Before RoseMarie Battey volunteered as the SOAR LLI Field Trip Committee Chair, she worked for two Detroit Newspapers, she was a teacher, a school principal, Fulbright scholar, and a salesperson.

“I think I was maybe 75 when I had to quit to take care of my husband,” said Battey. “If it wasn’t for that I still would have been working. That’s when I became the biggest volunteer. I’m on every group, organization. I volunteer too much.”

Battey is a lifelong Michigan resident who now lives in Bloomfield Hills. She has been widowed three times and has 11 children; three children she gave birth to and eight children she “inherited.” She attended Wayne State University where she received multiple degrees, finishing with her doctorate.

Battey has been involved with the Field Trip Committee for almost as long as she has been a SOAR member, about 18 years, two years after she became a member. She said the committee was formed so that members could experience local culture.

“We wanted to give culture to members who wanted to take trips together,” explained Battey. “We wanted to share with other members exciting places that were local.” Battey is also a SOAR Board Emerita and attends the First Friday Movie Club, a SOAR Shared Interest Group (SIG).

Some of the volunteering Battey does centers around her zeal for gardening. Battey designed the garden at her home on Chalmers Lake. She said that she first became interested in gardening because her grandmother and mother were gardeners.

“I’m a gardener,” she said. “I have garden walks every year – too many. I had two in June. One had 560 people for the Franklin Garden Club. It had three segments: One in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening.

“It was called ‘Art in the Garden’ because I have magnificent glass pieces by April Wagner who owns Epiphany Studios. And then bronze pieces by Carl Nielbock who has a studio in Detroit. He trains a group of people in how to mold this metal into magnificent pieces of art. And I also have 10 or 12 pieces from other countries from my travels around the world.”

Other groups and organizations Battey has held garden walks for include Birmingham churches, Michigan Gardener, and Cranbrook Gardens.

One of the aftereffects of holding the garden walks, according to Battey, is that “you end up talking in your sleep about the plants and gardens you have been talking about all day.” To ease some of the mental and physical exertion, Battey appreciates taking time away from her garden every so often.

“I will be 95 in October, and it gets more difficult every year,” said Battey. “Your body tells you it is time. I’m beginning to enjoy my day off.”

Battey is a perfect example of what Gertrude Jekyll, a British horticulturist and garden designer, once said:

“The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies.” Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932).