Published: December 18, 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 Christina (Tina) Graf
Even though Tina Graf’s mother called Kendal home for a decade, Tina never considered moving to the life plan community. Upon hearing there would be a Kendal at Oberlin, her father, an Oberlin alum, had said, “Never another northern Ohio winter!” and she knew she was his daughter.
Then two conversations in 2016 changed her mind.
The first was with then 99-year-old Kendal resident Jean a dear friend of her mother Ruth Graf, who had died in 2004. “Living at Kendal is like being in graduate school,” commented Jean.
The second conversation was with Liz Burgess, who served on Kendal’s Board of Directors and for years owned Ginko Gallery in Oberlin. Liz said Kendal would be her top choice for a retirement community if she could afford it.
As Tina, who was living in Georgia at the time, pondered a move to Kendal, she could only come up with one drawback: “The Weather!” But she decided the many positives outweighed the one negative and moved to Kendal in 2017.
Her Oberlin College roots
Tina knows a thing or two about Ohio winters after spending four years at Oberlin College (1970-1974) and hearing about winters from her parents and grandparents, all Oberlin College graduates, and later her niece, who graduated in 2012. (A nephew will graduate in 2027.)
Her connections to the college are varied, both before and since moving to Kendal. As an organizational and change consultant, Tina worked with the college’s Alumni Association on its strategic plan in 2013-14.
This year she served as class president for the 1974 OC reunion, after preparing 18 months for the busy May weekend.
Currently, Tina is on the planning committee for IntergenConnect!, a grassroots gathering of 10 Kendal residents and 10 first-year OC students. The first gathering in November served as an icebreaker with students and residents sharing information about themselves, such as favorite foods and activities they enjoy.
“20 out of 20 participants said ‘Yes,’ they would like to meet again!” she says with satisfaction.
Plans for the February meeting are still being finalized by the committee, which also includes residents Ann Francis and Bill Long, three students and AJ Johnson, the college’s Intergroup Dialogue Coordinator. “We’re making it up as we go,” she says.
On the Go
It’s not that Tina plans to be away from Kendal every three weeks or so, but often it works out that way. She enjoys traveling to visit family and friends throughout the country, as well as trips abroad, especially to Paris.
Over the years her consulting work took her to 10 different countries, including France, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Bali, Jordan, Guinea, and Kazakhstan. (She is in the process of wrapping up her consulting business Flourish!)
Also on her front burner is gardening. She maintains two gardens at her cottage, growing mostly flowers and a few vegetables.
“Garden and traveling are my priorities. While someday I’ll take a class at Oberlin College, right now my life is full!”
