James and his wife are both 71 years of age. They moved to their current home outside a small Southwestern Missouri town when they retired. He was born in Ohio, and had lived in Alabama, Michigan; and Eastern Missouri. Married 51 years, he and his wife have two sons and a granddaughter. 

Jim and Phyllis met in the sixth grade, they were childhood sweethearts, and they have known each other for more than 60 years. In Jim's very eloquent words, "We have been together now for more than 52 years, and she is most assuredly a major element in my life, as she has always been. She, more than any other person, has been a major influence in my life."The handsome couple below is Jim and his lovely wife Phyllis.

A "normal" day for James is one that begins with an early start. Rising at 6 a.m., he goes to the kitchen, starts the coffeepot, and heads for the patio for an early morning smoke and a little socializing with their dogs. When the coffee is ready, he returns to the patio with a cup of coffee in one hand and an iced doughnut in the other. His wife starts her day at 7, and shortly thereafter they have breakfast. After breakfast he is on the computer, usually working on the newsletter for one of the square dance clubs to which they belong. Following lunch, he spends the afternoon busy with various errands and activities. Dinner is usually at 5, and then it is off to dance. James and his wife belong to several square dance clubs, and also are active enthusiasts of ballroom dancing. According to James, "Square dancing is friendship put to music."

James and his wife travel quite a bit -- mostly with square dance clubs. Last year they traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana, to attend the national meeting of the National Council of Square Dance Clubs. They have traveled to all 50 states. Last year they also took a trip to Alaska -- on a steam ship. Asked what makes him feel good about what he does, James replied, "I do the things that I like to do; therefore, I enjoy them. I feel bad about it when I'm not able to do something I'd like to do - because I'm success oriented - but philosophically, I move on to something else."

Square dancing came into their lives back in 1958, in the early days of their marriage. They took a 30-year "pause" in square dancing to raise their two sons. Upon retiring, they discovered that the local senior center sponsored square dances two nights per week - and one thing just kind of led to another. One square dance club to which they belong has 130 members. "We stay involved in good experiences we enjoy, said James, "And square dancing is a good social activity. We call it 'friendship set to music'."

Describing successful aging for others means the following to James: "First, be confident with yourself. Give at least a little back to the community. And, finally, be aware of your own mortality and enjoy every minute you have left."

When asked why others might think of him as aging successfully, Jim replied with a puzzled tone, "Well, gee whiz, I don't know. I've never thought of myself that way." James is involved with the local senior center, and serves on the board of the local Area Agency on Aging. He is a past treasurer of a senior citizens group that owns the building where the Area Agency on Aging runs the senior center. He also does several other chores for them, such as printing up their monthly menus on his computer - and other computer work. James did not consciously prepare for old age, but he actively prepared for retirement. Seven or eight years prior to retirement, he and his wife started looking at prospective retirement locations. They took vacations and visited prospective sites, learned all they could about each, (even subscribed to local newspapers), and gradually narrowed their selection sites to three - from which they chose their new home upon retirement. He also did what he considers to be the usual financial things, IRAs and 401Ks, during his working years.

Understanding all the pieces of a problem or challenge is the first essential key for James to work through it. He can then work out a way to first fix the pieces, and finally, try to put the pieces back together. He said, "If the individual pieces of a problem can be fixed, the whole picture will usually fall back in place."

James wrestles with thoughts when trying to work out a solution - usually a compromise. A recent special program to celebrate a square dance club's anniversary (which he was in charge of) hit a snag when there were problems with the day of the week that had been chosen for the event. His response to the problem was to send out questionnaires to all of the members and get feedback from the others before continuing.

James said he doesn't feel 'down' very often, as he is not a worrier by nature. But when he does, his solution to turning it around is: "Do something positive to counteract it."

Quite proficient with his computer, James has used one for about 18-20 years now. He added, "We're not on the internet at this time, although we may one day in the future. We recently got a local server in this area."

"I've always been disgustingly healthy," said James. "I have always been physically active. I love to hunt and fish, enjoy camping, and of course, dancing."

While James and his wife do not consider themselves 'rich' they do have a comfortable income, and are able to do what they want to do. He has taken several college or other continuing education classes over the years. Included were computer classes and Spanish. He is a prolific reader. His motto on that is "If you didn't learn something today, what's the point in getting up?"

James' working career started in the military, where he taught for two years in an Army missile school. After his discharge, he worked for Lear, making anti-aircraft missiles. That was followed by 20 years with Bendix Aerospace Division. When Bendix Aerospace was hit by the severe cuts to the space program, he moved to St. Louis and worked for Emerson Electric - ending up as an engineering administrator for ESCO, a spin-off company from Emerson that was into aerospace technology manufacturing. Each of his employers had some professional employees' retirement plans, and these benefited in the long run.

Over the years, James and his wife had friends who were work and hobby related. He is also a model railroad enthusiast. He has been an active part of the National Model Railroad Association - which was originally organized to establish standards for model trains and railroads. He jokingly said, "I noted several years ago that [at retirement] I had given up one paying job for 8 free ones." And, his words are closer to fact than fiction. He is also a member of the local Historical Society, the volunteer fire department, Pomme de Terre Rendezvous, and the Southwest Missouri Square Dance Federation.

When asked to describe his current mental outlook, James answered, "I feel confident with myself and respect myself as an individual. Occasionally I stop and assess myself to control my ego." He has done considerable soul searching since retirement, and believes he has changed considerably. "I've become more comfortable with myself. I miss the challenges of working with space technology, but it's certainly easier to be comfortable as a community leader."

Asked what he would do if he could start over again, James replied, "I'm not sure I'd do anything different . . . except that I wouldn't start smoking at 8 years of age. (And, I still smoke.) I know I'm shorter of breath than I would otherwise be, but today it's part of who I am." He does smoke outside only these days, because his wife had serious lung problems recently. "I do that out of respect to her."

2001 UPDATE: James wrote in February to tell us that he and his wife continue to enjoy dancing. In fact, sometimes they dance every night of the week, and they average about 4 or 5 nights most weeks! About a year ago, they started taking round dance lessons and find they also have a lot of fun with that dance form.  He continues to serve on the Board of Directors of his local Area Agency on Aging, and is currently their Treasurer, as well as chair of the Finance Committee and the Task Force on Assets.