In Their Own Words
Senior Citizens Inc. is proud to be the recipient of a storytelling grant from the Thanks Mom and Dad Fund, supporting our work to capture, preserve, and share the stories of the older adults we serve.
At Senior Citizens Inc. we have a simple belief: every life has a story worth telling. Through this grant, we are able to ensure that the voices, experiences, and wisdom of older adults in our community are not only heard — but honored.
Why Storytelling Matters
For all of us, stories are more than memories. They are our legacies. They reflect resilience, service, love, leadership, and the lived history of our of lives and the impact in the community.
Telling our stories:
Strengthens our connection and belonging
Helps combat social isolation
Preserves our personal and community history
By intentionally creating space for older adults to share their stories, we can celebrate lives well lived and reinforce the value of aging with purpose.
Real Stories. Real Lives.
Thanks to this generous grant from the Thanks Mom & Dad Fund, older adults at our Liberty County, Thunderbolt, and Port Wentworth Neighborhood Centers were invited to reflect on and record their life stories - capturing memories, humor, and hard-won wisdom to preserve and share with their families and communities.
Voices From Our Neighborhood Centers
As part of this storytelling initiative, we’re highlighting short video clips from clients at our three Neighborhood Centers. Each clip offers a glimpse into the lives, perspectives, and experiences that make our community stronger.
Liberty County Neighborhood Center - Hinesville, GA
Liz and George Bunt:
Liz and George Bunt share a rich life story spanning six decades of marriage, family, travel, service, and community involvement. From humble beginnings and cross-country moves to raising daughters, hosting international students, and aging together with humor and devotion, their story reflects resilience, love, and lifelong partnership.
Louis Carroll Evans, Jr.:
Louis Carroll Evans Jr., a lifelong Hinesville resident, reflects on growing up during segregation, family displacement from Fort Stewart, community life, and a deep love of sports. A standout athlete, writer, truck driver, and devoted family man, he shares resilience, pride, and commitment to community across generations.
Love Kapi:
Love Kapi shares her journey from a joyful, music-filled childhood in Hawaii to building community in Georgia. A lifelong learner, singer, and craft artist, she reflects resilience, stepping beyond comfort zones—including a dramatic Hokulea voyage—and finding purpose, friendship, and renewed confidence through the senior center.
Watch: https://youtu.be/TTYpJigL7z0
Marthe Ford:
Marthe Ford reflects a life shaped by family, faith, work, and community. She shares memories of perseverance through change, the importance of relationships, and the wisdom gained over time. Her story highlights resilience, gratitude, and the lasting value of connection, service, and living with purpose.
Paul Spence:
Paul Spence reflects a life shaped by hardship, military service, love, creativity, and community. From childhood loss and an orphanage to a 20-year Army career, marriage, and later life as an artist, poet, and volunteer, his story centers on resilience, service, faith, and a deep love for people.
Ted Harris:
Ted Harris shares a remarkable life shaped by courage, service, and youth advocacy. From early leadership in Buffalo and a distinguished Air Force career to founding youth movements in Liberty County, he empowered children to challenge injustice, influence policy, and create lasting changes in education, justice, and community life.
Port Wentworth Neighborhood Center -
Port Wentworth, GA
Annette Hutcheson:
Annette Hutcheson reflects on a life marked by resilience, hard work, love, and loss. From a challenging childhood and varied jobs to surviving abuse and finding deep partnership with her late husband Don, she now finds healing, belonging, and strength through community, family, and her neighborhood center.
Gerald Owens:
Gerald Michael Owens reflects on a life rooted in Savannah, marked by deep love for his wife Shirley, family, travel, service, and community. Through joy, loss, illness, and healing, he finds meaning in storytelling, woodworking, history, and the “third family” he’s found at his neighborhood center.
Glenn, Jimmy, Paul:
Glenn Hibbert, Paul Kates, and Jimmy Dunnigan share rich, humorous memories of growing up in Port Wentworth—from wartime housing, the sugar refinery, schools, and small businesses to segregation, desegregation, sports rivalries, and community traditions—capturing a close-knit town shaped by hard work, friendship, and shared history.
Jack Caldwell:
ack Caldwell reflects on a life shaped by service, family, and deep curiosity about his roots. A retired Army and Port Wentworth police officer, he shares a lifelong passion for genealogy—tracing Scottish Lockhart ancestry, preserving family stories, and honoring both the struggles and strengths that define identity across generations.
Thunderbolt Neighborhood Center
Betty Zace:
Bette Zace reflects on nearly a century of life in Savannah, sharing memories of a close-knit childhood, decades-long banking career, devoted marriage to a firefighter, and caring for loved ones. With gratitude and grace, she celebrates family, faith, service, and the changing city she’s always called home.
Fawn Cowell:
Fawn Cowell shares a life shaped by historic moments, deep family bonds, love, loss, and resilience. From growing up in Florida during national upheaval to building a marriage, raising daughters, grieving her husband, and relocating to Savannah, she finds healing and purpose through service, community, and volunteering with older adults.
Nancy Ferreira:
Nancy Ferreira shares a life marked by resilience, caregiving, and optimism. From growing up on Long Island to building a life in Savannah, she navigates marriage, loss, and reinvention through real estate, insurance, and decades of caregiving. Grounded in positivity and community, she finds belonging, purpose, and nourishment at the Senior Center.
Patricia Davis:
Patricia Davis shares memories of growing up in Savannah, marked by outdoor adventure, close family ties, and resilience through loss and health challenges. A longtime childcare provider and devoted mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, she finds strength in family, community, and connection at the Thunderbolt Neighborhood Center.
Steve Mueller:
Steve Muller reflects on growing up in Savannah and Thunderbolt, sharing humorous childhood misadventures at Grover’s Dairy, memories of shrimp boats and neighborhood life, and years spent away in military service and work. Now back home, he values community, storytelling, and connection found at the Thunderbolt Neighborhood Center.
Charlotte Williams:
Charlotte Williams reflects on a lifelong dedication to education shaped by family responsibility and perseverance. From earning a business education degree to decades of teaching at high schools and Savannah Technical College, she embraced new challenges, inspired students, and championed learning as the foundation for opportunity, service, and community engagement.
Watch: https://youtu.be/6GLsZUUgv3U
Violet Joyner:
Violet Joyner recalls a joyful Savannah childhood marked by freedom, family, and adventure—from dirt roads and streetcars to Dixieland Drive-In memories and neighborhood play. A self-described tomboy, she reflects on love, loss, faith, and deep gratitude, finding fellowship, purpose, and daily joy at the Thunderbolt Neighborhood Center.
