For many women, their first friend is their sister, and those relationships last a lifetime. And in almost every society around the world, including the United States, women outlive men.
The five pairs of sisters featured here are examples of lifelong bonds, living longer and thriving in their later years. They agree that some of the biggest contributors to longevity are social connections, mental engagement and physical activity. Along the way, they’ve grown wiser and more resilient.
Though some of these sisters have lived near each other much of that time, others spent decades at a distance. Now, they’ve all reconnected as residents of BTV. Some also had parents or in-laws who lived at BTV, and they saw how it relieved the stress on the children. So, they chose to make BTV their home for similar reasons.
DONNA EPLEY & SHIRLEAN JEWELL
Growing up in Washington County, Donna Epley and Shirlean Jewell regularly swam in the nearby Illinois River and Lake Wedington. At five and a half years younger, Shirlean considered Donna very much a role model in their youth.
From their parents, they learned the values of hard work, honesty and integrity, as well as love for family. They recall large family gatherings for Christmas, Thanksgiving and family reunions – with aunts, uncles and cousins coming from near and far.
Shortly after Donna became a registered nurse graduate, she was employed at the V.A. hospital in Fayetteville. As a bride, she moved to Eureka Springs and continued her nursing career at the local hospital. Shirlean returned to college after raising her two sons and earned degree in business administration. For several years she enjoyed living in Sedona, Ariz., where she earned her private pilot’s license.
Donna and her husband, Lewis, moved to BTV in 2006, while Shirlean arrived in 2019. They each stay busy with plenty of activities. Shirlean likes to hike, exercise in the pool and will soon start taking pottery classes again. She went with a group from BTV to Spain in October 2023, to hike the Camino de Santiago; she is “in training” to go again this year.
Shirlean describes Donna as kind, an achiever and resourceful. Donna said Shirlean has a positive attitude and, despite life’s ups and downs, “always, she looks on the bright side.”
SUSAN MAYES & JANET ROESSLER
With six and a half years between them, Susan Mayes, 74, and Janet Roessler, 80, didn’t become close friends until Janet was in college and Susan was in junior high. Janet went to DePauw University in Indiana, where she met her late husband, Rick. She then lived her junior year in Dijon, France, and went on to teach French at the high school and college levels, first in California and then in Fayetteville.
Susan pursued a degree in kinesiology at the University of Arkansas, and then went on to coach and teach physical education at Woodland Junior High for 10 years and teach dance at the U of A for 35 years.
When they were growing up in Fayetteville near Wilson Park, Janet was academic, reserved, thoughtful and pragmatic. In adulthood, Janet developed a skill and passion for cooking and became an avid and competitive bridge player.
Susan is six inches taller than Janet, and they’re both natural brunettes. After dyeing her hair red for many years, Susan has joined Janet as a blonde. Both enjoy reading, though Susan prefers audiobooks so she can multitask, while Janet is more singularly focused.
In 2018, the sisters and their husbands traveled to France. Janet had been several times, but it was Susan’s first time. “I wanted to see her in her element, and was she ever,” Susan said. Janet could switch from speaking English to French on a dime.
Janet and her late husband moved to BTV in January 2020, while Susan and her husband, Allen Carney, just arrived last October. Their parents had lived here after retirement, and they saw how their parents were so well cared for as they aged, moving from a cottage to eventually Health Care.
“It was the best gift that you could give a child because everything was set,” Susan said. The sisters hope they are giving their own children similar peace of mind.
JUDY INGELS & MARY ELLEN MOORE
Judy Ingels, 86, and Mary Ellen Moore, 81, recall growing up in El Dorado in a neighborhood full of children. They played outside until they heard their dad’s high-pitched whistle at dinnertime. Frequenting the local library, they spent many afternoons reading and went swimming at a nearby pool.
Their dad was a petroleum engineer, and their mom returned to teaching sixth grade when they were in their teens. They fondly remember singing in the car as a family. Their parents modeled integrity and responsibility and raised them in the local Presbyterian church – the same church where they’d both later be married.
They got their bachelor’s degrees at the University of Arkansas, Judy in English literature and Mary Ellen in elementary education. Judy became a stay-at-home mom with their daughter and son, while her husband, Neil, pursued multiple degrees ending with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. Mary Ellen’s husband, James, attended medical school studying orthopedics, while Mary Ellen focused on their three sons.
