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It’s not as if everything has been smooth sailing since Leonard’s retirement. Bernice, his wife of 44 years, died of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Leonard has twice undergone open heart surgery; he suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes and he is legally blind. But Leonard has also had some good things happen. He met his second wife, Magdalena, at a high school reunion in Frontenac, Kansas. She was a widow who lost her husband to a heart attack. Although Leonard and Magdalena were in different classes and didn’t know each other, they quickly fell in love. They both enjoyed traveling; doing things with each other’s families and spending quiet nights together. Magdalena has been a godsend for Leonard, preparing meals, making sure he takes his medications and helping him take care of himself. They’ve now been married 13 years. Continuing to live independently in their home is important to Leonard and Magdalena. While they can still do most things around the house, Leonard’s blindness, health and age prevent him from doing some of the simple things he used to do, like changing a toilet seat or fixing a broken screen door. Luckily there were was a solution that was only a phone call away.
Five days a week, the Center’s Meals on Wheels program delivers lunch to the couple. And once, when Magdalena was afraid to drive to the doctor because of road construction along the way, she called on the Center’s Wheels that Care program. The volunteer driver took her, sat in the waiting room during her appointment and brought her back home. Knowing that there are programs like these, makes Leonard feel good about the fact he had money taken out of his paycheck for charity during his years at Sheffield and Armco Steel. He feels like it was an investment that is helping him. Leonard says, “We are much more comfortable living here in our own home, where we’re familiar with the surroundings. We can do things at our own pace and we have enough room to spread out and we can enjoy the yard. They say a man’s home is his castle and for me it’s really is true. This house is the only home I’ve ever owned and I plan to live here for as long as I’m around.” |
Eighty-three
year-old Leonard LaForte has lived in the same Raytown home for more
than 50 years. He bought it with a G.I. loan in 1953 after
moving to Kansas City to work at Sheffield Steel, which later became
Armco Steel. He worked there for 37 years until
retirement. The house holds many special memories for Leonard
and his family, so it’s understandable that he gets upset if
anyone suggests that he and his wife should consider moving into a
retirement home. 
Volunteers
from Shepherd’s Center of Raytown’s handyman program have been
over several times to help Magdalena and Leonard fix things in their
home. In addition to the toilet seat and the screen door,
they’ve also re-hung a ceiling fan that fell down, replaced a
nonworking light socket and installed motion detectors to activate
their porch lights. But that’s not all that Shepherd’s
Center does to help the couple remain independent.