Photo by Shirley Ruhe/The Connection
Bill Harris shares memories with Sarah Anspach, the daughter of Charles Culpepper. Anspach sits at a table with her son George and daughter Michelle Meyer listening to a small combo before the Culpepper Garden 40th anniversary ceremony. Anspach looks out beyond the tent wall and sees the large tree in the yard planted by her father. “I remember all of these trees and when they took out the big persimmon to build Culpepper. This was a field and we lived right on this spot,” she said, “and my father planted trees all over the place. I used to climb these trees.” Charles Culpepper was a botanist who made his land available, and in 1975 Culpepper Garden opened with 210 independent living units for seniors. It was the first low-income assisted living residence of its type in the U.S. and remains the only such facility in Arlington County.