336 Dedrea (Dee) Greer: Boundless Creativity: Alpaca weaving, business launching, interior designing, watercolor painting, and more.

336 Dedrea (Dee) Greer: Boundless Creativity: Alpaca weaving, business launching, interior designing, watercolor painting, and more.

Author: Gail Zelitzky and Catherine Marienau July 9, 2025 Duration: 34:07

You are in for a special treat as Dee Greer displays her creations of exquisite weavings from Alpaca yarn and amulet bags woven Japanese seed beads. She also enjoys watercolor painting. She learns in order to create. This is bolstered by degrees and certifications in the arts, financial planning, hand weaving, and interior design. Dee has created five businesses in rehab housing, five in Alpaca-related products and services, and a unique hand-weaving loom. Hurricane Helene completely destroyed her condo interior and precious belongings, including a specialty loom. Dee has rebuilt and redesigned her unit, along with helping 60 other residents facing the same challenge. She still makes the time to volunteer with arts programs in her community and to enjoy the rich arts culture with her partner, John. Dee’s constant ‘drivers’ are “doing good in the world” and “being in relationship with people, young and old… to enjoy life from completely different perspectives.” Hoping to help find a cure, she has now been accepted into a study sponsored by Eli Lilly to study a new drug for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. 

Because I have so many interests and very high energy, I’ve had to compartmentalize and prioritize. It will come to me what to do next. - Dedrea (Dee) Greer

Contact Dedrea (Dee) Greer

Email: deeagreer@hotmail.com 

Former alpaca farmer finds tranquility while weaving | Your Observer 

 

Sponsor Appreciation  

Our heartfelt thanks to Women Over 70 sponsor Wells Fargo.

 

Podcast Collaborator 

This month’s podcast recommendation (Aging-Well Collaboration) is Host Beverly Glazer, who asks: Are you ready to ignite your next chapter? Aging With Purpose and Passion is the weekly podcast inspiring women over 50 to embrace bold life shifts, and unlock their potential, through captivating stories from trailblazing senior women. https://www.agingwithpurposeandpassion.com 


Hosted by Gail Zelitzky and Catherine Marienau, Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined turns the page on a well-worn cultural script. This is not a series about decline, but a collection of dialogues focused squarely on expansion. You’ll hear from women who are starting businesses, deepening their creative practices, forging new relationships, and confronting societal expectations with a refreshing blend of honesty and humor. These conversations, rooted in personal journals and lived expertise, delve into the practical and the profound-from the science of longevity to the personal journeys of resilience that define this chapter. The podcast moves beyond inspiration to offer tangible insight, framing the later decades as a time of active reinvention. Tune in for stories that replace stereotypes with specificity, and discover a community redefining what it means to grow older with purpose and curiosity.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined
Podcast Episodes
383 Jill G Hall: Shaped by her Past: Creativity Unleashed [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:50
Author and artist Jill G. Hall, 71, joins us with her luminous new novel On a Sundown Sea, inspired by the mysteries surrounding the visionary woman who built Lomaland—a utopian community near the home Jill grew up in. F…
382 Sandra Sokol: Championing social justice through social service [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:34
For more than six decades, Sandra Sokol has devoted her life to building stronger, more equitable communities. Although she once imagined a career teaching in schools serving children of color her path evolved into groun…
381 Joan Greene: A Lifelong Advocate for Aging and Mental Health [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:16
Joan Greene, 84, trained to be a teacher but found her true calling as a social worker and innovative advocate for older adults. In New York State, she helped create programs from the ground up—from nutrition services an…
380 Mindy Greiling: Schizophrenia: Three Moms in the Trenches [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:47
This episode, first released in 2021, is a reminder that Mental Health Awareness Month requires all of us to tell our stories. We checked back in with Mindy and learned that, even though she is now retired, she continues…
379 Ilene Dillon: Mental Health Awareness Month [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:11
In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re revisiting a powerful earlier conversation with Ilene Dillon (Episode #148). A pioneering voice in emotional well-being, Ilene is an Emotional Realignment Master Tea…
377 Elise Magers: From Interiors to Inner Life: A Creative Evolution [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:41
Elise’s career didn’t follow a straight line—and that’s exactly what makes it so compelling. She began as a contract interior designer in Minneapolis before moving to Chicago in 1981, where a friend’s suggestion led her…
374 Phyllis Mitzen: A Lifetime of Leadership in Aging [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:21
At 84, Phyllis Mitzen is still reshaping how communities care for older adults — with curiosity, courage and a fierce commitment to action.Phyllis spent 24 years at CJE Senior Life (formerly Council on Jewish Elderly) an…