A Home Like No Other
Eloise Dreese had a rough year in 2023, but with the help of family and friends, she was able to keep her spirits lifted. She feels fortunate to live in a place where she is surrounded with love and comfort: Masonic Village at Elizabethtown.
Eloise grew up in Lebanon, PA, and moved to Harrisburg after meeting her husband, Brother Ronald (Don) Dreese, Prince Edwin-Spring Creek Lodge No. 486, Middletown (Steelton-Swatara Lodge No. 775 before it merged). They met during a singles club event at the Hitching Post in Reading in March 1975. The only two open seats in the place were with Don and another man, so Eloise and her friend joined them. By June, both couples were engaged to one another and remained close over the years.
Don worked with the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources designing State Parks. The couple has two sons, who are both retired from the U.S. Navy. Eloise is proud of her sons, two daughters-in-law, grandson and two granddaughters, as well as six horses, 36 chicken, five dogs, 18 goats and one cat.
Eloise and Don enjoyed traveling to see their sons at the different military bases where they served, including Virginia, Georgia, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and to the various parks Don had a hand in creating. They attended concerts at Coleman Park in Lebanon and block parties in their neighborhood and were active in their church.
Don was encouraged by members of his church to join the Masonic fraternity. When he attended meetings, Eloise would join him for the dinner served beforehand and then participate in activities with other women. She is a member of Hershey Chapter No. 509, Order of the Eastern Star; she was the last Worthy Matron of the Steelton-Swatara Chapter before it merged with the Hershey Chapter.
“Don was a family guy who spent a lot of time with us,” she said. “Freemasonry got him out of the house with others.”
When it was time to consider a place to retire, Don and Eloise looked at other places, but Masonic Village offered benefits they couldn’t find anywhere else.
“They take care of you even if you run out of money, and we were happy with that,” Eloise said.
In 2010, they moved into an apartment in the Village Green area of campus, which had a view of the child care center on campus. Eloise loved to see the kids there, during trick or treat night and at the Masonic Children’s Home. She was excited to learn they needed a volunteer to help organize the greeting cards in the gift shop – a job she had held when she was younger. Don enjoyed playing bingo.
A man of few words, Don always had nice things to say about the landscape around campus. He especially enjoyed knowing the grass was mowed and the snow was shoveled without him.
In March 2023, Don passed away. The same year, Eloise’s nephew and a grandnephew died. A week after Don’s passing, Eloise broke the top of her femur, and soon after, the bottom part. She was in the hospital until the end of March and ended up moving from her apartment to the Masonic Health Care Center.
“I can’t expect my family to come every day to help me,” Eloise said. “The employees have been so helpful this last year. It’s indescribable. They can tell when you’re down, and they pick you up. You can joke with them. Some of the nurses call me ‘mom,’ and I call them ‘daughter.’ One even has the same name as one of my ‘grand-goats.’”
Eloise likes to stay busy. She volunteers to sort mail, serves on the resident council and attends weekly devotionals. She’s met a lot of new people and runs into some who were her neighbors in the Village Green area.
“Everyone says, ‘Hi, dear’ or ‘Hi, friend,’” she said. “They know my name even if I don’t know theirs.”
After a challenging year, Eloise is making the best of her situation.
“A big ‘thank you’ to the Masons and everyone who helps keep this place going and growing,” she said. “They’ve helped me in so many ways. I’m so glad Don was a Mason and chose this place to retire.”
