Gilbert Bandarra Wonders Why

Gilbert Bandarra ’53 has always been curious, especially about the natural world. “If there is a breeze, I think about where it is coming from. If I look at a bird, I record it in my mind,” he says.

“Even when I was young, I was curious. But my curiosity wasn’t really supported until I got to Stonehill,” he says of attending the College on the GI Bill to study biology and chemistry.

A high school science teacher for 39 years before he retired, he always told his students to “listen, have respect, and learn, learn, learn.”

This outlook has served him well. When his wife of 69 years passed away in 2017, Bandarra was left grieving and feeling unmoored.

Bandarra’s daughter, Diane Aberle, recalls, “My mom had been sick for a long time, and my dad was a very devoted caretaker. Even in his 80s, he would exercise every day, so that he was strong enough to carry her when she needed to be carried. When she passed, he not only lost his sweetheart, but he also didn’t know what to do with his time.”

With a little encouragement from his four children, Bandarra ventured to the Marshfield and Norwell Councils on Aging to explore their offering of activities. After trying line dancing and determining it wasn’t the right fit, he walked across the hall to the painting room. “It worked,” Bandarra says of finding a new hobby.

Painting allows the 93-year-old to view and understand things in a new way. True to his biology roots, he most enjoys painting Mother Nature, particularly water and the sun.

He was starting to paint the moon when COVID-19 caused senior centers to close. Bandarra then turned to what was around him—picking a flower or leaf, examining its intricacies and then sketching it with colored pencils at home.

“He still looks at things with new eyes, like he is seeing it for the first time,” says Aberle of her dad. “His curiosity and positivity keep him young.” Bandarra agrees, “I always wonder why.”