Deserved Holiday For Dedicated Couple It was a well deserved holi- day yesterday for what is pos- sibly Hastings county's most dedicated couple. For Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Velleman, executive director and nursing superintendent of the pntario Homes for Men- tally Retarded Infants, Incor- porated at Palinfield, it was a day away from what they say is the most important interest in their lives. They took the one day holi- day to be "at home" to friends and acquaintances on t h e i r 50th wedding anniversary. B(it even during the course of the anniversary celebra- tion, it was evident that their infants' home at Plainfield was still very much on their minds. "The Home is our entire life, it is our church and our recreation," said Mr. Velle- man, who with his wife h a s giv^n tender care and hope to mentally retarded infants for nearly 20 years. What is today a hospital home for more than 70 child- ren suffering various degrees of mental retardation, started back in 1951 when Mrs. Velle- man opened what she called a babies' convalescent home at MoKim's Corners near Hollo- wly. It operated for slightly more than a year when financial dif- ficulties forced it to close. But the Vellemans were undaunted and starting afresh saw their hopes realized when the present home for mentally retarded infants was founded in 1954 and incorporated as a non-profit organization. Today the OHMRI has more than 2,000 members, it has a staff of approximately 65 and a patient list of 73 children. Op- erational costs for 1967 total- led more than $300,000, of which $228,664 went for sala- ries. The high staff to patient ra- tio -- almost one to one -- is indicative of the high degree of personal care given t h e small patients. "People are beginning to realize that the mentally re- tarded are human beings," states Mr. Velleman. "We try to do something for them -- we love them," he said. In appreciation of Mr. and Mrs. Velleman's dedication, the OHMRI staff members on Wednesday gave them a sur- prise party. The staff mem- bers' anniversary gift to the Home's executive director and nursing superintendent was a puse of $300. "I was so touched I couldn't say a word," Mr. Velleman said. Natives of the Hilversum area of Holland where the couple received their educa- tion and were married half a century ago, the Vellemans came to Canada in 1924. They lived in Montreal for 19 years and came to Belle- ville in 1942. For many years Mr. Velle- man acted as consultant in the labor movement serving on conciliation boards in support of labor's campaign to better the lot of the working man. . But since the founding of the OMHRI both Mr. and Mrs. Velleman have made the care of mentally retarded infants their life work. A registered nurse, Mrs. Velleman will retire in 1970, but at 77 Mr. Velleman still has no thought of calling it quits. "I'll stay until I drop," he says. ' But back to the anniversary celebration. The 50 year wed couple received the usual con- gratulatory messages from friends and local dignitaries, and also from parliamentary representatives. "We even received a mes- sage from Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau." The couple have two child- ren, a son Alex who is a radio station manager at Oakville, and a laughter, Mrs. Grace Ince of Belleville. There's an old saying "like father, like son," but with the Velleman family it is " l ike mother, like daughter." Mrs. Ince has her mother's love of children and operates her own infants' home on Moira Street. n