Room for more care

Home to add space for residents with Alzheimer's

"I've forgotten so much" are four poignant words, given who spoke them.

At 96, long-time Boulder City resident Mary Eaton is wheelchair-bound, but looks well and healthy with her coifed white hair and cheerful, grandmotherly smile. But on the inside, dementia and borderline Alzheimer's disease are taking their toll on Eaton, as with more than half the population over the age of 85, according to the Alzheimer's Research Forum.

The former teacher has former students, now aged in their 60s, come by to visit. Most still call her "Mrs. Eaton." She may not be a "poster child" for the Homestead at Boulder City, where she's lived since the first week the 65-bed facility opened five years ago. But her presence -- and that of the 16 other residents of the Memory Care wing -- underlines the reason why the owner, the Volunteers of America, is in the midst of an expansion project.

ARF statistics indicate over 4 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's, with that number expected to mushroom to more than 15 million in the next few decades as the first baby-boomers start turning 65 in 2011. A recent Gallup Poll reported one in every 10 people has a family member with Alzheimer's, while one in three knows someone with the illness.

Eaton can still recall her early days as a 24-year-old Clearwater, Kan. girl who, along with her husband Bruce, stepped off the train on Independence Day, 1932, in a town that had only recently legalized gambling. Eaton's 70-year-old daughter, Kay Hettinger of Las Vegas, helps her fill in the blanks when it comes to remembering certain facts.

"I said I wouldn't stay one year, but I stayed longer," said Eaton. "I didn't like it at first. It was too hot."

Six months later, the newlyweds moved to Boulder City so Eaton's husband could be closer to his work as a mucker -- a concrete worker -- at then-Boulder Dam.

"When he first came here, he was a laborer and made $4 a day, 50 cents an hour," she said, looking at Hettinger as if asking whether her facts were correct. "It was the only place there was a job. He was a good worker and he was handsome, wasn't he?" She pointed out his pictures in her room.

Hettinger said the Depression Era was hard on the Eatons. Her dad led a pipeline-laying group and was laid off two days before Christmas in 1932 because there was no work. He remained unemployed for six months until opportunity presented itself at the dam site.

About 10 years later, Mary Eaton exchanged her apron for a chalkboard shortly after her husband went off to war.

"I taught school. I taught home economics and third grade," she said. "I preferred third grade. They're so cute and they want to learn."

Eaton joined a number of groups in her earlier years, such as Eastern Star, the Boulder City Hospital Auxiliary and the American Legion Auxiliary. She is a charter member of Grace Community Church.

Hettinger said her father, before leaving for World War II, spearheaded an effort to build an athletic field at Boulder City High School, which, along with other buildings in town, was sold to the city by the federal government for $1. As a result, the Eaton family has been memorialized with the name "Bruce Eaton Field" on the scoreboard.

Strangely, the woman long-known in the community for her teaching and volunteer work doesn't have a building or structure named after her, although two of her good friends, Martha King and Andrew Mitchell, both have elementary schools named after them.

Hettinger said her dad was interesting because he volunteered for the armed forces in December 1942, three weeks before the age cutoff for volunteering.

"He would have been 38 on (Dec. 20), so three weeks before his birthday he enlisted," Hettinger said. "My mom wasn't thrilled about that. When he found out she was uneasy about the enlistment, my father said to her, 'I don't know anybody who has any more to fight for than I do.' "

After all, he not only had Mary and Kay to think about, but Kay's brother, Gary, who was two years older, too.

Before heading to Southern Nevada and the unknown west, Eaton attended Fairmount University, which nobody remembers today because she had a hand in changing the name to Wichita University, which ultimately became Wichita State University.

"We walked door-to-door asking people if they were in favor it," Eaton said.

Her daughter added that at the time, it was a private Congregational Church college that needed financial help. In 1925, Wichita voters shot down a possible takeover, but approved the change a year later, and eventually the state of Kansas assumed control in 1963.

Eaton cooks once a week and is involved in crafts, although she said, "I don't like crafts." After five years at Homestead, she said, "I haven't been here very long" when talking about her experience there.

"When mother first moved here, she lived on the assisted living side and was very active. (She) played bridge," Hettinger explained. "A couple of years ago, she broke her hip and that requires special care, so she moved into the Memory Care wing. It was lovely for us to have a place to transition to just down the hall."

And just down the hall is where the expansion is taking place. Another 12 memory care beds are planned to supplement the already full 17 beds. To accommodate the additional space, the Volunteers of America is undergoing a capital campaign to help fund the necessities of specialized care.

"We're having a fund-raiser breakfast Nov. 9 at 8:30 a.m. in the Boulder Creek Golf Club to help raise money for the tools to do our job for the residents with special needs," said Joyce Brozovich, resident director of the Homestead. "We need things like a special scale, a special handicap van, a whirlpool tub for reducing pain, and other equipment specially tailored for a select group of residents."

The breakfast is free, but reservations must be made by Friday by calling 294-8720.

According to ARF, those with Alzheimer's disease typically suffer from pneumonia or lack of nutrition before they die. ARF also said the disease runs its course anywhere from two to 15 years, with the average at seven years.

Eaton is doing well despite her illness.

"It's sad to see my mother not the person she used to be, but she's a happy person and for me that's all that matters," said Hettinger. "She's happy and she's well cared for. She enjoys getting up each day and the time we spend together is precious. It's not as difficult as I thought it might be because of the circumstances that she enjoys here."


<<--[back]