While both Judy and Mary Ellen added enormously in a supporting role to the professional lives of their husbands, they had the leading role in the success of their children in many ways. They taught them to read, to play joyfully and fairly, to develop good health and study habits, to respect a higher being, to appreciate and develop friendships, and to love their family, themselves, and the world in which they live.
Judy and her husband moved to BTV in 2016, and Mary Ellen and her husband moved in 2024. Their mother lived at BTV for 14 years; Judy’s in-laws also lived at BTV.
Judy and Mary Ellen’s families traveled to many family gatherings when Judy lived in California for 56 years and Mary Ellen lived in Fayetteville. Now that both live at BTV, they enjoy being able to see each other at any time with a five-minute walk.
SUSIE DAWSON & INZA FORT
Susie Dawson, 70, and Inza Fort, 74, grew up and lived in Bessemer, Ala., just outside Birmingham, until they each moved to Fayetteville. Inza came here in 1980 to get a doctorate in exercise science and never left. She taught kinesiology at the U of A for 36 years.
Susie arrived in 2010 after retiring from the State of Alabama judicial system, to have more quality time with their mother, who had health issues. They both cared for her until she died in 2018 at age 103.
The sisters share happy memories of picking blackberries and blueberries with their dad in a patch near their house, and enjoying them in homemade pancakes. These third-generation Auburn graduates remember attending home football games and spending Friday nights at baseball games in box seats behind third base.
Their neighborhood threw block parties for every child’s birthday – inviting all the children and parents. They all swam in the nearby lake and played hide and seek and kick the can in summers. The sisters shared a room, while their older brother had his own.
Inza said she admired Susie’s diligence when she decided to go to law school in the evenings while working full-time. It took Susie more than four years, but she didn’t owe a dime when she graduated, and she passed the bar exam on the first try.
Susie said Inza has a sharp mind and excels at trivia. She also loves her family and is sentimental. “I think Sis is one of the most dedicated and loyal people I know. She has a friend; she’s got a friend for life.”
They text each other every morning to check in, and they eat most meals together, exercise and take classes together, and have enjoyed many cultural offerings in BTV’s performance hall.
Inza knows from research how important social activity is as people age. Though she’s very satisfied to spend time alone, the socialization was a big motivation to move to BTV. They were in the Carriage Club for a few years, then both moved into their apartments in December 2024.
JERRE JOUETT & ANN HENRY
Jerre Jouett, 83, and Ann Henry, 85, grew up in Tulsa, Okla. They’re 18 months apart and had a younger brother, who died nearly 11 years ago. The family moved to Springdale in the early 1950s and were active in the Methodist church.
The sisters took piano lessons, sang in the school and church choirs and were in Pep Club. Ann started babysitting and then, in ninth grade, waitressed at AQ Chicken House, which she continued through graduate school. Jerre was also a waitress there, to help the family’s finances.
Their dad was the middle of nine children, and all of them became teachers — as did several of their cousins. Ann followed suit. After getting her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English at the U of A, her late husband, encouraged her to get a law degree. She earned that degree over the next seven years, going to school part-time while raising their three children.
Eager to not follow in Ann’s footsteps, Jerre went to Centenary College in Shreveport, La., where she majored in business, sang and traveled with the choir, and met her future husband. The choir sang at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall for nine weeks, doing four shows daily.
For more than 60 years, the sisters lived in different states – Ann in Arkansas, Jerre in Texas. Ann and Morriss, who moved to BTV in 2019, were married 60 years before he passed away last year. Jerre and Jerry were married 59 years before he passed away in 2022; she returned from Texas and moved to BTV in 2023. Their parents were also BTV residents, as was Ann’s father-in-law. Their mother lived to be 100.
Ann said Jerre is very organized, has a lot of tact, and is a skilled seamstress, like their mother was. Though Jerre prefers to be in the background, she said Ann shines when she’s out front, talking to people and serving the community in various leadership positions, as she has over the years.
These sisters encourage women to understand and embrace who they are. “Know who you are, find out who you are, find out your strengths and what you’re best at,” Ann said, “because that’s what’s going to make you happy.”
Words by Michelle Parks | Photos by Kelly Syer
