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Few counties across our country can match Erie County’s dedication and hands-on approach for taking care of our fellow citizens who are poor, ill or elderly…as far back as the 1850s! When I was elected to serve on the Erie County Common Pleas Court as Judge in 1984, I was the first woman judge elected to that position. We had a vibrant work force and a good economy, but life was changing. Families faced more divorces; families became fragmented for the first time in American history. As adult children started to work far away from aging parents, grandparents, aunt and uncles, this gave rise to many senior issues arising in my court through guardianship proceedings. Seniors were being abused or neglected in ways that were similar to child abuse. Things had to change. Erie County needed one place to call when senior citizens needed help- regardless of where they lived in Erie County. Back then, the Erie County senior citizen population was 16%. Today, 30% of Erie County residents are ages 60+ – almost double. Senior Citizen Activists Laid the Groundwork Few people know that Serving Our Seniors was established by a tiny group of senior citizen activists who lived in Erie County. Ray and Marian Koch, my husband Dean and I came up with an idea to create Serving Our Seniors. In our own small way, we became the first real senior citizen advocates in Erie County. Ray was the retired Director of NASA and his wife; Marian Koch was a retired bookkeeper. The two were a couple of dynamos. Now deceased, Marian and Ray were 68 years old at the time. They were largely responsible in establishing Serving Our Seniors and educating the community about the 1996 Senior Services Tax Levy, which funds the operations of Serving Our Seniors. Back then, By Retired Judge Jane Lucal Retired Judge Jane Lucal Judge Jane and Dean Lucal 6