by Constance Garcia-Barrio

When Betty Ann Fellner’s surgeon OK'd her to start physical therapy after a 2011 hip replacement, she felt relieved at clearing a major health hurdle. But her physical therapist uncovered a shocking new problem. “The therapist told my husband, David, that I was obviously intelligent, but I couldn’t follow directions,” Fellner said. “She said something was wrong.”

Eventually, a neurological work-up showed that Fellner, 79, had Frontotemportal Dementia (FTD). The progressive loss of nerve cells in the brain’s frontal and temporal lobes with this illness causes diminished muscle function, difficulty with language and ultimately deteriorating behavior. “In a way, the diagnosis was a relief,” she said. “I’d known for a while that something was off. I’d been an excellent speller, but one day I had to ask David how to spell 'cheese.'”

The neurologist, Anjan Chatterjee, MD, advised Fellner not to drive. “I thought I could still drive short distances, but one day I found myself drifting toward oncoming traffic,” she said. “FTD affects your concentration. Something must have caught my attention, and I forgot where I was.”

When the symptoms of FDT surfaced, Fellner had long since retired. Her career included four years as program director at the Gershman YMHA at Broad and Pine Streets organizing cultural events. Fellner also taught history for many years at Akiba Academy, a Jewish day school located in Merion at that time.

When Fellner retired, she still had energy to spare. She volunteered in the education department of the Philadelphia Orchestra, not a surprising choice, given her background. Born in Roanoke, Virginia, she grew up in Baltimore in a home filled with music. “My mother, grandfather, uncle and sister had beautiful singing voices,” Fellner said. “Whenever my sister and I went anywhere, we would sing as we walked. I sang harmony.” In the orchestra she helped to design a program for preschoolers called Sound All Around. She also contributed to a book by the same name for youngsters.

Events in Philadelphia inspired Fellner to strive for a broader reach in the arts. In the late 1980s and ‘90s, the city had a groundswell of movements that brought together communities and the arts. Jane Golden had sat down with graffiti artists and hatched the phenomenal Mural Arts Program. Taiwan native Lily Yeh had launched the Village of Arts and Humanities that bloomed in an unlikely setting in North Philadelphia. Fellner saw that the alchemy of the arts and community could indeed yield gold. “At first, I wanted to volunteer for one of those organizations, and then I thought why not do something similar in Mt. Airy?” said Fellner, who lived, and remains, in the area.

In 1994, the old Sedgwick Theatre, which Fellner envisioned as a possible home for community arts activities, went on the market. “It was beautiful but in awful shape,” she said of the art deco theater built in 1928, one of Philadelphia’s last movie palaces. It was being used as a warehouse. The banks didn’t want to finance the purchase, so the Fellners sold their home and moved into an apartment in the Sedgwick building to come up with the cash. The lobby of the theatre became the Sedgwick Cultural Center. “We spent $300,000 to renovate the lobby and the men’s and women’s bathrooms, and that was just the first stage,” Fellner said.

Community members, friends and well-known artists gave concerts, did storytelling, read poetry and hung art in the Sedgwick’s gallery spaces. “One of the most dynamic events was an annual two-month exhibition of Navajo rugs and a Navajo trading post, but I also had some failures, things that didn’t work out. And it takes a huge amount of energy to keep up a full calendar of arts events, but we were building community.”

Fellner went on with the Sedgwick Cultural Center until 2005, when the center disbanded and the space was rented for personal events and celebrations. In 2009, Quintessence Theatre Company became the Sedgwick’s tenant. Quintessence has garnered kudos for classic plays ranging from “The Merchant of Venice” to “Alice in Wonderland.” “I knew the final outcome would be good, but I never guessed how good.”

The plays bring great satisfaction to Fellner as her life changes. “But not driving limits me. David and my friends have become my chauffeurs. I hate putting so much work on him. And now my hands shake, so I can’t do calligraphy, which I loved.”

Yet Betty Ann continues to tutor second graders at the Houston Elementary School. “It’s near my home, so I can walk there, but the doctor told me to look straight ahead when I’m walking so that I won’t get distracted and fall.” She also continues to sing with the Anna Crusis Women’s Choir as well as a choir that focuses on Jewish music. “You can live from two to 20 years with FTD,” Fellner said. “I’ve already made six. I’ll tutor the children and sing for as long as I can.”

This article is reprinted, with permission, from Milestones, the monthly publication of the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging.