It’s never too late to find love

Finding love later in life can feel intimidating, but it’s a journey filled with hope and possibility. Many people discover that love in their later years is not only possible but often richer and more fulfilling. Whether through shared experiences, new passions, or a deeper understanding of oneself, love can blossom at any stage. Here are the stories of Leisure World residents who found their special someone during their golden years, proving that it’s never too late to make a meaningful connection.

My wife, Linda, and I recently celebrated our sixth anniversary. We met at Leisure World while attending water aerobics class at the LW pool. Our first date was supposed to be just a shared ride to a Ruth Bader Ginsburg exhibition in Los Angeles. We discovered an amazing compatibility and the romance took off from there. It has never stopped.

—Fred Fenton, Mutual 12

I was 60 and single, thinking that it was time to find a lifetime partner after a decade of being alone. It was 1996 and dating apps were still in the future. But there were personal ads in the newspaper. I decided to put one in that read simply: Poet/Runner Still believes in Love And my phone number. Simple and sweet. Jeanne called me, saying she was athletic with a “hard body.” I called back immediately! Our first date that night was at my gym. I fell in love that evening and never looked back! We got married and together went on to run over 250 races including marathons, ultras and triathlons. Almost 30 years later, it’s just gotten better. She will always be my Valentine. I wrote Jeanne this poem to tell her how I feel: Out of a clear and cloudless sky The lightning flashed upon my eye And through the lens of light, I see You are Love’s Thunderbolt to me! —Tom Pontac, Mutual 10 We worked out daily in the LW gym. Despite frequently noticing each other, we had never actually spoken. That is, until one day when GRF pool and gym employee Jeff Burnett pulled us into a lively, three-way conversation. A couple of months later, we had the good fortune of sitting next to each other by the pool and seamlessly continued the previous conversation—this time without the assistance of Jeff.

We learned that we had a lot in common, including our love of music; with golden oldies and country western being at the top of our lists. We arranged to attend the Saturday night dance with music provided by Vinyl Rock. After dancing the night away, we agreed that it would be enjoyable to listen to the Velvetones the following night. As the saying goes, “and the rest is history.”

Since then, we have danced and sung along to thousands of songs and have attended many dances and concerts.

In addition, John has introduced Kalena to the wonderful world of YouTube and Kalena has introduced John to the thrill of discovery at LW estate sales. Instead of being merely content, now our days are overflowing with happiness and laughter. We both feel fortunate to have found that special someone who changed everything for the better. As our LW friend Barbara Simundza describes it, we are in “The Love Bubble”…which is exactly where we look forward to being for the rest of our lives.

—John Hendrix, Mutual 1, and Kalena Hayden, Mutual 3 Bruce and Martha Vircks were married on Oct. 7, 2023, at Clubhouse 4 among their many friends. They met in the Bike Group in 2019 and became friends over several years. They started dating in 2023, and their love grew during that year until they decided to wed.

Martha has a home in Huntington Beach, and Bruce currently resides in Mutual 5. In October 2023, Bruce bought y f a unit in Mutual 15 that needed to be remodeled, and they have been doing so since then. They are moving into their new home this week and are looking forward to the completion of their patio.

They are active in the community with the Bike Group, cooking club, wine club, pingpong, and other activities. Bruce plays trumpet in the Orchestra.

—Bruce and Martha Vircks, Mutual 5 We met in our golden years on a dating app; my friends at the dog park convinced me to join. I had lost my wife of 31 years to Alzheimer’s in 2018, after being sick seven years. After a year on a dating site, I decided I wanted to meet a widow, the same as myself.

One week later I received a “Hello” on the dating site. My new partner’s wife had passed in 2020 from Alzheimer’s as my spouse had—she had been sick 14 of their 28 years they were together. Now, we both have the love of someone who understands what each other have experienced. We now travel back and forth to each others’ home but we are together.

What I love about my golden aged spouse is the sweet caring and intellectual stimulation my spouse brings to my life. I have a person who really loves me and shares my joy for life.

It’s unbelievable but true: You can fall in love again in your golden years!

—Lily McCoy, Mutual 5

Twenty-five years ago I took my late husband to a hospital, he died four days later. What a shock. I didn’t even know he was sick! I was 58, with all my family living 3,000 miles away and no children to comfort me. I went through a dreadful time. I waited the prerequisite year before I considered dating. Online dating was just beginning, and I asked a friend which dating site would be best for me (there were only a few 24 years ago). A few months later when I was ready to go online, I forgot the name of the site, but I remembered it made me think of “Fiddler on the Roof.” After three dates with David, I contacted my friend to tell her that I went on Matchmaker.com and met a terrific guy. She said, “I told you to go on Match.com!” After I had a good laugh, I told her that I went on the wrong site but met the right man.

I was hoping to meet an intelligent, thoughtful, kindhearted man who had a great sense of humor and would make me laugh again. And meeting David, I found such a person! It’s so great to have another chance at love!

We’ve had a chance to travel to many countries, plus we made the great decision to move to Leisure World, where we are involved with many activities, joined Congregation Sholom, and attend many concerts and lectures.

We simply enjoy life together; you can’t hope for more than that! We’ve been together for 23 perfect years and hopefully many more healthy and happy ones to come.

—Jan Friedland, Mutual 4

I came to Leisure World when I was 53 and retired two years later from McDonnell Douglas. I traveled a lot and attend a lot of live theater, and was content with having friends and visits with family members when they were in the area. One morning in 1993, I was on my bike for a ride around Leisure World when I passed a woman walking the other way. A few seconds later I began thinking, that was a lovely woman. I turned my bike around, caught up with her and introduced myself as John. She did not respond so I took my card from my wallet, handed it to her and asked her to call me.

Six months later she called to ask a technical question because she thought I was on the Mutual board. Before she hung up, I explained that I had reservations to do a 10-day trip to Florida to do the theme parks. Her response was instant, “Yes, if I can have my own room.”

We enjoyed 30 years of a beautiful and understanding love. She recently entered hospice. When I went to see her, she had her eyes closed. I asked her if she would like a piece of lemon meringue pie, her favorite. Her eyes opened wide with a beautiful smile. I told her, “I will bring you a piece tomorrow.” She closed her eyes, but kept her smile.

The next day I came with a pie and cut two pieces. Her eyes opened wide with a big grin and when the spoon touched her lips she opened her mouth and eat the pie, her eyes twinkling as if she were laughing. I asked her if she would like another piece and she answered with a big smile. I fed her my piece. She was gone by morning. I shall always treasure these last moments with Sue.

—John H. Kendall, Mutual 2

Henry Verbree was my first serious boyfriend ever. I was 15, and he was 19. We grew up in the Chino/Ontario area—Dutch dairy people. We dated during my junior year in high school but broke up during my last year of school as I was college bound and he would stay in the dairy business.

Forty-seven years later, after my husband passed away, he reached out on Facebook to offer his condolences. Several months later, we connected again. He had moved to Idaho to help on his brother’s dairy and had been there for 35-plus years, but he came to SoCal to have dinner with me.

The reconnection was so strong that we married later the same year. He remained in Idaho and came to visit on and off for about a year, and I moved into Leisure World in the meantime. He just moved in permanently this January!

We call it an “old shoe” kind of love because it’s so comfortable and we still feel “cut from the same cloth.”

—Valerie Shope-Verbree, Mutual 15 Back in 1983, I flew from New York to California to visit my sister in Pacific Grove. The gentleman who lived in the front house was my sister’s friend. He was handsome, well spoken, knew a lot about the area, a good storyteller, artist, musician—a very interesting man.

Ten years later, I visited my sister in her new home in Salinas, and, lo and behold, I was lucky enough to visit with him again. This time, we shared a lovely dinner date. He showed me a house he was working on that was in the hills of Monterey. He took me on to the

“One morning in 1993 I was on my bike for a ride around Leisure World when I passed a woman walking the other way. A few seconds later I began thinking, 'That was a lovely woman.' I turned my bike around.”

— John Kendall, Mutual 2 balcony, and we could see the lights in the Monterey Bay down below. I still get dizzy thinking about that evening, and the kisses we shared on that balcony on a warm, misty night.

I wished I could follow those kisses into the next day and forever, but reality hit, and the plane brought me back to work and New York life after a spectacular California vacation. My sister Jane started visiting us regularly in New York, due to the fact that our parents were aging, so I didn’t go to California for many years.

Thirty-plus years later, on one of my phone calls to her, he was helping her put up a new trellis, and he heard my voice on the phone. He gasped and said, “Wow, that’s your sister who I haven’t talked to in over 30 years.” She handed me the phone, and so began our second-stage-of-life-love. We talked several times a day for over a year, and each day, we began to know one another better.

As we talked, laughed, cried, into the phone receiver, I think I was falling in love. I dropped everything just to talk with him no matter when he called, and we talked for hours.

His wife had passed away, and my husband also, so we helped each other with grief, life adjustments, etc. Once again, I headed to California, this time to see him. It was Valentine’s Day, and we went to hear Little Mo and the Dynaflows. We danced, ate a wonderful meal, and subsequent days with him were starry and dreamlike.

