William D. Young Receives 2006 Heart of a
Hero Award
Grandma Ora Wins Foster Grandparent Award
Veteran’s Memorial Plaza Dedication Set for May 25th
Seniors Online: Internet Dating Reaches Maturity
Seniors Dissatisfied With White House Conference on Aging Report
California Department of Consumer Affairs Hosts Summit to Tackle Senior Issues
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Senior Health: Seniors: Preventing a Fall Can Save Your Life!
Stan's
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Lions Will Meet the Dragons on a Partly Sunny Day
Ted Ruhig: New Medicare Drug Act: All We Can Do Is Hope and Pray
Day Trips: A Loon Watch, Mount Grant and the Facts of Poetry
Dutch Treat: What’s for Dinner and Who’s Doing the Cooking Now?
Your Thoughts: Spectrum Expressions
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Continued...
It
was a long road from his hometown of Lynchburg, Tennessee,
where he was born in 1932, to his present time in the Senior
Legislature.
Young grew up near Huntsville, Alabama, and he joined the Air Force in 1952
before completing his senior year. He was raised by his mother, and they were
sharecroppers.
He has one brother and one sister.
Young came to California in 1954 with Air Force, and he was stationed in Japan
during the Korean War, where he was trained as aircraft engine mechanic and
supply technician.
Young saw no combat in the Air Force, and after the service, he worked in a
variety of careers, from the service station business to photography and sales.
“I eventually took my GED and received a high school diploma,” said
Young. “And I spent a four-year apprenticeship in radio and radio repair.”
“I then took U.C. Berkley extension courses at McClellan AFB,” he
said humbly, “And eventually I received a PhD in adult education.”
“I speak moderate Japanese and Spanish, too, and in 2005, I completed the
U.C. Davis Mini-Medical School.”
Besides foster grandparenting five days a week, Young is a senior senator. “The
second most important thing in life to me is the Senior Legislature,” said
Young.
“Just like the regular legislature, California has 80 senior assembly members
and 40 senior senators. They are voted in by the county Area on Aging groups.”
“I spent six months as a senior assemblyman, then moved into the senior
senator position. I’ve been there ever since, doing my best to help seniors
through the critical issues facing us all. I’ve served three two-year terms,
and now that the senior senator has changed to four-year terms, I’m just
beginning another four-year term,” said Young.
“In the Senior Legislature, we take over the State Capitol in Sacramento
for four days each year,” he said with a laugh. “And the State
Capitol is also where I serve on the Social and Community Services committee.
I often
wear two badges.”
“There are many tough issues facing seniors right now, and whether you’re
rich or poor, male or female, working or retired, you need someone in your corner.
That’s what the Senior Legislature is all about, and that’s what
I am all about.”
“Lola is my ex-wife, but she is also my fulltime, live-in caretaker. We
have a 46-year-old son named Louis who lives in Salinas. I am disabled. Around
20 years ago, I was diagnosed with a fatal form of cancer, lymphoma carcinoma.
Through treatment and drastic lifestyle changes, I’ve been cancer-free
for 18 years,” Young said with pride.
And as an interesting side-note, Bill Young did not know about a son he had
named David “Daniel” Rivers for 45 years.
“His mother didn’t tell him I was the father until he was eight or
nine years old,” said Young.
“David, 48, is now a Paratransit driver in Sacramento, and a friend of
mine was talking to him on a trip. She heard his name and mentioned it to Lola,
saying the man sounded like a relation to me. I called him, and we met last
Thanksgiving. He is definitely my son, and we now see each other weekly.”
And Bill Young’s footprints are everywhere now, from the halls of the
State Capitol, where he is an advocate for senior issues, to the Sacramento
classrooms
where he spends eights hours a day teaching youth from around the world how
to be an American.
Those students are learning from one of the best, and a majority of senior
advocates say the critical senior issues being heard are thanks to people like
William
D. Young.
This page and its contents ©2006
Metropolitan News Company, Inc.
