The first thing she wanted to do was watch Oprah, which comes on at 4 o'clock. When she was working, Bea Seebohm never was able to watch TV on weekday afternoons.

        Ah, retirement.

Bea and Walt Seebohm, like many people, find themselves just as busy in retirement as they were while they were working. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

        Kick back, relax. Set your own schedule. Watch Oprah. Watch anything you want, do anything you want. Do absolutely nothing, if you want.

        As it turns out, that's not what Bea Seebohm wanted. Sorry, Oprah. Bea hardly ever watches TV nowadays. It doesn't fit into her retirement plans.

        In fact, retirement itself wasn't in this 72-year-old's plans. She loved directing Mariemont schools' Extended Time, a latchkey program for children in kindergarten through grade 6. Bea started the program in 1983.

        But then cardiovascular disease caught up with her. A year ago June, Bea had open-heart surgery. And last December, she retired.

52 years together
        “We decided, let's enjoy each other and our family,” she says, touching the arm of her 74-year-old husband, Walt, in their Sharonville home. “But we do volunteer a lot, don't we?”

        “You do more than I do,” says Walt, who retired nine years ago from carpentry and home remodeling.

        He knows her well. Next month they'll celebrate their 52nd wedding anniversary. “Bea's busy all the time,” Walt says. “She's busy all the time.”

        The open-heart surgery, just as breast cancer did 18 years ago, slowed her only temporarily. She recovered from both. Then it was back to being a busy Bea.

        Her calendar is full of scribbled notes. Thursday she was to be in Columbus for a meeting of Ohio Professionals For School-Age Care. She's also working to establish an after-school program for children at her church.

        Today she'll be in Fairborn for an all-day Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) conference. After she retired, her local chapter tabbed her to be regent, which is akin to president.

        Her DAR duties take her to the Veterans Administration Hospital where she visits patients, and to the historic Christian Waldschmidt house at Camp Dennison, where she dresses in period costume and portrays the wife of the Revolutionary War veteran.

        She'll also dress in period costume for October's Halloween program at Heritage Village Museum at Sharon Woods. She wears normal clothes in her role as a school contact for Hamilton County Environmental Services.
       

A full calendar
       

        She and Walt still find time to enjoy each other. They took a trip to Mount Rushmore, the Grand Tetons, the Badlands, Santa Fe and more.

        On Mondays, they go to the Sharonville Community Center and join other senior citizens for a meeting, lunch and fellowship.

        “I didn't join until she retired,” Walt says.

        “He's not a joiner like I am,” Bea says.

        They attend a 7 a.m. Bible Study on Wednesdays. They are enrolled in a monthly cooking class. “On the 20th of September, we're signed up to go on a mystery dinner,” Bea says. “We get on a bus and travel somewhere to eat. We have no idea where we're going.”

        But they know where they'll end up. They built their home themselves 42 years ago. It's a showcase for Walt's carpentry skills. The abundance of wood radiates a feeling of warmth, much like the Seebohms themselves.

        This is where they raised three boys, who bring their families back for holidays and birthdays.

        The property is about 100 feet from Sharon Woods Lake, which Bea views with a certain satisfaction. Years ago the lake was clogged with silt and was destined to become a swamp. She started a petition drive and helped convinced officials to save the lake.

        Inside the Seebohm home are hundreds of decorative bees, gifts from people through the years.

        Bea, who still drops by the Mariemont Extended Time program, always made sure to teach the children there about bees. She explained what good workers they are, how they make honey and pollinate plants. She wanted them to understand just how important a busy bee is to the world.

        Then again, they saw that every day.
       

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