The variety of our lives: a Commie, a Nazi, and a Warsaw ghetto survivor, right here in Walnut Creek

Over the past couple weeks, I’ve come across current and former residents who have great stories to tell about the wide variety of people who live or once lived in Walnut Creek, even during my lifetime. When I was growing up here, I had the impression (false it turns out) that everyone was white and middle class, and that the most important things about living in suburbia were to come from an outwardly happy family, to be mentally and emotionally well-grounded, and to be popular in school, attractive, and fashionably dressed (what passed for fashion in the '80s). Of course, getting good grades and getting into a good college were also important.

Turns out that many people in Walnut Creek, including yours truly, feel or felt like they didn’t fit into this happy, shiny, conventional picture of suburban success. I'm finding out, to my delight, that we’ve had rebels amongst us, and people who have lived, survived, and thrived through pretty dramatic, difficult, and non-conventional lives.

So, here is a story from Rossmoor friend, Gilbert Doubet—himself a bit of a rabble-rouser, I understand—about some non-conformists in his senior community. (Oh, and the German he describes meeting may not have been a card-carrying member of the Nazi party; he was just a low-level soldier in the World War II Germany army, and, from what I recall of German history, I’m not sure if serving in Hitler’s military automatically made you a Nazi.)

Take it away, Gilbert:

The Value of Nonconformity

The recent passing of two seemingly unrelated residents provides unintended irony as well as parallels in the virtue of nonconformity. It should also remind us of a rare Rossmoor opportunity.

Tice Creek Drive's Les Rodney was sports editor of The Daily Worker, the newspaper of the American Communist Party. Beginning in the 1930s, he championed racial integration of professional baseball. Widespread recognition came to Les only late in life. In 2004, for instance, he featured prominently in a PBS-TV documentary about 1938’s Joe Louis-Max Schmeling boxing match. (SM note: The top photo, from Life magazine photographer Paul Dorsey, shows editors of the Daily Worker in a conference in 1938. This photo shows Max Schmelling and Joe Louis meeting up before their famous fight.)

Like Les Rodney, Zdzislaw “Ziggy” Jarkiewicz was an unprepossessing Rossmoorian. For years, he lived quietly on Rockledge Lane.

A soldier in Poland’s World War II resistance movement, Ziggy was a survivor of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, A tall but unobtrusive man, few here would have guessed of his repeated death-defying wartime exploits.

Ziggy’s recent funeral at the Catholic church outside our gates was packed, not so much with residents as with Polish-Americans. Some were in military uniforms. Some were aging Polish Army veterans festooned in medals and walking with canes.

The memorial lasted over two hours as men and women approached the podium to describe heroic bravery. Many of Ziggy’s eulogizers spoke Polish. As there was no interpreter, most Rossmoorians in attendance could only gaze at the colorful assemblage of historic Polish flags and impressive display of medals on exhibit beside the funeral urn.

In a split image of bygone times almost relegated to history books, these two residents were each minor legends in his own way.

Les Rodney and Ziggy Jarkiewicz exemplify the notable variety of unassuming Rossmoorians living in our midst. They’re reminders of a unique advantage afforded us. Ask an older neighbor about his or her background. Often, the response will be surprising.

Parenthetically, those responses can occasionally be perplexing as well.

Years ago, one man, actually very likeable, with whom I swam nightly at Hillside pool, turned out to be a low-level Nazi soldier. From comments he'd made, I knew his approximate age, that he was from Germany and as a youth had been drafted there. During one of our pool conversations, I inquired about some aspect of his early background. The remarkably well-preserved European exhibited a wizened, world-weary look as though he'd been anticipating the question. His cryptic response: "It's too long a story to go into."

Of course, there are always a few Rossmoor gasbags who won't shut up about their (usually less than stellar) former lives.

More often however, the real treasures are reticent and self-effacing. Take time to scratch the surface, especially of the eldest among us. Many have remarkable accomplishments they’d willingly share.

It usually takes no more than an open-ended question and a show of genuine interest as their story unfolds, With Rossmoor's median age of 78, the sad truth is that many older Rossmoorians rarely encounter folks curious about their lives.

Alcohol abuse in our elderly neighbors: a hidden epidemic

I recently stopped in at the CVS in Rossmoor and found myself in line behind an elderly gentleman buying two 175-mililiter bottles of Popov vodka (on sale for $9.99 each) and an elderly woman buying a 1.5 liter bottle of Merlot (on sale for $5.99), along with thank you cards and milk. This is not at uncommon sight when I occasionally stop in at one of Rossmoor's pharmacies: an elderly person, presumably a resident at the senior community, stocking up on alcohol, usually a discount brand in large bottles.


My Rossmoor friend Gilbert Doubet agrees that what I observed is noted amongst residents themselves:

"Your comment about booze consumers at the local discount drugstores is a commonly exchanged observation in Rossmoor. In the local RiteAid/CVS checkout lines, there’s often a person ahead of me with half a shopping basket full of jumbo size whiskey bottles."

He explains the sad reasons behind his neighbors' use--or misuse--of alcohol:

"Some self-medicate due to loneliness," he writes. They’ve outlived their friends. Oddly, older people have difficulty making new ones, abandonment (by their uninterested or faraway adult children), chronic pain, boredom, an inexplicable disinterest in volunteerism, and a generational prejudice against more benign alternatives like marijuana. Many mix alcohol with meds, then drive around under the influence of both. A surprising proportion drive without licenses."

Doubet says though that "Rossmoor drinking is not as bad as it was 15 years ago when I moved here as a juvenile delinquent."

Google "alcohol abuse and elderly" and you'll come up with a number of articles about what is described as a "hidden" or "unreported epidemic." In this article from the famed Hazeldon addiction treatment center in Minnesota, you can read about a woman in her late 70s who was a teetotoler most of her life, enjoying only an infrequent sip of wine on special occasions. "But after her children moved away and her husband and many of her close friends died, Eva turned to the bottle for escape and compansionship."

The article continues:

Recent census data estimates that nearly 35 million people in the United States are 65 years or older. Substance abuse among those 60 years and older (including misuse of prescription drugs) currently affects about 17 percent of this population. By 2020, the number of older adults with substance abuse problems is expected to double.

As demographics change, attitudes about and use of alcohol and drugs change as well. "In January 2006, the leading edge of the baby-boom generation (those born during the population swell of 1946-1964) will turn 60," said Frederic Blow, professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan and a Huss Research Chair on Older Adults and Alcohol/Drug Problems at Hazelden's Butler Center for Research. "These individuals have had more exposure to alcohol and illegal drugs, and there is more acceptance among them about using substances to ‘cure' things. We expect to see an increase in drug and alcohol use; and more use means more problems."

There are, of course, health risks associated with alcohol abuse among the elderly. Some older people may not be aware that recommended limits are lower than for younger people. Older adults are more sensitive to alcohol and less able to metabolize it, both of which contribute to adverse effects at any level of drinking. Alcohol can exacerbate some medical problems, reduce a person’s ability to function, increase confusion the risk of falls, and negatively interact with medication.

Fortunately, there is growing awareness among the medical community about this issue, and less stigma and shame associated with it. So, if you're an older person and you believe you are imbibing too much, or if you have an older friend and relative about whom you are concerned, there is plenty of information out there about strategies to help.

The Hazeldon article says there is "good evidence" that older adults do as well as young people when it comes to treating substance abuse and that they may even do somewhat better. "Older adults can recognize all kinds of benefit from treatment," stressed Blow, the University of Michigan psychiatrist. "There are often direct health benefits, improved cognition, more independent living, more and better social connectedness, and new hobbies. The benefits are enormous."