Last updated 10/13/2021
Since retiring, Betty has concentrated on building her art career under her maiden name, “Daron.” Her work and art bio can be viewed at DaronDesigns.com. She has also taken on the daunting task of digitizing and preserving extensive genealogy records collected by her father of over 18,000 “cousins.” Betty is an active member of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Cal State Fullerton, the USC Staff Retirement Association, and the Yorba Linda Community Center.
Betty Redmon holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Speech and English and a Master’s Degree in Theatre Arts. Following eight-years of high school teaching, she made her career as an administrator at USC, for 24 years in the Department of Pathology and for the last 4 years as Executive Director of the USC Emeriti Center. Upon her retirement in August 2005, she was named Director Emerita. At USC, she served as president of both the Staff Club and the Staff Assembly. Betty was listed in International Who’s Who of Professional Management and Who’s Who Registry of Global Business Leaders, served as USC delegate to the Bryn Mawr Summer Institute and to President Sample’s inauguration, and received the President’s Award for Staff Achievement.
Lessons Learned
- Tennis shoes are far more comfortable than high heels.
- An exercise routine only works if you actually do it. ‘Routine’ is the keyword.
- In retirement, it is even easier to gain weight.
- Try to leave your work in good shape and at a good time, and then drop the guilt about what you failed to accomplish.
- Your best paying job is probably the one you have. If you think you will be short of money, consider negotiating for part-time or for phased retirement. It might even mean making your present job a place you want to stay forever.
- I am only unhappy with retirement .001 percent of the time, which is less than I was unhappy with work.
- Retiring was like graduation from high school—I was off on an adventure with definite plans for the next four years, only thank goodness I wasn’t 18 again.
- What I did part-time while working is mostly what I do now full-time.
- Setting goals keeps you from spending too much time working jigsaw puzzles.
- Retirement is like estate planning—you can invest your time and effort in those things you truly value, with the return being joy and fulfillment.
- Although I am routine-adverse and get bored quickly, a degree of routine holds life together.
- To my surprise, I discovered that all my friends lived miles away—so I met my neighbors, took up a class at a community center, and joined a lifelong learning group at a university near my home.
- Closets, once straightened, just get cluttered again.
- Some people retire because they have to, perhaps for health or caregiving reasons, and they adjust to their situations and become either more loving or more embittered. Some people retire because they are bored with their job, or hate commuting, or dislike their boss, or are just tired. These people often wish they were back at work in 6 to 12 months. Some people retire because there is something they need time to do that will bring more fulfillment than their job.
- May each of you retire TO . . . rather than FROM . . . .
- “Age happens.”
Betty Redmon, 2007
Elizabeth Daron Redmon talks with RFA Board member Bob Stallings about her art, samples of which are displayed here. Her Web site is DaronDesigns.com.