Olive was born Olive Aanstoos in Colon Beach, Republic of Panama, on May 12, 1919.  Olive grew up in this tropic paradise with one sister and three brothers.  Her father, Theodore, was the historian for the Panama Canal Project and her mother Helen, worked as a censor for the US government during WWII.

                                                                
 Olive was a "born" athlete.  She spent her days playing tennis and swimming.  Her determination and skills on the tennis court resulted in her becoming the Junior Women's Tennis Champion for the Canal Zone in 1936.                                                                                                            

 All too soon her carefree life took a new direction.  After graduating high school in Colon, it was time for college.  Olive enrolled at New York University to study Drama.  Once finished at NYU, she studied at East Stroudsburg State Teachers College in Pennsylvania, where she earned her teaching degree.

 After college she returned to Panama in time for WWII.  She gained a lot of satisfaction entertaining the troops by being a part of the USO tours throughout Central and South America.  It was during this time that she met her future husband, Captain Herbert "Buzz" Ford from Hopewell, Virginia.  She and Buzz  married in 1946 and moved to Hopewell.  Here she became a mother to three wonderful daughters, Jean, Frances, and Margaret. Her leisure time was spent working on her needlepoint and sewing for the girls.  Outside of the home she was dedicated to the Appomattox Garden Club, her bridge club and her golf game.  Tennis was still her favorite pastime and she continued to play until she moved into her new home at Brighter Living.

All of her life she was adventurous in her travels.  She and Buzz took great joy traveling all over the United States, Russia, China, the Philippines, and Egypt.  When asked one time many years ago "what is your favorite hobby?"  Olive answered without hesitation, "making friends of course."
  

Olive has been a resident of Brighter Living since August 2009.  In this short period of time she has made so many new friends.  She has a great sense of humor and is always smiling.   When I think of a "Southern Belle" or a "Social Butterfly" I think of Olive. Thank you Olive for sharing your interesting life with us.

 

               Jane Stokes is our "Shining Star" for the month of August.

 Jane was born and raised in Enfield, North Carolina. Like so many people in

 this area, Ft Lee brought her here. Her husband, John was stationed at Ft. 

 Lee and when he was discharged in 1974, they decided to stay in Virginia.

Jane is the proud mother of four children and the grandmother of seven. Her oldest grandson, PFC Lavoy Cofield is currently serving his country. He is stationed at Ft. Lee. Her oldest granddaughter, Imari is an honor student at Thomas Dale High School. She will graduate in 2012 with plans to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Jane's other grandchildren are fourteen, thirteen, ten and the twins are eight. Their plans for the future have yet to be determined, according to Grandma Jane.

Jane was raised in a religious home. Her mother was the "Mother" of her church. Her father was a Sunday School Superintendent. She has two brothers that are ministers and a sister that is a pastor. Jane herself, became an ordained minister in September 2010. She is a member of The Prince of Peace Evangelistic Center in Colonial Heights, Virginia. Although Jane doesn't have her own church, she speaks at various churches on a regular basis and delivers the sermon at her church the last Sunday of each month.
                                                                                                                                                           

When not working, Jane likes to travel. She has taken several cruises and is planning a trip to Las Vegas in October.