Despite hard times of own, couple’s focus is helping church 

When Bob Stange, 84, learned that the home he and his wife have rented in White River Junction, Vt., for the last 16 years was under contract to be sold, he knew he would have to give up his train set, which takes up a corner of the garage beneath the apartment. Because of the kindness shown him by members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, he decided to raffle the set in an effort to raise $1,000 for its People's Needs Fund. Twenty tickets for the raffle are available for $50 each at the Upper Valley Food Co-op, where Stange cleans the floors six nights a week. Because of his work, Stange does not qualify for subsidized housing and is looking for a market rate apartment to rent in the Upper Valley. Stange reaches to arranges a model that is part of his layout in his White River Junction, Vt., garage on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

When Bob Stange, 84, learned that the home he and his wife have rented in White River Junction, Vt., for the last 16 years was under contract to be sold, he knew he would have to give up his train set, which takes up a corner of the garage beneath the apartment. Because of the kindness shown him by members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, he decided to raffle the set in an effort to raise $1,000 for its People's Needs Fund. Twenty tickets for the raffle are available for $50 each at the Upper Valley Food Co-op, where Stange cleans the floors six nights a week. Because of his work, Stange does not qualify for subsidized housing and is looking for a market rate apartment to rent in the Upper Valley. Stange reaches to arranges a model that is part of his layout in his White River Junction, Vt., garage on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Valley News Photographs — James M. Patterson

Bob Stange, 84, of White River Junction, runs a floor cleaner during his early morning shift as a custodian at the Upper Valley Food Co-op in White River Junction, Vt., on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. “I walk a mile a night,” said Stange. With the apartment where they have lived for 16 years under contract to be sold, Stange and his wife, Cindyanne Packard-Stange, are preparing to move, and because of Stange’s income from the six-day-a-week, part-time job, they are not eligible for housing subsidies. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Bob Stange, 84, of White River Junction, runs a floor cleaner during his early morning shift as a custodian at the Upper Valley Food Co-op in White River Junction, Vt., on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. “I walk a mile a night,” said Stange. With the apartment where they have lived for 16 years under contract to be sold, Stange and his wife, Cindyanne Packard-Stange, are preparing to move, and because of Stange’s income from the six-day-a-week, part-time job, they are not eligible for housing subsidies. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Bob Stange, 84, of White River Junction, discovered on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2023, that an anonymous contributor placed a figurine in the box car of the train he is raffling off in a display at the Upper Valley Food Co-op in White River Junction, Vt. He estimates the value of the entire display, which he customized to evoke a small Maine village in 1943, to be more than $1,500. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Bob Stange, 84, of White River Junction, discovered on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2023, that an anonymous contributor placed a figurine in the box car of the train he is raffling off in a display at the Upper Valley Food Co-op in White River Junction, Vt. He estimates the value of the entire display, which he customized to evoke a small Maine village in 1943, to be more than $1,500. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Bob Stange, 84, of White River Junction, opens the door for produce manager Robert Lucas as he arrives for work at the Upper Valley Co-op on Wednesday morning, Dec. 6, 2023. Stange has continued to work even while facing cancer. “Every time he’s got to go to the hospital, you say, oh, no, no. But he bounces back.” said Lucas. “I don’t know where the strength comes from, but he’s got a lot of it.” (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Bob Stange, 84, of White River Junction, opens the door for produce manager Robert Lucas as he arrives for work at the Upper Valley Co-op on Wednesday morning, Dec. 6, 2023. Stange has continued to work even while facing cancer. “Every time he’s got to go to the hospital, you say, oh, no, no. But he bounces back.” said Lucas. “I don’t know where the strength comes from, but he’s got a lot of it.” (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Valley News photographs – James M. Patterson

Bob Stange, 84, of White River Junction, calls his wife, Cindyanne Packard-Stange, 64, at the end of his early morning shift as a custodian at the Upper Valley Food Co-op in White River Junction, Vt., on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2023. Stange is selling 20 raffle tickets at the store for $50 each to win his model train set-up from a display, at left, at the store with proceeds going to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church because of the kindness and prayers they gave to him and his wife during his recovery from open-heart surgery. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Bob Stange, 84, of White River Junction, calls his wife, Cindyanne Packard-Stange, 64, at the end of his early morning shift as a custodian at the Upper Valley Food Co-op in White River Junction, Vt., on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2023. Stange is selling 20 raffle tickets at the store for $50 each to win his model train set-up from a display, at left, at the store with proceeds going to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church because of the kindness and prayers they gave to him and his wife during his recovery from open-heart surgery. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. James M. Patterson

By NORA DOYLE-BURR

Valley News Staff Writer

Published: 12-13-2023 4:38 AM

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Demers Avenue couple, facing housing and health challenges, is selling raffle tickets for a train set to benefit St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

Bob Stange, 84, and Cindyanne Packard-Stange, 64, are trying to clear out the model railroad layout as they prepare to move from the home where they have lived for 16 years without a lease. The owners are now trying to sell the home.

Stange said he was hoping to sell 20 tickets at $50 each to support the church’s fund for people’s needs. Stange is grateful to the church for the kindness and prayers its members gave to him and his wife as he recovered from open-heart surgery in May 2019.

Stange estimates the set, which includes ceramic houses and a trolley car, is worth as much as $1,700. Part of the set is currently on display at the Upper Valley Food Co-op, where Stange works early mornings as a custodian six days a week. Tickets can be purchased at the store.

Even if the new owners of their home allow them to stay, Packard-Stange said she still would like to find a new place without stairs. Stange has been undergoing treatment for cancer and it makes stairs difficult, she said. Stange, who served in the Coast Guard reserves, has three types of cancer: bladder, blood and skin.

The “more chemo he gets, (the) harder (it is) for him to make it on those stairs,” she said.

Also making their housing search difficult is the fact that Stange continues to work.

“He’s kind of in the doughnut hole, because he still wants to work,” she said of the income he earns from his job, which puts them above the income threshold for some housing options. Beyond money, however, the work “keeps him going,” she said.

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Meanwhile, Packard-Stange also is managing medical appointments, even as she tries to find them a new place and clear out the home they’ve made together for the past 16 years.

“I’ve never had so much hit the fan at the same time,” she said.

The couple, who haven’t been allowed to keep pets, have made friends with their wild neighbors. They’ve fed and befriended deer, skunks, raccoons and woodchucks.

“The animals are just so beautiful,” she said.

In return for the Stanges’ kindness, Packard-Stange said the skunks have deterred burglars.

“When you think of Noah’s ark, this is what you kind of think of when you see these different animals come up,” she said. “Two by two, (they) bring their families with them. That’s been a source of inspiration for the last 16 years.”

Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.