John Demarse is a very strong man.  He worked on his family farm and a potato farm, lifting 50 pound bags of potatoes as if they were bags of cotton. He was a talented woodworker, and was in charge of maintenance at Beekmantown Central School. He used to lift his wife, Ducy over his head as if she weighed nothing. John Demarse was a strong man. As I sit across from him now, I can still see the strength in his presence. His doting daughter, Joy sits next to him looking lovingly at her father. Though he is now 93 >> More

First and foremost, to tell this particular story was more difficult than the previous stories we’ve shared. Joe, Mary, June and Larry’s stories were easy to write and share because it was easy for them to share personal things about themselves. Ms. Verda Waterhouse, our next Age-In-Place Project participant, was different.  You see, Ms. Waterhouse is probably one of the warmest and friendliest individuals I’ve come across. Always “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed” as my mom used to say, she greets you with a smile and laughs easily, but when it came to asking her about her life, she was a tad >> More