The Rx for a Happy Retirement

Their expert advice is that Sedgebrook is the perfect prescription for an active and fun retirement. Martin (Marty) Lebedun, Arthur Mills, Harold Rothchild, Byron Sturt and Jerry Handler have found themselves in the happily surprising position of having moved into the same retirement community. All retired pharmacists, four of who attended pharmacy school together at University of Illinois in Chicago, charted their decisions to move to Sedgebrook separately, but are enjoying living this chapter of their lives together.

Collectively, the pharmacists have more than 215 years-and counting-of work experience. (Handler is officially retired but at 84, still works several times monthly). Each owned his own pharmacy for at least part of his career. This includes the well-known Endler Pharmacy in Skokie, which was Lebedun's for 45 years.

The men are all still interested in talking about their careers. "We all like to hang out with each other. We still like to get together and talk about what's going on in the industry," said Mills.

They also like to compare notes on their lives at Sedgebrook. Mills was the first of the gentlemen to move there four years ago, with Lois, his wife of 62 years. "Our kids live nearby and come over all of the time for dinner," he said. "Our social life is here now. If we had stayed in our home in Buffalo Grove, we'd be by ourselves. Here, we've made tons of friends."

Lebedun moved to Sedgebrook almost two years ago with Miriam, his wife of 61 years. "We figured it was time. We're smart enough to understand our frailties and what lies ahead. We looked around at different retirement communities, and this was the best of them with wonderful facilities and amenities," Lebedun said. "There's everything we could possibly need. A wonderful workout room, a pool and a full medical staff on duty. The biggest thing is the people. Everyone here is friendly. That was the key. It's a great place to live."

Sturt said that when looking at potential retirement communities, a main advantage of Sedgebrook was "location, location, location." Furthermore he said, "Other places had old people. Here, everyone is really active, and males make up a larger than average percentage compared to other communities." Sturt said that he loves the fact that his grandchildren live nearby as it facilitates their ability to come and have dinner with him.

Handler, who has lived at Sedgebrook for three years, moved there from his five-bedroom home in Northbrook. "It was a waste of money and difficult to maintain, so I started looking. I wanted to stay in the area," he said. Handler now finds himself splitting his time. "I'm out quite a bit. I have an outside life. I also have a life here. When I stop driving, I'll still have an active life here. I try to keep busy, and am very active," he said.

Lebedun noted, "Living at Sedgebrook is like living on a cruise ship and each of the apartments is a cabin. And without Sedgebrook, I wouldn't have reconnected with these nice gentlemen. I love hanging out with them. They're nice guys."

Purely by coincidence, Handler and Sturt learned that their grandsons had been roommates at U of I two years ago. They're still in touch and perhaps some day in the future will be neighbors at Sedgebrook.