Meet Your September Resident of the Month!
Mrs. Veronica Funchess-Horner was born in North Philadelphia, the second of four children, where they lived until moving to West Oak Lane when she was sixteen. Up through the move, Miss Veronica attended Catholic school and still recalls the strict separation of the girls from the boys, including different wings, no talking during lunchtime, and separate buses. She shared, “Being the kids we were, we found ways around the rules.”
Miss Veronica describes herself as a scaredy-cat, admitting that even though she would be excited to go to the Willow Grove Amusement Park or to visit Santa at Gimbels, when it came her turn to get on a ride or sit on Santa’s lap she would start crying. At home, her house was the “go-to” spot for the neighborhood children. Her mother did not want them running the streets, so she purchased a stereo set for their finished basement. Miss Veronica, her siblings and friends would dance the Bop and the Cha-Cha to the sounds of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Four Tops, Martha and the Vandellas, and others.
After high school, Miss Veronica started working at Woolworth’s before working at Colonial Penn, then Comcast, and finally retiring from Reinsurance Solutions International. Miss Veronica is the very proud mother of two sons, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren, saying, “I love all my babies!” Her words of advice: “Always be kind to one another. No matter what the circumstances are, be kind.”
