March Resident of the Month

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This month, Jefferson Healthcare Center had the pleasure of sitting down with Loretta Colby to hear more about her life and the fond memories she had growing up. Loretta was born into a big family, including a total of five brothers and two sisters. Her family resided in Kingsville, Ohio, and Loretta graduated from Kingsville High School with the class of 1954.

After high school, Loretta attended Western Reserve College, which later became Case Western, and was a Nurse in training at St. Luke’s Hospital on Shaker Blvd in Cleveland. In 1957, she began her career at Ashtabula Hospital, remaining there until her retirement in 1998. While raising her children, she worked in many areas of the hospital as she stated, “anywhere that I was needed.” For the last 20 years, she was mainly a recovery room nurse.


Loretta met her husband, James, in the church they both attended; Wesleyan Methodist Church in Ashtabula. The couple was married on October 4, 1958, and have three children; Timothy, Joanne, and Janice. The two girls were actually born on the same day, two years apart! James was a maintenance worker at Elkem Metals and also spent some time working in the kitchen at the Wesleyan Methodist Campground in Stonesboro, Pa.

James passed away in 2008, but Loretta has stayed active and involved with her family, which she really enjoys, as well as her various hobbies and interests. Nursing seems to run in the family, as Loretta’s niece is a Nurse here at Jefferson Healthcare Center and her granddaughter is also a Nurse. Loretta enjoys spending time with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. They enjoy playing UNO in the Bird Room and visiting with her in her room. Loretta is looking forward to attending her grandson’s wedding in March. Another grandson, Ayden, is involved with activities at the Jefferson Fire Department and made a real success out of selling pumpkins in the fall. Loretta shared, “he is an old man in a boy’s body!”

Loretta enjoys reading current books and getting together with her book club. She also likes to create, doing a lot of knitting and crocheting. “You can crochet a lot of your worries away," exclaimed Loretta. You can often catch up with Loretta at one of our facility's various activity groups.

We love getting to know you better, Loretta! You are a joy to have at our facility!