At 78 years of age, John Guy LaPlante leaves tomorrow for Philadelphia and enplanes with 79 others for Kiev in the Ukraine to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer



“I’ll be the great-granddaddy,” he said. Mr. LaPlante will teach university level English for 27 months. “The Peace Corps is a chance to do a little something for my country. Plus it can be very attractive for senior citizens.”

At 78 years of age, John Guy LaPlante leaves tomorrow for Philadelphia and enplanes with 79 others for Kiev in the Ukraine to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer

Septuagenarian runs off to serve in Peace Corps


Ed Patenaude So I’ve Heard

There are people hereabouts who remember when John Guy LaPlante worked as the Southbridge-Putnam-Webster area zone chief for the Worcester Telegram and The Evening Gazette, and later as editor of the Sunday Telegram’s Feature Parade magazine.

Mr. LaPlante lived in Webster, then in Dudley and Auburn during those years, from probably the 1960s. He subsequently worked as public relations director for Assumption College and ran his own public relations firm in Auburn and Worcester for 16 years. His accounts included Hubbard Regional Hospital in Webster and Marianapolis Preparatory School in Thompson.

He’s been retired maybe a dozen years, making his home in Deep River, Conn., and wintering in California, while almost constantly on the go, traveling around the world alone, and writing a book about it. John Guy was also director of an Elderhostel program in Ivorytown, Conn., wrote a weekly column for the Main Street News in Deep River, and is known as a travel writer and lecturer.

Now, at 78 years of age, Mr. LaPlante has joined the Peace Corps. He leaves tomorrow for Philadelphia and enplanes with 79 others Monday for Kiev in the Ukraine.

“I’ll be the great-granddaddy,” he said. Mr. LaPlante will teach university level English for 27 months.

“The Peace Corps is a chance to do a little something for my country. Plus it can be very attractive for senior citizens.”

As it happened, Mr. LaPlante was recently invited to lecture at Webster’s Chester C. Corbin Public Library, but considering his latest commitment, any acceptance will require quite a delay.

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: September, 2007; Peace Corps Ukraine; Directory of Ukraine RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Ukraine RPCVs; Older Volunteers

When this story was posted in November 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

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