Life after retirement: Westminster residents share unique stories
Westminster retirement community in Austin.
AUSTIN, Texas - Westminster was founded in 1967 as Austin's first continuing care retirement community.
The residents say they, of course, enjoy the amenities and their proximity to vital needs in the neighborhood, but they are also showing how the work you do and connections continue no matter the age.
What they're saying:
LOYAL FOREVER: Austin High alumni reunions
Austin High grads reunite in retirement community
As graduation season continues, Austin High’s "Loyal Forever" tradition is resonating with some residents at Westminster, an Austin retirement community. FOX 7 Austin's Digital Lead Donny Wong shares how the phrase carries decades of meaning and memories.
Westminster is home to more than 50 graduates of Austin High School.
The alumni's graduating classes range from the 1940s through the 1960s and the former Maroons get together regularly and reminisce and reconnect for reunions in the community.
Cynthia Leach, Class of '66, helped get the reunions started and says they recently had their fourth at Westminster.
Russ Butler and Carlene Jenkins, both Class of '55, have known each other their entire lives basically having gone to elementary school, Austin High and then University of Texas together before reconnecting in retirement.
Civic involvement and nonprofit leadership
Two of Westminster's residents are showing that the work doesn't stop even in their 80s.
Judi Nudelman: Breaking barriers in STEM
Former IBM pioneer Judi Nudelman reflects on a career of firsts, personal challenges, and founding Women in Neuroscience to empower the next generation of women in STEM.
Judi Nudelman began her career in 1962 as a systems engineer and built a multi-decade career before retiring.
Nudelman founded Women in Neuroscience in 2018, a nonprofit which partners with the University of Texas at Austin and Dell Medical School, and it has helped place more than 100 students into paid neuroscience research and clinical internships.
The nonprofit was founded following Nudelman's caregiving for her late husband, Harvey, who was a neuroscientist. Harvey died of a rare neurological disease and the work Judi does helps to honor him.
Robbie Ausley: A life of activism
From school reform to women’s rights, Robbie Ausley has spent decades fighting for justice — and says she’s not done yet. FOX 7 Austin's Donny Wong has her story.
Robbie Ausley is a long-time Austin civic leader whose work has centered on faith-based service, church leadership, reproductive health advocacy and community involvement.
Ausley has been active for decades within the United Methodist Church, including participation in national leadership discussions.
She continues her volunteer service and intergenerational engagement.
Veterans at Westminster
Former military nurse on life & Vietnam War
Westminster was founded in 1967 and was Austin's first continuing care retirement community. More than 70 veterans call it home. FOX 7 Austin's Donny Wong and Libbi Farrow spoke to Westminster's only female veteran resident.
Former military nurse Jean Youngstrom Diebolt served during the Vietnam War. She was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps and was stationed at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base from 1969-70.
After returning from Vietnam, Diebolt continued her medical career and led efforts to establish healthcare clinics in rural East Texas communities, serving uninsured and underserved populations.
Diebolt is the only female veteran at Westminster currently of the more than 70 on the community's veterans board.
The Source: Information from interviews with Cynthia Leach, Russ Butler, Carlene Jenkins, Judi Nudelman, Robbie Austley, and Jean Diebolt.