People who know Jean Salls were surprised to hear the 62-year- old mother of three was joining the Peace Corps and going to Romania in February. But then again, they weren’t.
“I’m very happy in some respects, and sad in others,” co-worker Kathy Norton said. “She’s been a mentor, a friend, and an asset to our community. She’s one of those ladies who’s an inspiration to all women.”
Norton has worked with Salls for 10 years at United Way of Island County, where Salls was the executive director before retiring Jan. 17. Norton will take over the executive director position.
“She’s always been concerned about the welfare of others. She’s a giving, caring person,” Salls’ long-time friend Judy Hoyman said. “It’s the kind of thing she would do.”
Hoyman, who lives in Greenbank, has known Salls since they were both mothers living in the affluent Montlake neighborhood of Seattle in the 1970s.
Their sons were best friends, and the two women worked to prevent a private school on forested Capitol Hill in Seattle from being turned into condominiums. They were successful, and it was just one of many social projects Salls worked on.
Salls moved to Whidbey Island 10 years ago after a life-long career in social services to take the United Way position.
She said the idea of joining the U.S. government-sponsored volunteer organization has been brewing for 30 years.
“I kept hearing about, or knowing people who joined,” she said. In the mid 1990s she visited a friend in the Peace Corps stationed in the remote country of Lesotho, in the heart of South Africa.
Numerous times in her life she started the lengthy application process, only to decide the time was not right.
Finally, when she turned 62 she decided her time was at hand.
“I wasn’t ready to fully retire, and I wanted to go while I’m still healthy. Now I’ve got to join the Peace Corps. I’ve got to have this experience,” she said.
Friends were also surprised to hear Salls’ first choice of assignments was Romania, a country about the size of Oregon that most people couldn’t even find on a map.
The former communist country in Eastern Europe first came onto Salls’ radar screen in the early 1980s when she was working for the Salvation Army in Seattle, arranging transitional housing for Romanian refugees.
“I was impressed with their eagerness to learn everything, to be the best Americans they could be,” she said.
Most Americans learned of Romania after the overthrow and execution of dictatorial communist leader Nicolae Ceausecu in Dec. 1989. The iron curtain was pulled back to reveal thousands of Romanian orphans warehoused in nightmarish institutions that shocked the world. Many were adopted by western families, but the ones who still remain haunt Salls.
“I truly hope I will be assigned to a childrens program,” she said.
Salls’ general assignment in Romania is to develop non-profit organizations. She won’t know her location assignment until after she completes a three-month orientation, during which she will live with a Romanian family and take daily lessons in language and culture.
After that, she could be assigned anywhere from the Black Sea to the Carpathian Mountains; from a large non-profit center in a big city to a single agency in a remote village.
Wherever she is stationed, Salls anticipates there will be a great need for social services.
“When a country goes from a communist state to great freedom, a lot of people can get left in the dust,” she said.
Things are looking up in Romania, politically speaking. It was recently admitted to NATO, and is trying to qualify for admittance to the European Union. Salls said a main focus of the Peace Corps mission there is to raise the level of basic services to increase Romania’s odds of admission to the powerful economic union of European nations.
Salls has been told in Peace Corps briefings that the political climate is stable, but Americans should take precautions.
“Nightlife will be a thing of the past, but I’m used to that on Whidbey,” Salls joked with her trademark optimism.
Salls’ three grown children took the news of their mother’s adventure fairly well. They too were not totally taken by surprise.
“I told them that all my life I wanted to go into the Peace Corps,” she said.
Her friends and family have been very supportive, she said.
“My kids say ‘You’re our hero,’” she said. “I just think I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do.”
Her friends and family may not have to wait two years to see her again.
One of her grandsons is excited about coming to visit Salls, and take a trip to see Count Dracula’s castle. Other family members have talked about meeting her in Paris, or another exotic European location.
“It all sounds like something out of a book,” Salls said. “I can’t get a grip on it.”
After packing up her house and finding homes for her pets, Salls will leave for her adventure of a lifetime Feb. 10.
Farewell parties planned
The community will have an opportunity to say farewell to Jean Salls at two going away parties at the United Way office, 830 SE Bayshore Drive, Suite 200, Wednesday, Jan. 29. The first party will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The second will be from 4 p.m. to 6 pm.
