Meet Rona (Benard) Myers! Rona was one of the very first residents to join Lakeshore when we opened January of 2018! It only made sense since Rona has lived in The Shores for sixty-five years of her life!
A little house her parents were renting on 10 mile and Harper is where Rona was born in 1930. Her mother had 10 children! Her brother, Richard, was the first boy in St Clair Shores to die for his country in World War II. Not only does Rona have a long history of St Clair Shores, but also St. Gertrude holds a special place in her heart. She was baptized at St. Gertrude, received her first communion, confirmation, graduation, and even her first marriage in 1948 at the age of 18 took place there. As a kid, she recalls going to the roller rink on 12 and Harper and walking to The Shores Theater at 9 and Mack. “We all had 15 cents to spend!” laughed Rona, “10 cents for the show!”
Days at Jefferson Beach and swimming in Lake St Clair are some of her favorite memories. She talked about how different the city was with roughly 12,000 residents in the 1940’s. There were no sidewalks, no streetlights; they were country people she explained.
“We didn’t do a lot. We had a cow, a couple pigs, and chickens! My dad planted Victory Gardens,” Rona said. She explained during the war, they called them Victory Gardens when they planted their own vegetables.
Later in 1995 is when Rona moved out of The Shores to a condominium in Macomb with her husband. She stayed there for 20 years until she moved into a Senior Living Community in Sterling Heights. She remained there 3 years until Lakeshore Senior Living opened! There was no doubt she wanted to live on the same grounds where she was baptized 88 years ago!
“I love it here because I feel a sense of security,” Rona said, “When I was living at my condo by myself after my husband passed away, there was always a sense of uneasiness being there by myself. Plus, here I don’t have to cook, I get to do the rosary with others and everything is convenient for me!”
