Though she is nearly 90 years old, Joan Leonard’s interest in the piano has yet to wane in the 80-plus years she’s played the instrument.
On many mornings, some residents and guests at Village Green are still treated to the musical tones from the piano that sits in her living room.
Leonard grew up in Oregon, just outside the suburbs of Portland. It was there, at an early age, that she became interested in the piano.
“I pleaded with my parents to take music lessons at the age of 5,” Leonard said. “They didn’t want to push me too much because it wasn’t their idea. It was my idea. I really wanted to learn how to play that old piano.”
She was never one of the children that was put on a strict schedule for practicing, and she developed her skills at her own pace. One incentive for her was that her mother would do the dishes as long as she kept playing.
The feedback she’s heard from other residents has been positive. She played a lot of music from the radio by ear as she was growing up and is still able to play many to this day – to the delight of many of the other residents.
“They know the words a lot better than I do,” Leonard laughed. “You don’t have to ask them ‘did they know about the songs?’”
Leonard now frequently helps out with the singalongs at Village Green. Her children are big fans of her rendition of “Chattanooga Choo-Choo.”
Another one of her big hobbies is painting, and she often invites others to join in her art. On a table in her living room sit four small, painted birdhouses that others, including some caretakers, have painted with her.
“One of the helpers here – who is just lovely – I wanted to see what she’d paint,” Leonard said while showing off a birdhouse with flowers painted on the back. “She’s never had any lesson, but she’s really talented. I said, ‘Where did you learn how to do that, Rosa?’”
Leonard attended Oregon State University, where she studied early childhood education. While she was there, the school grew rapidly due to soldiers returning from the war.
She moved to Washington with her husband in in 1966, when he took a job at Weyerhaeuser. At that point they had six school-age children, the first two of whom were twins.
“Right then, it was really hard to find a house with five bedrooms,” Leonard said. “A lot of three bedrooms. Twin Lakes was just beginning to build and we needed it right then. We found a very nice home in northeast Tacoma, and it was made for us, so we bought it.”
They were able to put all six of their children through college, including one through Stanford.
Leonard taught school in Federal Way for 17 years. She started out teaching at Panther Lake Elementary School before moving to the then-new Twin Lakes Elementary.
“We learned a lot,” Leonard said. “We did a lot of good things and we worked like hell.”
She decided to work on her master’s degree after seven years at Twin Lakes. One of her only regrets was that she never tried to become a principal, but she ultimately decided her health was more important and retired instead.
Leonard says that one of her favorite things about Village Green since she’s moved in has been the chef.
“Everything he fixes is just wonderful,” Leonard said. “He makes the best soup I have ever tasted. I never liked soup too well until I ate his soup.”
Though she could do with a little more sunshine, Leonard says she doesn’t think she could live anywhere but in the Pacific Northwest.
Terrence M. Hill 