With retirement comes plenty of time to grow a beloved hobby into something more. That’s just what two local retirees did when they threw themselves wholeheartedly into pursuing their passions.
[arts advocate]
Lynn Hamilton found a way to combine her previous careers as the owner of Brentwood Gallery and organizer of social group services for older adults into one venture: Maturity and its Muse. She founded the nonprofit in 2009, just a few years before retiring to work on the venture full-time. Focused on productive aging through the arts, Maturity and its Muse hosts a variety of art-related events around town, often collaborating with local organizations.
The goal of the free programs, which include art exhibits, movie screenings, music performances and interactive experiences, is to inspire and facilitate seniors’ participation in the arts and enhance their quality of life. “The arts can keep you young in many ways,” Hamilton says. Some of the events are geared toward those with Alzheimer’s or dementia.
Afterward, caregivers often will call Hamilton and tell her the attendees are still talking about the event. “People with those diseases live in the moment. For it to have been so meaningful that they were able to retain it is wonderful,” she says. One program geared toward those with Alzheimer’s is Kemper Art Reaches Everyone, now in its fifth year. Run in collaboration with the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University, the program allows participants to interact with the museum’s art and then create a project inspired by it.
Many of the organization’s events appeal to all ages. The very first program put together by Maturity and its Muse was a 2010 Sheldon Art Gallery show featuring dozens of local artists over the age of 70. “Each was selected because they looked at their art as a full-time career,” Hamilton say. “I felt they were wonderful examples for people who want to pursue art but have never tried.”
The nonprofit is a lot of work, but Hamilton loves it. “It’s cool because I’ve been able to combine my previous careers,” she says. “I like seeing people happy, and I like them having a good time.”
[history buff]
For Steve Weinreich, graves hold the keys to fascinating stories and family histories. The onetime sales rep now is an avid gravestone researcher and genealogist, spending five hours or more each day on cemetery research projects.
His interest in grave research was born from tragedy, after his son David passed away six years ago. David is buried at United Hebrew Cemetery, and Weinreich and his wife often visit. “We like knowing where he is, and I became interested in helping others find family,” he says.
Posting his findings on findagrave.com, a free database maintained by volunteers, Weinreich has added names from hundreds of local graves in an effort to give their lives a voice and inform family members about deceased ancestors they may not be aware of. He’s even documented entire cemeteries, including the old section of the B’nai Amoona Congregation cemetery in U. City, which dates back to 1872. “I was drawn to this one because there are very few new burials there now and the cemetery is seldom visited,” Weinreich says. The documentation of the cemetery’s 800 graves took two years, with Weinreich photographing each grave, then researching the person’s life details, including birth, death and family connections.
The research especially appeals to Weinreich’s love of interesting stories, like the one he discovered about three friends, all around 18 years old, buried side by side in Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery (also in U. City), their grave markers joined at the top by a lintel. “These three boys had traveled to Illinois in 1925 and had an accident,” he explains. “The families buried the friends together.” After posting about them online, Weinreich received a call from one of the boys’ relatives, asking for more information.
Weinreich hopes his posts will help someone discover a piece of their family history, a service he considers a ‘mitzvah,’ or an act of human kindness, for the Jewish community. And he is honoring the deceased by ensuring there is indelible evidence of their lives and deaths. “It brings people’s names forward, and it gives them a written record,” he says.
Pictured: Steve Weinreich
Photos: Bill Barrett
