New Jersey woman uses classic car to start conversations about Alzheimer's

MARLTON, New Jersey (WPVI) -- The passing of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter on Sunday has sparked a conversation on dementia.

Earlier this year, Carter was diagnosed with dementia, which is closely associated with Alzheimer's.

For Samantha Fox-Lewis, the conversation on Alzheimer's disease is one she frequently has using an eye-catching conversation starter.

"Everybody asks me, 'Oh my goodness, how did you get that car?'" Fox-Lewis said while standing next to a white four-door 1966 Plymouth Valiant.

It's a classic car with a classic name.

"This is Betty," Fox-Lewis said with a smile while gesturing towards the car.

Betty was a gift from Fox-Lewis' grandfather, Thomas Fox, who'd promised her a car for her 17th birthday.

"When I was 17, he went and searched for a car. I fell in love the second I saw (Betty)," she said of the car, which needed its fair share of fixing up after it was purchased.

Her love for her grandfather is the reason why when anyone wants to talk to Fox-Lewis about the car, the conversation turns to her grandfather and Alzheimer's disease.

"When the diagnosis came, it hit us pretty hard," she said. "We didn't understand what the disease was going to do to him."

Thomas Fox died last December. The support his family got from the Alzheimer's Association Delaware Valley Chapter not only comforted Fox-Lewis, it also inspired her.

She now volunteers as a community educator with the association.

"In this way, I'm able to give back," she said of her volunteer work.

This year, that work included helping to organize the annual Walk to End Alzheimer's event in Philadelphia.

Sometimes, her conversations about Alzheimer's happen at classic car shows where Betty has already won a trophy.

"I made this promise to (my grandfather) that I would take it out and show it off," she said.

Maybe that's why her grandfather kept the car even after Fox-Lewis gave it back during her college years.

"(I was) driving to college up and down the Schuylkill and I just don't want to risk hurting the car," she said of her choice at the time.

Nearly 20 years later, she discovered her grandfather had been storing the car for her in a garage.

"All these years later, he'd kept it for me," she said.

Now, she's keeping her promise to show off the car, which tends to make people smile when they drive past it.

"I'll get waves, I'll get beeps," she said. "I've had people hanging out of windows!"

She is happy to be able to shift that attention to her grandfather and the fight against Alzheimer's.

"My grandfather would absolutely be proud of me," she said.

In Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, the number of people aged 65 and up with Alzheimer's is expected to increase. Our 6abc data team found the number is projected to increase by 14.3% in Pennsylvania, 10.5% in New Jersey, and 21.1% in Delaware. For more information and resources on Alzheimer's Disease, visit the web page for the Alzheimer's Association Delaware Valley Chapter here: https://www.alz.org/delval.