Moving in Unison
JEAN AND BRIAN’S ACTIVE RETIREMENT
“It’s really addicting,” Jean adds.
In addition to playing in Colorado, the Leikhuses head down to Quail Creek in Arizona during the winter, where they belong to an active 55-plus community. “We did a guest stay program at Quail Creek,” Brain says. “It didn’t take us long to realize we wanted to be part of a community of folks our age who wanted to stay active and have fun.” Being part of that community and keeping up with lifelong friends in Colorado allow Brian and Jean to stay social and be in great shape. “I think the key to enjoying retirement is picking things you want to do and pursuing them with discipline,” Jean says. “In addition to playing sports, I garden, and I love yoga, but the list goes on. Finding activities you love to do is so important.”
Quail Creek medal winners at the Mexico International Pickleball Tournament
After 34 years of federal service, Jean Liekhus retired on Dec. 31, 2011. At the time, she was serving as a WIC director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a job she deeply enjoyed and had worked hard to achieve. Jean’s retirement, then, wasn’t entirely of her own volition. “I did not feel like my work was complete when I retired, but I was at a time in my life when I had the means to, and my mother was suffering from Alzheimer’s,” Jean recalls. “Sometimes, you have to respond when life calls you.”
In Brian’s case, his love of pickleball (and, while he’s too humble to admit it, his skill at it) has created some once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Just recently, the couple traveled to San Carlos, Mexico, so Brian could play in a tournament. “It was amazing to see people from all over the world coming together to play this little game we all love,” he says. “I certainly never would’ve guessed that playing in international athletics tournaments would be part of my retirement, but I’m so glad that it is.”
The Mexico International Pickleball Tournament in San Carlos
Aside from enjoying Champagne and orange juice on the first morning of her post-work life, Jean didn’t have much time to decide what the beginning of her retirement would look like. She cared for her mother and began transitioning to a life after her career. Sadly, Jean’s mother passed two years after Jean retired. It was then that Jean and her husband, Brian, began to ask what was next. Aside from traveling, which the couple knew would be an integral part of their retirement, they turned to athletics to provide structure and excitement to their lives. “Being active and playing sports are what get us up in the morning,” Brian says. “It’s our major source of fun. It also doesn’t hurt that being active and using your mind, two things sports make you do, help to fight the signs of dementia and Alzheimer’s, conditions that run in both of our families.” While Jean has taken to golf , Brian has found a newer sport to call his own, pickleball. “We were introduced to the sport through some friends,” he remembers. “Eventually, we met Pickleball Ken, a prominent member of the Colorado pickleball community, through pure coincidence. At the time, we were working to secure grants to build 16 courts at Apex in Arvada. We’ve been playing ever since.”
Brian Liekhus and Dave Mungo (a former federal gov. employee) at Quail Creek Pickleball courts for the Senior Games Tournament
Brian and Jean’s retirement is proof that when you pursue your passions and seize opportunities, retirement can be an adventure full of wonderful surprises.
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