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A Tale of Two CCRCs


Interviews by Don Vaughan  Illustration by Tom Cocotos


CAPT. BILL KNEHANS, USN (RET), 76, and his wife, Jean, decided in 2007 it was time to move from their home in Florida to a retirement community. They approached the move with almost military precision, detailing the services and amenities that were important to them and checking out numerous communities.


In April 2013, they moved into a continuing-care retirement com- munity (CCRC) in Texas and haven’t looked back. Carolyn Epling, 78, and her hus-


band, Master Sgt. Norman Campbell, USAF (Ret), 89, didn’t have quite as smooth a transition. In 2009, they


decided to sell their home in New Mexico and move to a retirement community in the Pacifi c Northwest to be closer to Epling’s children. But the community they chose failed to meet their expectations, so in 2010, they moved again. Shortly before this interview, Campbell experi-


enced a stroke and was recovering at the skilled-nursing facility at their new community. Bill and Jean Knehans and Epling talk about their experiences select- ing a community and off er advice for others considering making a move.


What factors led you to move to a retirement community?


Bill Knehans: We decided when I was 70 that we would start our search for a retirement community. We lived


MARCH 2014 MILITARY OFFICER 71


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