WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Len Brown sort of fell into his job leading the Bugbee Senior Center.
After moving on from a decadeslong career as a special education teacher and school administrator, he wanted to keep working, but he wasn’t sure what that would look like.
After a stint selling Harley-Davidson motorcycles, he saw that the Bugbee Senior Center in White River Junction was looking for an executive director in 2008.
“I was looking for work and it was open and I said, “What the heck,” and I applied,” said Brown, a Vietnam War veteran who grew up in New Haven, Conn.
He got the job.
“When I started here, I had no idea what I was getting into,” Brown said. “I had to learn it all.”
Next month, Brown will retire after more than a decade at the helm of one of the busiest senior centers in the Upper Valley. Gary Schall, the current elder justice project coordinator for Senior Solutions, will take over on Oct. 1.
“I’m 39 and holding,” Brown wryly replied when asked his age during a recent interview at the senior center. “I’m on Medicaid. Let’s put it that way.”
While Brown did not have experience with senior citizens, his career in education taught him how to manage budgets and different personalities.
“My mother said to me, ‘Leonard, this is going to be just like running a school again,’ ” Brown recalled. He initially disagreed, but now concedes, “there’s an element of truth to that.”
Brown said he has always struggled with names, so it took a while for the regulars at Bugbee to stick. He also had to get used to the relationship that the town of Hartford has with Bugbee: While the town owns the building on North Main Street, it is operated by the nonprofit White River Council on Aging.
“I never dealt with something that had that mixed, hybrid feel to it,” Brown said. “That’s one of its strengths.”
He said the town and nonprofit have a good relationship, both financially and socially. Town officials, including Hartford Police Department Chief Phil Kasten, regularly stop by the center.
“I think it reflects well on the community,” Brown said. “When people talk about good senior centers, our name pops up.”
If volunteers are having trouble delivering to a Meals on Wheels recipient, Brown will knock on the door himself to figure out what can be done. He helps connect seniors with social services and collects medical equipment — including dozens of walkers — to give to people who otherwise might not be able to afford them.
“That just comes with the territory,” Brown said. “We’re too small to be compartmentalized.”
What also comes with the territory is confronting death and mortality, which is something Brown initially struggled with.
“One of the things I worried about the most when I took this job is how I would work with folks who were are the end of life and knew it,” Brown said, especially those who are terminally ill. “They went out with a great deal of dignity and, I would say, courage.”
“I learned a great deal about class,” Brown continued after a pause. “It really was a profound impact on me because I frankly did not want to deal with the death and dying part of working with seniors.”
Brown, like others who work at Bugbee, frequently attends funeral services for attendees who have died. Mostly he manages to keep a sense of humor and lightness around the seniors.
“I’ve been just a regular guy to them,” Brown said, then added, with a laugh, “I’m not enamored to the trappings of the office.”
He said the biggest challenges facing senior citizens are “money and resources to have their medical, medicinal and food needs met. And another big one for people is transportation.”
Brown also worries about homebound senior citizens being isolated from their communities.
“One of the things that has kept me here this long is I love the people here,” Brown said.
And it’s clear that they love him. At Bugbee’s summer barbecue last week, Brown opened festivities by introducing Schall as his successor. Helaughed and shared jokes with the more than 70 guests present and was met with cheers.
“Some of these people will tell you I’m crazier than a loon,” Brown said. “I walk around having a great time. It’s all about how you interact with people.”
Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
