Fae Mungo and her husband Jeff have called The Arbors Independent Living home since 2019.

They chose The Arbors for the location and transportation options, like valet.

“It’s close to things we enjoy,” Fae says. “The weekly housekeeping is great. I believe the food here is absolutely wonderful.”

She enjoys the events that include music and crafting. She says she appreciates the outings even if she doesn’t always attend them.

Family life

She and Jeff have been married for more than 60 years. She’s “Bull Isle born and bred.” The Poquoson native has lived on the Peninsula her entire life.

She and Jeff met at Buckroe at the then-drive-in. He served in the Air Force for 36 years and she worked for the Air Force as a civilian, starting part-time during summers.

Their oldest son is in Ecuador and the youngest son is in southwest Virginia. Jeff’s family is in North Carolina.  They have a granddaughter and two great-granddaughters in Fayetteville, N.C., who come to visit.

“They come up here – the kids love to play in the park. We love to have them here,” she says.

One of their deciding factors to choose The Arbors was because their family is so spread out.

“We felt as though there wouldn’t be anyone here to help us,” she said. They gain that security at The Arbors.

Civilian career

While working for Langley Air Force Base, Fae said she was the first woman to do certain jobs.

She was a manager in the aircraft maintenance program and loves logistics.

“I was a resource adviser,” she says. “I handled the money for all the logistics. No other woman had done that.”

In logistics, her hands were in several areas like contracting, planning and budgeting for aircraft maintenance transportation.

“We were their support on the ground. It was very analytical work; I loved finding the solutions,” she says. “It was so much fun to watch them grow – I loved the rapport we built with the troops.”

She says it was rare at that time – in the 1970s – for women to do work outside of clerical or teaching.

“I pushed my way up,” she says.

She had encouraging bosses and the encouragement and support of her husband.

“I’ve had a lot of help along the way,” she says.

She visited nearly every state’s Air Force base, Panama, Europe and other countries while working. She made a lot of friends, who are scattered across the country.

“I’m very proud of my career,” she says. “It was a very good career for me. I was always happy to help women along the way and tried to be fair to everyone.”

She retired in 1996 – “I just felt like my time had come,” she says. She started to have some health issues. Jeff retired in 1995.

She loved doing aquatics and played golf. She and Jeff traveled in retirement.

Call The Arbors home

A move to The Arbors Independent Living might be what you need when the demands of home ownership become overwhelming. Visit vahs.com/thearbors to schedule a tour of our community and see for yourself why our residents love to call The Arbors home.