Densho Digital Archive
Manzanar National Historic Site Collection
Title: Mary Blocher Smeltzer Interview
Narrator: Mary Blocher Smeltzer
Interviewer: Richard Potashin
Location: La Verne, California
Date: July 17, 2008
Densho ID: denshovh-smary-01-0018

<Begin Segment 18>

RP: Are there, are there any other stories about your life and your commitment to the church that you'd like to share with us?

MS: Oh, my. Well...

RP: Probably a lot.

MS: I can't, I don't know. I didn't think up anything, but, 'course, I did, you know, this Hillcrest place was started by the Church of the Brethren, and they, they've been having a time financially here. We built a whole bunch of new buildings, and we had to borrow a bunch of money. And somebody wasn't too smart because they're having trouble. And so they got in touch, there's what they call a Pacific Retirement Services, and they have a complex, a home, I don't call it a home, but they have one in Davis where my oldest daughter lives, but they have some in Oregon. And so our group here has been looking with them, but they, we need some help to handle our finances here. Somebody hasn't been -- with the finances. And we're not gonna go with the Pacific Retirement people, 'cause I think they just want us to give our place over to them and we're not gonna do it. Like what they have in Davis, they have a three-story building, but they don't have any campus. We have a beautiful campus here, and we have an east and west. And it's nice to walk around in, and people like it. So I understand my, I talked to my sister-in-law, she was at some meeting that I wasn't at, and they're talking with somebody else. But I think we need some help to take care of the money that we borrowed. And of course, Chuck thinks it's partly because, you know, the housing problem they've had, and people aren't moving here as fast. But there's also some buildings we started that we haven't finished. And I think the reason we haven't finished it is 'cause we don't have the money. And I think we would have people that would move into 'em if they got finished, but they haven't. So, you know, we're having a little problem, too. But at my age, I just decided, let 'em worry about it. I'm not worrying about it. And I don't think this place is going to go bankrupt, and I don't think it's going to go under, and I've been here twenty-three years, and I think it'll be okay. And, of course, I don't know how many more years I've got, but I might not have even five. But, you know, Chuck and I are getting along fine, and it's nice to have a partner. And I have a bunch that celebrates birthdays together, and there's only one other woman that's got a partner, and she's married. And then they spend half a year in Minnesota and a half a year here. Well, Chuck and I, we just were here.

But anyway, I think our generation, mine, and even my daughter's generation, my oldest child, is sixty-two, she was born in '46. Well, she's (...) doing very well. But somehow, the next generation, I think they're going to have more trouble than Marty's generation or my generation. And, of course, I think that the president, president we've had for eight years has helped us really go downhill, and it's being very hard. And the gap between the rich and the poor is huge. And you know, when Clinton and Obama are running for president, they're both millionaires. And the reason they're millionaires, they've both written books, and the books have been bringing 'em in a big income. 'Cause Obama, he wouldn't be that rich if he hadn't done those two books. And Hilary, she's done I don't know how many books. And, of course, McCain, his wife is the one that's got all the money. But anyway, it's a, it's a mixed up situation now.

RP: There's still a lot of social issues out there that haven't been confronted.

MS: Right. And, of course, the Democrats have had a really hard time getting good leadership. And to do what they believe in doing, and the Republicans just worry about the corporations and the rich people, and they don't worry about the common ordinary people. And I'm really prejudiced, of course, but they told Chuck when he was getting together with me, "Well, you know she's a Democrat." Well, most of 'em around here are probably Republican. They're not all, though, now there's, I've even got a brother-in-law that I was surprised he's a Democrat now, too. [Laughs]

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.