Director Who ‘Is the Senior Center’ to Retire

Betty Goyne learned early in life that in the golden years, the years that some view as a time to slow down, there is much that can be accomplished and much to be gained.

As Westminster’s Senior Services director for nearly 20 years, Goyne, 63, has been able to help transform the city’s senior center from just a place to eat and hang out to a wellness center. Where once seniors came to have breakfast, socialize, stick around for lunch and then leave, many spend their afternoons empowering themselves with programs Goyne helped develop.

“She is the senior center,” senior services Program Director Mary Andrusky said. “She has always had the seniors’ welfare and interest at heart.”

Goyne, who will be retiring May 5, attributes her part in the center’s transformation to a faith in God and her grandmother Florence Clark.

“I had a wonderful mentor in my grandmother,” she said. “She taught me that age is just a number, and when you get old you don’t stop living and you don’t stop giving.” Ten years ago, Goyne noticed that many of the seniors would leave the center in the afternoon after a few hours there.

At the same time, the city was having an increase in gang activity. She said she became frustrated at the increase of drug-related problems and family violence. In 1982, to help combat the negative trend, she started an intergenerational program at the center that involves seniors and gives children a safe place to do homework.

Goyne began SHUE (Safety, Health, Understanding and Education) at the Senior Center, next to City Hall, and currently 82 first- through third-graders attend from 3 to 5 p.m. They do homework, learn about conflict resolution and are surrounded by people who care about them, she said.

The program employs 12 teachers and is supported by 35 volunteers. “These are wise, experienced, capable people who are giving back to the community,” Goyne said.

What does it do for the senior staff and volunteers?

“It gives them a reason to get up in the morning,” Goyne said. “They realize they are making a difference in people’s lives.”

Among the programs that Goyne has either developed or directs is one in which gerontologists from local colleges give seminars to help the senior citizens adjust to advancing years.

Goyne said her retirement doesn’t mean that she is retiring her passion for seniors. When she leaves, she would like to start intergenerational programs in other places, including churches.

“I just love older people,” she said and after a pause and a smile, added, “I’m one of them.”

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Alex Murashko can be reached at (714) 966-5974.