Veteran Voices: Jerry Coe

In honor of Veterans Day, we are featuring stories of Front Porch residents who served in our armed forces. This is the story of Jerry Coe, a Sunny View resident, who served on the front line as a forward observer.

I was working at Sutherland Paper Company as a commercial artist and also building our first house when I got my "greeting" for induction on March 2, 1951. I was to report on March 29th. I wrote a letter asking for a deferment so I could get the house closed. They granted me a postponement until May 10, 1951. My uncle and brother-in-law served in World War II, and they both saw action.

My first camp was at Fort Custer, which was 20 miles from home, so my family was able to visit on the weekends. After basic training, I was sent to Camp Breckinridge in Morganfield, Kentucky. I used to hitch rides home whenever I could – all the way from Kentucky to Michigan! By the time I got home, I didn't have much time left, but we stayed in our new home that I had built, even though it wasn't done. 

I was on the front line as a forward observer with a scope calling fire and spotting the enemy. We lived in bunkers in the hill. We all wrote letters back and forth. In the beginning, I never got any letters, even though my mother and wife were writing to me every day! It finally dawned on me to ask if there was any mail under my given name of Merrill instead of my nickname of Jerry. They said, "Are you kidding? We’ve got a whole box here for Merrill!" They had only known me as "Jerry."

I was sent back to the States and discharged on February 11, 1953.

LifeBio is an engagement program that captures cherished memories and lasting legacies through storytelling. Since launching in 2000, LifeBio has helped 20,000 people tell their life stories through autobiographical tools and services for all levels of care. LifeBio uses technologies as mediums to help individual document their stories in an easy and unique way such as tablets, web cams, and audio and video equipment. LifeBio has been a partner with Front Porch since 2009. For more details, check out LifeBio’s Impact Story on the Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing (FPCIW) website.

Watts Project Keeps Sunny View on the Cutting Edge of Technology

With the generosity of residents Lyn and Bruce Watts, Sunny View Retirement Community has launched the “Watts Project” to help with resident care through innovation and technology.

This project brings new technology along with training for Sunny View staff and was inspired by a pilot project in partnership with the Front Porch Center for Innovationand Wellbeing and Intel.

The pilot provided Sunny View staff members with 10 Microsoft Surface tablets to use in their daily duties. Intel and the Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing implemented the study to analyze how technology can help increase staff productivity. At the conclusion of the study Sunny View was able to keep four tablets.

“Four Surface tablets just didn’t seem to be enough to get the work done,” Bruce said. “I wanted to make sure the staff had enough equipment to ensure we had the best care available.” With the Watts’ contribution, Sunny View will purchase seven additional tablets. The Watts will also contribute additional funds each year to help keep this project funded into the future. Whether it’s new technology or more training for staff, the Watts Project will keep Sunny View at the cutting edge of resident care.

“I am extremely excited about the Watts Project,” said Sunny View Executive Director Sally Plank. “We learned a lot from the study. Putting technology into the hands of our staff helps us understand how it streamlines some of our processes and motivates our staff to implement new ideas.”