Community Homes of Lebanon County selects Vivian Paxson as August Resident of the Month.
One thing you notice about Vivian Paxson, who resides at Hill Terrace, is that she is a person who cares about the people around her and enjoys helping them when she can.
It should come as no surprise that she is the Resident Helper at Hill Terrace where she has called home since 2016. Her responsibilities include – Making sure residents complete their daily stat check, being available for emergency help or conversations as needed with fellow residents, keeping an “alert” monitor in her apartment, and in general being a friend to all. “I like people, so this is all within my nature,” says Vivian, modestly.
Her background gives us a clue to her nature. Vivian comes from a large family that includes seven children. Helping each other is in her DNA.
It was not easy growing up. Her mother passed away when Vivian was almost 3 years old.
Her father made his living in farm equipment sales and service, which included working in the field. His career took him and his family to Bradenton, Florida. He re-married, and eventually, this led to a decision by Vivian to return to Pennsylvania and move in with one of her sisters in Hershey.
It was here in this area that she met and married her husband, Tom Paxson. The marriage lasted 43 years, until Tom passed away. He had a long career doing electrical work and worked for Herr Electric for many years. They had no children of their own, but Vivian has three stepchildren and ten great grandchildren. There are also fifteen nieces and nephews. They all get together for reunions as a family every year.
Vivian is proud to be “self-taught”. She gained employment in the legal profession. She served District Judges for many years in the Palmyra and Lebanon areas. “I loved working with criminals and did not like divorce cases” she remarked.
She lived in her own home for over 50 years, and finally decided to sell the house and move to Hill Terrace. “After all those years, moving was a hard decision, but the right one for me,” Vivian notes, “I like my apartment, the people are nice, including the fellow residents and the Community Homes staff. I have a good life here. I am also happy to stay in touch with my old neighbors. We built nice friendships in the old North Lebanon neighborhood, near Coleman’s Park.”
It is customary to take a photo of the Resident of the Month, but Vivian declined to be photographed and we honored her request.
She is a welcome addition to the resident community at Community Homes, and we are happy to share her story with our readers as our August 2023 Resident of the Month.