... always be active.
Betty McKray
Betty McKray said the key to happiness is to always keep busy.
"I've had a good life, and I think that has to do with always being active," said McKray, 86. "I wanted to be a part of things."
McKray just finished two terms as chairwoman of the Resident Council at Oaknoll Retirement Residence in Iowa City, where she lives. She also has taught genealogy classes for Kirkwood Community College and the Senior Center, and chaired the Iowa City Cable Commission. For fun, she keeps tabs on the local theater scene.
"I think keeping busy makes you a part of what's going on," she said.
McKray always has been goal-oriented, a trait she attributes to having grown up the eldest of 10 children during the Great Depression. Despite the family's hardships, McKray said her parents always showed her that anything was possible with hard work and perseverance.
"I'm very fortunate that I don't feel that I was deprived or denied opportunities," she said. "My parents were really creative at making do of things. We grew a garden for food, we raised fruit trees and honey bees; we made ends meet."
McKray moved to Iowa City to attend the University of Iowa, where she graduated with a degree in social work.
"I grew up thinking all I had to do was get to college. If I got a diploma, I could do anything," she said.
McKray took a job in rural Johnson County after graduation but soon joined the Womens Army Corp. For more than two years, she interviewed recruits as a classifications specialist.
After the war ended, McKray returned to social work. She worked for the University of Iowa until her retirement in 1985.
Seven years ago, McKray's husband died and since then she has lived at Oaknoll. Her three children are spread across the country but McKray said she doesn't get lonely.
When she isn't attending Resident Council meetings or teaching people how to delve into their family histories, she is looking for something else to occupy her time.
"You are never too old to be active," she said.
— Hieu Pham
