When Jim and Joy Patton decided it was time to move from a 55-plus community, they chose Jenner’s Pond. The couple was looking for a continuing care retirement community, with personal care, healthcare and wellness programs, as well as any other assistance they might need. They moved into a cottage here in July 2020, just a few months after the start of the pandemic.
“Jenner’s Pond had a lot—like location,” says Jim. The couple had been living in Avondale. “And we had experience with the community through the craft club and volunteering.”
“It’s so nice that flu shots and COVID shots were arranged for you. You don’t need to work it out for yourself—it’s just done,” says Joy. “We’re very happy here.”
Meeting cute and making a family
Jim and Joy grew up not far from each other. “We went to different high schools together, meaning we used to take the bus at the same bus stop to different schools,” explains Joy, who went to Lansdowne Aldan High before studying art at Kutztown State College (now Kutztown University). Jim, two years her senior, studied business management at the University of Pennsylvania—the first member of his family to go to college.
After college, Jim saw Joy in the parking lot of the Penn Pines Shopping Center and arranged to meet. In a scene out of Happy Days, they hung out at a corner drugstore with a soda fountain. They were married in 1965 and moved to a home near Riddle Hospital. They lived there for 35 years and had three children. Jim worked in supply chain management for Southco, Inc. until 2001. Joy was an art teacher at Sharon Hill School and then stayed home to raise the kids. She believes that having happy and successful, caring children is one of her greatest accomplishments, and their births and the births of their five grandchildren are among the couple’s happiest memories.
“We were active in the Riddlewood community,” says Jim, who started a soccer team and coached. Joy was an illustrator for the Riddlewood News. Their kids were active in school. The community swim club was a hub of their activities. In the summers, the young family would join 40-members of their extended families on a vacation to Fenwick Island, Delaware. They also took the kids to Wyoming. Later, the couple traveled to Europe, including four trips to Italy, trips to England, Scotland, Ireland and Holland, and a river cruise from Vienna to Budapest. They cruised the Caribbean and visited the Canadian Rockies.
Staying active in a supportive environment
After Jim retired, the couple moved to a 55-plus community with a golf course, and they stayed active. Over time, they also got to know Jenner’s Pond very well. Joy participated in the annual craft show at Jenner’s Pond and, and she often met Jenner’s Pond residents when she was at the nearby Jennersville YMCA. Jim was involved with a service organization that met at Jenner’s Pond every Thursday, so he was familiar with an important aspect of retirement community living: dining services. All that helped make Jenner’s Pond an easy choice.
Since they’ve moved in, they’ve stayed active and deepened their connections. Joy still does water aerobics at the Y. She’s also a Sabian astrologist who does charts for other people, and she makes flower arrangements for those in the Ruston assisted living residence in the spring and at Christmastime. She has won first place in the pumpkin decorating competition two out of the three Halloweens that she has lived here. Jim is active in the Rail Riders pool club. He also enjoys Wii bowling and real bowling off campus.
They believe it’s all part of aging well. “Keep active, laugh and take vitamins,” they counsel. “Move to a CCRC. That really does help!”
Call us today at 610-869-6800 or submit the form below to see for yourself why Jim & Joy and other seniors choose Jenner’s Pond for retirement living.