Stories are shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, and cultural preservation. Meet a woman with nearly a century of stories to tell!
by Karen Soltero
At 94-years old, Helene Soltero is not only alive, she’s thriving. In a youth-centric society, where people over a certain age are often disregarded, ignored, or even abandoned, she’s proof-positive that life quite simply doesn’t end when we think it does.
“Nobody’s too old to try anything they want to do,” she says, simply. Helene took up tap dancing for the first time at 77. About a year ago, she started taking Zoomba classes. These days, she keeps up with a busy schedule, playing poker and bridge, working out and competing in a Wii bowling league at a Senior Facility in Dallas, where she’s been a resident for the past eighteen months, following the death of her husband, Albert in 2010.
Senior Living Centers and people like Helene are going a long way in making a difference in the idea that members of our older generation no longer want to “have a life.”
In other cultures and countries, elders are both respected and cared for by younger generations. Here in the U.S., elder care is often seen as a burden. But these men and women are the guardians of our past, the keepers and tellers of the stories of a changing world.
Born in 1917, Helene lived through two World Wars, waited while her husband served for years at a time overseas, raising children and keeping the home.
With almost a century under her belt, she’s seen the evolution of the modern home, been in-step with the advancements in technology, and is in a unique position to appreciate the ease of using her MacBook Air to send emails.
Dustin Allen, head of the wellness department at the senior living facility where Helene resides, tells us that Helene is an inspiration for other residents, including those younger than her.
She often can be found encouraging her neighbors to try new things, to get out and move, and most importantly, to keep having fun. She says that’s what she’s done all her life and that’s what her husband would want her to continue to do.
SIDE NOTE: Since the writing of this article Helene Soltero passed away.
Helene Paula Soltero was born on August 26, 1917 in the Bronx, NY, to Emil and Clara Stein, and passed in her 100th year on February 3, 2017 in Dallas. She was the oldest and last surviving of three children.
Soltero graduated from Grasslands School of Nursing in 1939 and soon became an operating room supervisor, a profession she pursued full time and part-time for the next twenty years. She was truly a renaissance woman, transitioning to a professional photographer and graduating at age 60 with a Bachelor of Arts in Photography. Along the way she also was a college instructor in photography, writer, artist, skier, horseback rider, archer, gardener, avid reader, bridge player, and square dancer.
In addition, she was tap dancer well into her 90’s. As a single woman in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, she worked and saved to buy her own car and her own house.
In 1941, Helene picked up a uniformed hitchhiker named Albert Soltero, and in March 1942 they married. They celebrated 67 years of marriage during which they traveled extensively. Albert’s 20-year Air Force career had the family living in New York, Massachusetts, California, Hawaii, Montana, Texas, and Germany.
They were into RV camping and traveled throughout the US. After his service in the Air Force, they worked together for many more years: he as an accountant and she as an accounting office manager for Albert’s CPA practice, as well as a portrait photographer with her own studio. After Albert’s passing in 2010, Helene embraced the next phase of her life, moving into a senior independent living complex where she participated in Wii bowling, bridge, poker, exercise classes, line dancing, Pilates, weight training, fine art classes, writing classes, and casino trips.
Soltero was writing her life’s story using the 100 plus photojournalism albums that she had created throughout her lifetime. She was also using the numerous personal short stories she had written along the way. During her life, she made friends easily and always went out of her way to thank people for their kindnesses, big or small.
She was very spiritual and was thankful for every day that she was given, never expecting anything in return. She enjoyed life to the fullest.
