Community Corner

Retired Nurse Helps Others at Local Senior Center

Oceanside resident Viessa Lyons-Ferrell prepares meals for seniors at the Oceanside Senior Center.

Although she is a retired nurse, Viessa Lyons-Ferrell continues to care for the health and well being of others every day.

The 85-year-old has volunteered at the  for nearly a decade.

“I enjoy being an advocate for the seniors in the community,” said Lyons-Ferrell, who has been an Oceanside resident since 1998. “I enjoy helping other seniors be as happy as I am and have a good life.”

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Lyons-Ferrell volunteers 16-20 hours a week at the center, where she helps oversee senior fitness and nutrition programs. She and other volunteers prepare meals that are served to seniors at the center and delivered to the homebound.

“I just love being available to seniors,” Lyons-Ferrell said. “I was that way as a nurse, and I’m that way now. If I can help you, I’ll try.”

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For 30 years, Lyons-Ferrell worked as a nurse for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. She was hired after working at various Los Angeles hospitals for nearly 10 years.

“I’m a person that gives and cares for people and tries to make them well and happy,” she said.

Lyons-Ferrell has worked to help others since she was a child. The lifelong volunteer began her service as a USO volunteer in high school.

She has contributed to the Oceanside community in a variety of ways. In addition to her work at the Oceanside Senior Center, Lyons-Ferrell served on the Oceanside Senior Commission, advocating for senior health, housing and transportation.

As an active member and senior committee chairwoman of the Oceanside Pacific Kiwanis, Lyons-Ferrell has assisted with child identification fingerprinting for family records. She also collects and delivers hand-knit booties, hats and sweaters for babies at the  and books for veterans at the VA Oceanside Clinic.

As a member of the , Lyons-Ferrell helps raise funds for a variety of charities and scholarships.

Lyons-Ferrell spends so much of her time volunteering that her family — four children, eight grandchildren and nine great grandchildren — often jokes she is heading to work when she leaves for her volunteer duties.

“I say, ‘I have to go,’” she said. “I enjoy dong what I’m doing.”

Because of her years of service to others, Lyons-Ferrell was honored as Oceanside’s Senior of the Year during the 14th annual Senior Citizens Day and Expo in September.

“I’m still on cloud nine,” she said. “It’s such a wonderful privilege to be recognized for something I love doing.”

Lyons-Ferrell said she is "fortunate" for her good health and plans to continue to help better the lives of others for years to come. 

“I enjoy trying to help people,” Lyons-Ferrell said. “If I don’t have the answers, I’ll find it for them.

“I do whatever is needed to be done.”

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