “All the time, kids would be in front of the store, looking at the windows, gawking,” he says. “The windows got more elaborate as time went on over the years.” Even today when he walks by the windows of the downtown Brandeis building just a few blocks from the law office where he is an attorney, memories come rushing back. “It was a magical childhood. Everything was still new,” says Eustice. A visit to Santa Claus and his elves was another highlight. “It was kind of scary. Some kids cried.” He says it’s an era that no longer exists. “Today you go to a shopping center, it’s just a small segment of the mall. Whereas with Brandeis, the whole store was magical.” He remembers that his first ride on an escalator was at Brandeis. Escalators were something of a novelty at the time. Now when he visits the Brandeis building—which closed as a department store in 1980—he spots the same Romanesque pillars that fascinated him when he was a boy. “And the Art Deco elevators haven’t changed.” There was Toyland, a wonderland. “I used to hang around the toy department while my mom shopped,” he says. And restaurants. “The basement had a restaurant called Hamburger Heaven. I thought it was a great name and still is for a kid.” At times, he would go with his mother to her favorite Brandeis restaurant, The Tea Room, the “place to be” at the time. With six restaurants in the building, Brandeis fed 10,000 people a day and most likely more during the holiday season. The wonderland that was Brandeis at Christmastime is a memory Eustice will never forget. “As a kid, you were seeing everything in black and white on TV,” he says. “Then you went downtown and saw those colorful displays. “Life was simpler back then. Everything looked like Leave it to Beaver.”

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to Dixie Quicks in Council Bluffs providing the for cover-shoot location.

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60PLUS senior living by claire martin

Are You Ready for Senior Living?

AVE EVERYDAY TASKS BECOME difficult for you? Do

you feel afraid and anxious and aren’t sure why? Maybe it’s time to consider the big question you’ve been avoiding—an assisted living community. Some of the common experiences cited above may indicate it’s time to move onto senior living. Let’s look at a checklist that may help you collect your thoughts before we allay your fears by debunking some of the myths associated with senior living. Check to see if you experience any of the following conditions frequently: • Difficulty keeping up with household chores and maintenance. • Difficulty providing food and nutrition for yourself without someone else’s help. • Forgetting to take medications, or taking the wrong amounts. • Difficulty in everyday living activities such as bathing, shopping, driving, dressing, cooking, and laundry. • Discomfort or fear leaving the house or taking transportation. • Receiving bruises, scratches and other injuries easily after falling. • Anxiety about falling with no one there to help. • Finding yourself lost or “wandering.” • Feeling isolated from social activities with friends your age. • Difficulty with intrusive feelings of depression, anxiety, and fear. • Difficulty remembering people and places that were once familiar. • Experiencing such safety problems as leaving stoves and coffeepots on.

myths about senior living MYTH: Assisted living is the same as nurs-

ing homes.

TRUTH: Assisted living is designed on the idea of independent living. It’s the way you would live in your home, but with custodial care, light housekeeping, and help in daily activities. In assisted living, you can browse unique communities and choose your own independent apartment or condo with your own conditions and furnishings. By contrast, nursing homes provide round-the-clock medical attention to patients who need a great deal of help with everyday living, or who have cognitive or physical impairments that prevent them from living daily life comfortably. MYTH: I’ll lose my independence if my family moves me into a “home.” TRUTH: With the right assisted living community, your privacy and autonomy will be maintained in your independent residence, with most communities offering you a choice of your own living options and conditions. MYTH: I’ll have to give up hobbies like gardening, shopping, and cooking. TRUTH: The fact of the matter is that most seniors are more active in senior living than

they are living independently. Many communities provide facilities for various hobbies with additional fitness programs, book clubs, and other fun and games. MYTH: I’ll be depressed living away from home. TRUTH: Most assisted living communities are designed in the form of small towns, or even spa resorts. And while homesickness is a qualm in any move, assisted living homes are created in the form of tightly knit communities where social interaction is key. MYTH: You can’t host social events or see friends and family. TRUTH: On the contrary, in many assisted living homes, hosting social events is encouraged. Visiting hours are as you set them to be, while your family members can come and go as they would if you were living at home. MYTH: You can’t own pets. TRUTH: Absolutely untrue! Almost all assisted living communities allow cats. Dogs up to a certain size are usually permitted and leash requirements vary. Additionally, many assisted living facilities have friendly community cats and dogs with which to bond. november/december • 2014

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60PLUS faces by anna hensel •

photography by bill sitzmann

David Olney

Battling for Veterans Do you know all of the benefits to which you are entitled?

S MEMBERS OF THE Greatest Generation, today’s military veterans were drilled

about the value of discipline. While discipline is often synonymous with a do-ityourself attitude, when it comes to receiving their military benefits, those who have served also need to have the discipline to make sure they are receiving all of the benefits entitled to them from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Care advocate David Olney is one of the people fighting on the front lines to make sure veterans are doing just that. “A majority of seniors have worked very hard in their lifetime, especially veterans,” says Olney. “And their legacy is the hard work they’ve done and are passing on to their heirs. A part of that legacy is taking advantage of the things that they have accomplished during their lifetime and are eligible for, and I think that’s very important.”

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november/december • 2014

Under the VA, there are two types of disability income benefits available for veterans who served on active duty—pension and compensation. The pension program benefits are tied to disabilities that are not service-related, while compensation benefits are tied to disabilities that are service-related. No matter what kind of benefits veterans or their family members are looking to apply for, Olney says to start early. Benefits-seekers can either go to an accredited agent, such as Olney, or to their local VA county service officer. In the case of Douglas County residents, that would be Bernie Brosnihan. Both Olney and Brosnihan say their consultations last about 60-90 minutes. From there, Olney will send clients to their local VA office to fill out the necessary paperwork. Brosnihan says that once the initial claim is filed, it usually takes about six months to hear back from the state VA office. With a multitude of different pension income benefits available, and different qualifications for each, it’s important that veterans turn to someone who is VA accredited to maximize their potential pension or compensation benefits. “Let’s take a veteran whose 70% disabled, Says Olney. “He turns 70, so he could now be considered unemployable, and that automatically makes him 100% disabled. There are many examples like that where we automatically see an increase in benefits. Unless you stop by and visit your veteran’s service officer every year, you aren’t going to see this.” Additionally, it’s not just veterans who should be checking in. Widows and widowers of veterans can be eligible to receive death pension or dependents indemnity compensation (DIC). Sons and daughters who act as caretakers for their veteran parent can also receive payment through an aid and attendance allowance for disabled veterans. Both Brosnihan and Olney agree that, no matter what information veterans might have heard or been told about, it is their responsibility to take advantage of them, and not ignore them. “World War II veterans in particular had this attitude of bucking up,” says Brosnihan. “So many of these people missed out on benefits they could have gotten.” For questions about their benefits eligibility, veterans can contact the Douglas County Veterans’ Service Office at 402-444-7180.