Chicago Scots: How Scottish values and traditions are helping care for the elderly in Illinois

At a Highland Games event just days after the death of his father, Gus Noble felt a lump rise in his throat as he prepared to introduce an emotional pipe band rendition dedicated to loved ones lost.

For 178 years, the Chicago Scots charity he leads has been underpinned by the traditional Scottish values of its ex-pat founders to help people in need in the state of Illinois.

So when his young songs Bobby, 8, and Langston, 4, came to his aid as Amazing Grace began to play, it proved a timely reminder him of why the organisation carries on an incredible legacy.

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“I thought I wasn’t going to get through it,” Gus recalls. “All of a sudden there was a thump on the back of one of my legs and one on the back of the other. It was my two sons running out onto the field to hold my legs.

“I thanked the community and at that moment as I articulated the care that I’ve seen given to others, I realised there’s something powerful in kindness. The word kin is contained within and is an incredible thing that we should never forget.”

Rooted in Scottish values

Chicago Scots is the oldest charity in the state of Illinois with a history dating back to 1845. Rooted in Scottish traditions, values and community, they provide senior care across the city and surrounding state while also preserving and strengthening Scottish-American bonds through events like Burns Suppers and Highland Games.

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Born in Dundee and raised in the Scottish Borders, Gus, 54, moved to Chicago in 1992 after finishing university. He landed a job at the British Consulate there after popping in to inquire if there was a pub in town that showed the football and bumping into someone who’d seen his blues band play in St Andrews.

Since 2004, he’s been president of Chicago Scots, set up by Scots in the city after they decided to use their St Andrew’s Day celebrations to create an organisation that served the greater good.

“Bringing Scotland to Chicago, the sense of home was always part of our foundation and the beacon that led the way,” Gus explained.

“St Andrew is symbolic of care, charity and kindness, so it seemed very fitting that the organisation started on the day where that is celebrated.”

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Having taken their care out into the community, the organisation then decided to rent a brownstone in Chicago in 1901, which became The Scottish Old People’s Home.

It soon filled, and Scottish-Canadian architect William Bryce Mundie was hired to create a purpose-built facility.

“He was given a brief – build a home that looks like it was plucked up from the countryside of Scotland and right down to the countryside of Illinois,” Gus said.

“Make it feel like a home rather than an institution. It was a really lovely and beautiful building.”

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The Scottish Home opened its doors in 1910. But in 1917, disaster struck. The home’s two dogs –  Topsy and McDougall, a West Highland terrier and a border collie – alerted staff to a fire.

The building, and the lives of two residents, were lost.

Society president John Williamson summoned his board the next morning to stand over the dying embers.

He said the building ‘must not die in its own ashes’ and must always be a monumental tribute to the best qualities of the Scots.

A new Scottish Home was built and stands to this day, while the organisation also has dedicated facilities for memory care and for residents with extra medical needs.

Open to all

Everything has a strong connection back to Scotland. As Gus puts it, their services are open to all who are Scottish by birth, by heritage or simply by inclination.

“We keep each other from homesickness either through the events or that sense of bringing something of Scotland to the community,” he said.

“The only event bigger in the piping community worldwide than ours is the World Championships in Glasgow. We had 46 bands play this year. We’ve had many world records in heavy athletics broken on our fields.

“It’s not just the breeks and bunnets and Brigadoon stuff; we pay attention to the Scotland of today and who Scotland aspires to be as much as we celebrate the view over our shoulder.”

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Experts say loneliness and social isolation are set become even bigger problems in senior communities as more people age alone.

The charity has just received a $14 million donation to launch a program to meet the future unmet needs of Chicago’s senior population.

“It’s been a tough year both professionally and personally, with the loss of many senior figures in our communities,” Gus said.

“My predecessor, Wayne Rethford, passed away here at the home he helped build. Many of the staff he’d hired 20 years ago still worked here and they cared for him in his last days.

“It feels good to end the year on a note of confidence and optimism. We’re on track to continue to serve our community in a new, bold way. We’re excited about what the future holds.”

Father’s footsteps

A couple of weeks after the Highland Games and his father’s death, Gus picked up an OBE from King Charles in Edinburgh on the weekend of Scottish coronation celebrations in July.

He was following in his late father’s footsteps – Robert Noble had been awarded an MBE for services to Scottish agriculture almost exactly 20 years before.

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“I had told my dad that was one of the proudest days of my life because I knew how hard he had worked,” Gus said. “I wanted him to be there when I got mine.

“I felt that in my son, Bobby, my dad was there. He was certainly on my shoulder and in my heart.

“I then went to the incredible coronation event, with the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard in my life.

“I looked around and thought, here I am with the A+ of the A list in Scotland. And I play bass in a honky-tonk band!”