Age fails to slow down energetic North Palm Beach volunteer (Louise Call) (PBP) 2-7-016 NeiaUorhood Post The Palm Beach Post • Wednesday, February 7, 2001
BILL INGRAM/Staff Photogr4
Louise Call delivers a meal for Eva Nokes, 101, of Palm Beach Gardens. A volunteer for 34 years, she also works at the Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center's gift she
Age fails to slow down energetic
North Palm Beach volunteer
By Michelle Mundy
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Louise Call might say that she's the oldest "Call
girl" in Florida, if not the whole world, but that playful
joke doesn't entirely describe the rambunctious 92-
year-old who delivers meals to the homes of elderly
people two days a week.
But this isn't all that Call does. She also works in a
hospital gift shop three nights a week, where she
sometimes visits people's grandparents to give them
inspiration to live, and she visits the elderly people at
her church's day care center.
"I read to them," she said. "We have a lot in com-
mon, and it's fun to go over all the old things. I just
have a lot of fun." She quickly moves to her philoso-
phy for living something that she attributes to her
long life and loves sharing with others.
"If you don't have fun, you just might as well die. If
you don't enjoy life, you might as well quit," she said.
"I don't like being around people who are grumpy."
Although she says she is often the oldest person
in the group, that isn't always true.
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR
Louise Call, 92
Volunteer, member
of North Palm Beach Yacht Club
Call has been delivering meals to one woman who
is now 101 years old. She even attended her 100th
birthday party.
"I just enjoy it all because it helps other people
and keeps me busy," said the Dayton, Ohio, native
who drives a 14year-old Thunderbird — a car she
and her husband, Royce, bought two years before he
died.
Call recalls the Depression years and compares
them to today's attitudes.
"During the Depression, people were so nice to
each other, but now, the most important thing to peo-
ple seems to be money. The days when I was in
school ... everybody came home and ate dinner
together. I worry for my grandchildren unless they
learn what's right and what's wrong."
What brought you to Florida?
"My husband. He wanted to retire here. He used
to come down here and fish right here (where they
built their home)."
What are your hobbies?
"Politics are my real hobby. I'm always working
for somebody who is running for office. I'm a Republi-
can, and I worked very hard for our new president. I
sometimes have parties for them (the candidates she
supports) with a lot of people they don't know. I used
to play golf, but I can't anymore because of my arthri-
tis."
Who is your hero?
"I've always had so many. I admire everybody that,
did good: Who I admire now is Bush. My mother is
MY guardian angel," she said, giving three examples
of when her mother watched over her, including a
boating and car accident and when she lost her moth-
er's cross. "I know I believe in angels?'
What do want to be remembered for?
"I think more for helping other people and being
happy to be alive."