Published: November 21, 2024
Kendal at Oberlin is home to more than 300 people in their 60s and well beyond. They come from near (Oberlin and Cleveland) and far (Hawaii, Canada and elsewhere). The residents share many common values, such as sustainability and lifelong learning, and many have ties to Oberlin College. But each resident has his or her own unique story.
Meet Dan Wright
A house on a 7-acre lot brought Dan Wright and his partner Therese Spellacy to Oberlin 15 years ago. Therese died in 2021, and a year later Dan attended an open house at Kendal. Soon after he became a Kendal Priority Member and joined its weekly Saturday morning walking group.
“I started meeting people at Kendal and everybody was so interesting and so positive about Kendal. I liked that Kendal is gay friendly, progressive, open-minded. I had a good feeling I would be comfortable here,” says Dan, who moved to Kendal in May.
His early impressions were right on, he says. Though not a musician or professor, he feels right at home with the many residents who are. He’s an avid birdwatcher and appreciates the natural surroundings and emphasis on nature.
“As a single person I wondered how it would work in the dining room. They sit you with other people, who are all so welcoming, so I never eat alone,” he says.
During the annual Fourth of July parade Dan was impressed to see a block of 14 residents, all former Peace Corps volunteers.
“That’s the kind of people who live here,” he says.
And now that he is no longer a homeowner, he has more time to enjoy his lifelong passion for reading.
Speaking of books
A native Ohioan, Dan attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and fell in love with New England.
For six years he owned a Little Professor bookstore near Bowdoin College in Maine, a job he greatly enjoyed. “The customers were all interesting people. I was not into fantasy or romance books, but it was so interesting to get to know customers who were,” he says.
Unfortunately, the advent of big bookstore chains such as Borders forced Dan to close the store in 1995 and he returned to Ohio, specifically Cleveland, where he bought and fixed up rental property.
Dan and Therese knew little about Oberlin when they moved there in 2010. They were looking for a house with “elbow room” and near family. “We didn’t take advantage of all that the college and city had to offer. We liked being home together,” he says.
Dan wondered how he would feel about moving from a 3-bedroom house on 7 acres to a 1-bedroom apartment. “I loved that house for the 10 years we were there, but it was so liberating to downsize. And I’m not missing the yardwork at all. I feel so good being here,” he says.
While Kendal is lots of committees, Dan is more drawn to activities such as helping a neighbor walk her dog, driving a resident to the airport and hanging artwork for a project.
“I’m not sitting home much,” he says.
He has weekly dinners with Therese’s two daughters and their husbands, and enjoys taking long road trips to visit family and friends. He’s the first one of his crowd to move to a retirement community and expects a cousin or two will someday follow, whether to Kendal or elsewhere.
As Dan says, “The socialization with people – you can’t put a price on that.”
