King Ro Manor hotel in its heyday, approximately 1940. (Photo courtesy Lori Crook)
As people were want to do back in the day, Fran and Bill Russell loaded B.J. and Jill into their ’55 Oldsmobile to go for a Sunday “ride” in the early spring of 1965. They lived in North Newcastle at the time and their meanderings that day brought them through Round Pond. As they drove by the old King Ro Manor, Fran always told me that her heart stuttered and she knew that that was their future.
The manor had been vacant for many years with almost all of the many windows broken out, the many toilets broken and full of rocks due to the antics of local young kids, and bushes and trees grown up out of control. Fran allowed that she just had to have that house. It had been a hotel at one point so there were seven bathrooms, none in working order.
The young family decided to start this adventure and bought the home from George Masters Jr. for approximately $5,000. B.J. remembers his parents being there evenings and weekends working on it while he and Jill explored every nook and cranny. They even spent an occasional night camping out in the house on warm summer nights. Finally in the fall of 1966, they moved in and the kids started at Bristol School in second and third grade.
Fran always knew that she had to somehow justify having such a huge home and find a way to make a living from it. She applied and was licensed by the veterans administration to have and care for up to six veterans.
Throughout her 30-year career she always had between three to six men that she devoted herself to. In that 30-year span, it can only be imagined how many loads of laundry she did, how many bed changes, how many meals were prepared, pills dispensed, and trips to Togus! And it also cannot be forgotten that they also owned and operated King Ro Market since 1971 and that Fran, along with two other Round Pond ladies, started the Helping Hands in 1969.
I grew up being in that house most days and I can attest to the fact of how each and every one of the men became a part of the Russell family. Donnie Emery, a Vietnam vet, was the longest staying veteran and the last to leave when Fran and Bill decided to sell the manor and retire in 2000. That was when they built the apartment over the store where they continued to live until their deaths in 2014, 18 days apart.
Ann Evans had an unfortunate fall in her home at the beginning of December, fracturing her pelvis. She spent time at Miles and then at Cove’s Edge but was home in time for Christmas with her whole family visiting for the holidays. Her daughter, Nancy, is taking family leave from her job and spending time here in Round Pond with her mom. Feel better soon, Ann, you are one tough cookie!
On our early morning walk Monday morning, the harbor was totally skimmed over in ice and as smooth as glass. The boats are all out, the floats gone and the moorings sunk until spring.
Quote of the week: “In life we can’t stop the storms – all we can do is dress for them.”
