LORRAINE ARRANCE

Spirited Hobe Sound senior needs helping hand

A photo of Lorraine and Wes Arrance taken in the 1940s. Lorraine, 87, who suffers from spinal stenosis and osteoarthritis, lives on her own in a trailer she moved into in 1963 with her now-deceased husband.

By STACI STURROCK
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Lorraine Arrance moved to her current address in Hobe Sound “back when it was still a cowpath,” she says.

That was 1963.

She and her late husband raised a family in Martin County, and Arrance held several jobs over the years, including church secretary and waitress. “I loved that job,” she says. “Oh, I had so much fun.”

But she gave up that job to care for her mother-in-law, who had Alzheimer’s. The trailer Arrance lived in then, and continues to live in now, was built in 1952.

“It’s old, it’s old, seems like everything is going,” says Arrance, a bright, talkative 87-year-old who lives alone but within several yards of a mobile home occupied by her son and daughter-in-law.

Her small, neat home is decorated with scores of cat figurines and family photos, but it could use some upgrades.

Lorraine’s small, neat home could use some upgrades.

The carpeting and linoleum are old and threaten to trip Arrance, who uses a walker and suffers from osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column that puts pressure on the spinal cord.

Because Arrance can’t lift her arms to load the stackable washer/dryer, she has to hire someone to do her laundry. “I can’t even comb the back of my hair,” Arrance says of her limited range of motion.

The wall unit is so old that the trailer is hot in the summer and cold in the winter. But Arrance isn’t one to complain. Those who know her say she’s always made good life decisions and has a positive outlook.

“If I can walk and put two feet in front of me and laugh, I got the world by the tail,” she says.

“When you’re young, you never think about what will happen when you get older. I’m really fortunate that I can still be myself and vacuum and cook and clean.”

She also attends adult day care twice a week.

“It gets you out of the house, and there’s a lot of nice people there.”

LORRAINE’S WISH
New linoleum and carpeting would reduce fall hazards in her home. She also would benefit from a new wall air-conditioning unit with cooling and heating options, a washer and dryer that are accessible, and a working cellphone with service for a year to help keep her connected to family, friends and doctors.

NOMINATED BY: Council on Aging of Martin County