- By Jennifer McGhee -
When I asked Valerie if I could interview her as our Noteworthy Neighbor, she responded, "But I’m just an ordinary person - a retired nurse!" She went on to tell me about one of her first dinners at UVTO. The hostess sat her with a group of three other women and they soon discovered that all four were retired nurses! For those of us who have the pleasure of knowing Valerie, we enjoy her smile, positive energy and her obvious "love of people."
Valerie was born in Washington DC and grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Part of her families’ front lawn was in Washington DC, but their house was in Maryland. A couple of years ago, Valerie learned that the hospital where she was born is now an office building with Trader Joe’s on the first floor!
In 1943, Valerie joined 4 of her high school classmates at the Garfield Memorial Hospital School of Nursing. She was in the Cadet Nurses program, which was the government’s recruiting tool to get student nurses and therefore enable more graduate nurses to go into service. Valerie was paid a whopping $15 an hour!
Following her graduation in 1946, Valerie and a friend moved to LA to work at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital for 6 months before returning home to Maryland. She worked in recovery rooms for several years and went to the University of Maryland for her BS and then her Masters in Nursing. Highlights in Valerie’s career included teaching nursing at Washington Hospital Center and recruiting for nursing students at high schools around the country.
In 1970, after Valerie’s mom passed away, she moved with her dad to Calabasas so that they could be closer to her brother and his family. Valerie met Dallas TenBroeck through an interest in philosophy and the two really hit it off. Her dad passed away in 1973 and just five months later, Valerie and Dallas were married in Las Vegas!
Dallas was born in Hollywood, but grew up in India. "The Americanization of Dallas" became Valerie’s personal project. Dallas had not seen very much of the U.S., so they embarked on a cross-country road trip and visited many states including Colorado, New York, Washington DC and Texas (Dallas, Texas of course!)
Valerie and Dallas enjoyed golfing together. Their motto was "have golf clubs…will travel." Valerie’s favorite vacations were ones where they spent a lot of time golfing. She particularly loved golfing in Calabasas, Camarillo Springs, San Diego and Oregon.
Valerie lived in Calabasas for nearly 38 years until she moved to UVTO. For the past few years, Valerie has enjoyed doing things when she wanted to do them. At UVTO, she is the floor rep for Gardenview’s third floor and she loves going to the events in Catalina Hall. A nurse at heart, her nursing magazines still occupy the most room in her magazine rack.
Her friendly smile and her heart of gold make Valerie the
extraordinary Neighbor that we all know she is