Veralyne Fenty (Obituary)
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- Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:35:42 -0400
Denver Post, Colorado USA
Monday, October 15, 2007
Veralyne Fenty (Obituary)
By Virginia Culver
After accident blinded her, she lived to help others
Veralyne Fenty wanted to die after an auto accident had left her blind in 1975.
She attempted suicide several times, she told friends and co-workers, but with
psychiatric help and the aid of organizations for the blind, she finally built
a new life.
Fenty became a leading volunteer for Health Service Empowerment Transformation
- or Health S.E.T. - where she counseled the blind and those losing their
eyesight.
She was an inspiration to clients, one of whom called her a "rock." Another
said, "You taught me I could manage my life."
Fenty, 73, died on Sept. 15 at the Veterans Affairs hospital following colon
surgery.
When helping clients, Fenty told them to start with baby steps: Learn how to
make your bed and how to make coffee.
She connected clients with support groups, told them how to ride buses or use
accessa-Ride, and how to get downtown to the opera or the ballet, both of which
she loved and attended.
While she was always sympathetic, Fenty wouldn't accept stories of
hopelessness.
She would call a severely depressed client every day if that's what it took to
boost morale, said Sue Fenniman, program coordinator for the Senior Vision
Program at Health S.E.T.
Fenty also "scolded and exhorted" if that was necessary. "She didn't put up
with whining," said Fenniman.
Fenty also volunteered at the Colorado Talking Book Library, Families of the
Blind, SHARE Colorado and Blinded Veterans Association.
"She lived a very spartan life" in a trailer off East Colfax Avenue, said
Suzanne Greene, director of the Douglas/Elbert Task Force. "All her energy went
to volunteering."
When Fenty spoke to groups, she loved to use the line, "Depression can't hit a
moving target."
Veralyne Elizabeth Mosley Fenty was born March 21, 1934, in Baltimore, majored
in music her two years at Morgan State College there, earned an associate
degree in general education at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, Calif., and
served in the Air Force during the Korean War.
She was blinded and left in a body cast after a 1975 accident in California.
After the suicide attempts, she spent 18 months in a psychiatric hospital,
according to Fenniman.
She attended the Braille Institute for the Blind and graduated from the
Business Enterprise Program for the Blind, both in Los Angeles.
For eight years she owned and managed Fenty's Cafeteria in Los Angeles.
She returned to Maryland in the 1980s to care for her dying mother, Anna
Mosley, became a volunteer there, and in 1986 was named Maryland's volunteer of
the year.
She moved to Denver in the early 1990s.
There are no known survivors.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Article Last Updated: 10/15/2007 11:34:00 PM MDT
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_7187589
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