Fox Run Resident Helping Others Who Share Her Passion

When Joslen Letscher and husband Bill Moran decided to shed the responsibility of their duplex in Dearborn, Michigan, their main priority for a new downsized home was a familiar one. Location, location, location.

Their first instinct was a condo on a lake. Plus, the couple enjoyed nature hikes.

Then Letscher -- a professor in the Education Department at the University of Detroit Mercy -- happened across the Fox Run retirement community in Novi, a spot that had, well, just about everything.

"We could get to Walled Lake any time, that was about a mile down the road," Letscher said. "Down 12 Mile Road, there's the (Michigan State) Tollgate Farm where there are horses and they do agricultural work. We wouldn't be too far from Twelve Oaks Mall and we were close to expressways so I could get to work very quickly and … (Bill) could get to Ann Arbor in about the same time as travelled from Dearborn where we were living."

That was in 2004 when Bill, who passed away about three years ago, was still working at the University of Michigan.

"So we looked at each other and said, 'Why would we go to a condo near a lake when we could be here,'" Letscher recalled. "We were surrounded by woods, we could walk into the woods anytime we wanted to. We could walk to the lake or the MSU Farm and see animals. Why buy a condo that we'd have to sell in a few years anyway? So we decided to skip that step and move to Fox Run."

Letscher said that the move to Fox Run, an Erickson Living community, has been immensely helpful in both continuing her career as an educator of educators and in allowing her to do the sort of things that she and Bill had enjoyed so much over the years, which included traveling.

Together, they took National Geographic trips around-the-world; visited Ireland frequently and traveled elsewhere in the UK and Europe, even to the Galapagos Islands. And as loyal fans of the Detroit Tigers, they made the occasional road trip to away games.

"We weren't responsible for the upkeep (of the apartment) and we could turn our key and walk away and travel or do whatever we wanted to and not have to be concerned about the house," Letscher said.
Joslen and Bill have been contributing members of Fox Run. Bill helped lead the Fox Run Resident Advisory Council and Joslen is on the Dining Services Committee, assists with the recycling effort as well as helping run the Center for Continuous Learning.

"We have four restaurants and the fitness center and everything else but our community is our people," said Peggy Mather, the community resources manager at Fox Run. "And both Bill and Joslen, have been such wonderful examples of what it means to be part of the community and how we can make it the place we want it to be."

Like other Erickson communities, Fox Run does have a variety of dining options. For Letscher, who often teaches in the evening, the most convenient are two casual dining restaurants, the cafeteria-style Hunt Club Café and the Jockey Pub, which has a friendly atmosphere and tasty a la carte food.

"Plus there's an opportunity to see and talk with people who you see in the hallway or at meals and that socializing is very important," she said.

The nearby nature paths are also much appreciated by Letscher's beagle mix who enjoys the walks; she's had three dogs, all older rescues, since moving to Fox Run.

However, what is especially important to Letscher is that she continues to teach, and that she is helping others who share her passion for preparing children for the world. And she has no plans to stop.

"I enjoy what I do," she said. "I enjoy working with people in education as they work to figure out what to do help kids learn and to help kids, period. I don't think the kids walking into our classrooms today have any more needs than what kids used to have but they're more pronounced and more obvious. … And I just love working with people in education who are putting their hearts and souls into helping these kids."

For Letscher moving to Fox Run was the right move at the right time.

"It was a great time to move in. Would I do it again? I would because we enjoyed living here," she said. "We were both active in the community. Bill was the Chairman of the Resident Advisory Council plus he did many other things in the community. I've been on the Dining Services Committee and with the Center for Continuous Learning. So there are so many opportunities where you can contribute to the community and make sure it continues to be a vibrant, life-affirming place to live."

Picture: Joslen Letscher (center) enjoys engaging with her students at the University of Detroit Mercy.