Veteran Returns to River Falls to Be Close to Family
For 8 years, 4 months, and 16 days, William Ray served in the National Guard. He enlisted and joined a unit in River Falls, Wisconsin, when he was a sophomore in high school. Following graduation, he moved to the West Coast and joined the 146th Evacuation Hospital, which is part of the California National Guard.
In River Falls, William’s positions were as a Jeep driver and radio operator. In California, he worked as an electrician. “My dad was an electrician by trade,” William said. “I had some knowledge of electricity. We had our own generators and so the doctors could use tools that required electricity in emergency situations.”
The National Guard is part of the U.S. military, and it serves both community and country. Soldiers respond when a disaster strikes at home and when the country needs assistance around the world. Guard Soldiers hold civilian jobs or attend college while maintaining their part-time military training.
While in California, William worked on the building maintenance team at an elementary school. Throughout the years, he has also worked at different farming operations in the Midwest.
William has recently moved back to River Falls and Wellhaven Senior Living to be closer to his family. “I have two brothers and two sisters who live in the area,” he explained. “I was one of four first cousins who graduated from high school in 1956. It’s great to have relatives so close.”
Most days after lunch, William spends time in the common areas reading his mail and visiting with other Wellhaven tenants.
William is only one of 80 veterans currently residing in a TLHA care community. In our 120th year of caring for souls, we are honoring both our veteran residents and team members. Our history begins with one family’s loss during the Civil War. A 15-year-old Ernst Boessling from Belle Plaine volunteered to serve with the Minnesota troops. He died in September of 1863 in service to his country at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
His mother, Sophie, had saved the government death benefits she received all the years after Ernst died. Wanting to provide a home for others like herself, she donated the money and her family’s farmland to build das Alten und Waisenheim—the Aged and Orphans’ Home. Now more than a century later, Sophie’s gift continues to benefit countless lives.
TLHA has active senior living, assisted living and memory care communities in Belle Plaine and Mankato, Minnesota, and River Falls, Fountain City, and Watertown, Wisconsin. Looking for a place to call home? Visit www.tlha.org/communities.