Then came the pandemic. I was not happy to be on a telephone across the whole country, trying to negotiate my new feelings, rediscovered after so may years, and my concern for his health, and that of his mother, who is elderly. We agreed to take a big leap, and here I am. He went back to New York, helped me fix up my house to sell, and then moved me in with him. I have been happy and spoiled by Leisure World. It is an amazing place to live, with all the amenities, and the warm, sunny weather adding to the joy of being in love. I have been talking about Leisure World and its beauty for the past five years daily, and I am still gobsmacked by how great it is here with my loving partner. For us, our objective is to grow together, and experience the richness that being in love offers for us as long as God is willing.

Happy Valentine’s Day 2025, Charles Walton. You make me very happy and content, whether we are just sitting, or walking hand in hand, or traveling to exotic spots. I love you with every part of me, and am so glad you came back into my life. May we spend many happy healthy years together, dear.

—Judy Georger, Mutual 9 My husband, Phil, had died five years earlier. It was now 2011. I was lonely for companionship, and I decided to see what eHarmony could offer. In April, I was given the chance to meet a gentleman whom I’d only spoken to on the phone. At the restaurant I was pleasantly surprised to meet Duane Rickard, classically dressed with beautiful silver hair and striking blue eyes. Best of all, his shoes—dark, polished loafers with tassels, my favorite! I called my daughter on the way home and said, “I really want to see this guy again.” I sounded like a teenager!

It wasn’t long before Duane’s high morals, intelligence and love of family captivated me. Even though the loafers were rarely worn and were replaced with bright orange tennis shoes, I knew he was a “keeper.” He was generous to me, and we always had a good time with one another.

We spent hours playing gin rummy. He was a determined player, and I will always fondly remember the first time I beat him at the card game. I was so excited, I did a dance around the table. Fortunately, there were many opportunities over the years for him to say, “Come on. Do the dance!” He was a good sport!

Duane was a real gentleman, and I will always appreciate and remember fondly his old-fashioned and respectful manners toward women. He was sweet and thé small niceties, such as opening the door for me, continued for the four years we were together. Toward the end, when his steps became so difficult, he always insisted on these male behaviors. By 2014, Duane’s kids knew it was time that he should not live alone. I had two empty bedrooms, and I asked if I could bring him to my own home for the remaining time he had. I was 11 years younger than him, and I was in good health. It took little persuasion on Duane’s part to agree that the big-screen TV and comfortable living room were a favorable alternative for watching the Angel games— something we never missed.

I had come to know and love him so differently by the time I became his “caregiver.” I didn’t like being called that. I much preferred “Babe.” Every night he said, “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Babe!”

The night before he died, I asked him to always watch over me. I assured him his work here was done. He died peacefully in the hospital the next day. For many months later, I noticed much more bird activity in the backyard as I sat and watched them, just as he had done every day. Duane and I brought much hope, humor, and happiness to one another at a time in our lives when we both thought those things were behind us. We were surprised how much fun we were having in our “golden years.” Guess you’re never too old for young love!

—Mary Ann Root, Mutual 14

“As we talked, laughed, cried, into the phone receiver, I think I was falling in love. I dropped everything just to talk with him no matter when he called, and we talked for hours.”

— Judy Georger, Mutual 9

Left: Tom and Jeanne Pontac on their honeymoon, during which they raced the Palos Verdes half-marathon. Right: Mutual 10 residents Tom and Jeanne Pontac visited Laguna Beach on New Year's Eve 2024, the place they got married.

Left: Henry and Valerie Verbree attended Valerie's junior year prom together. Henry Verbree was Valerie's first-ever boyfriend. After parting ways before college, the two reconnected 47 years later. Right: Valerie and Henry Verbree now live in Mutual 15.

Left: Jan and David Friedland at a winery in Santa Barbara when they first started dating. Jan's friend recommended she try meeting someone on the dating site Match.com . Forgetting the name, she went on Matchmaker.com. She may have used the wrong site, but she found the right guy. Right: The pair during a recent dinner.

Right: Charles Walton and Judy Georger of Mutual 9, who met through Georger's sister in the late '90s and reconnected four decades later.

Left: Martha and Bruce Vircks, who met in the LW Bicycle Group and married in 2023 in Clubhouse 4.

Right: John Hendrix of Mutual 1 and Kalena Hayden of Mutual 3, who were introduced to each other by a GRF Recreation attendant.

Fred and Linda Fenton met during a carpool to a Ruth Bader Ginsburg exhibit.