"Mom knew from her own experience that addiction is a family disease. Although there was not a formal family program, she made sure families’ needs were addressed. Catherine immediately began creating a homelike atmosphere for what became Chit-Chat Farms.
"From the very beginning of my father's recovery, my mother was concerned about the families of other alcoholics," said Sandra Caron, the second of the Carons' four children.ĭick and Catherine bought Highland House, a former hotel outside of Wernersville and turned it into Berks County's first halfway house for male alcoholics. In fact, she founded Berks County's first Al-Anon group. When Dick got sober in 1950, Catherine became his partner in the quest to help struggling alcoholics and, eventually, all those addicted to substances. She experienced her husband's thoughts of suicide, his doubts about his faith, and times of great despair. She witnessed his many attempts to quit drinking, his relapses, job losses, and a period of gambling that left the family thousands of dollars in debt. But he didn't change," Catherine told an AA group. "I thought I'd change him when we were married. In 1944, Catherine Tilton married Richard (Dick) Caron, who was by then enmeshed in alcoholism and its demands.
AA stepped in again and gave him the confidence and stability he needed to truly begin the work of recovery, not just his own but supporting and encouraging others on their journeys.Ĭatherine Caron’s marriage drove her devotion to family treatment. In the first months of his sobriety, he turned to gambling, building a debt that rose to $100,000. Like many of us in recovery, his addiction story didn't end there. On April 23, 1950, Dick took his last drink. "Some of my recovering alcoholic friends said I was a hopeless case but I was trying. A stay at Hazelden, then a year old, in Minnesota didn't help. Still he continued to attend meetings, nagged by his feeling that AA fellowship and support was what he needed. Invited to AA, he went to his first meeting and then for a drink after. Paul, Minnesota, but drank the profits away. Dick cobbled together enough money to start his own business in St. The months after were dark ones, filled with drinking, convictions for drunk driving, and finally being fired from the family business. His first drink after his stay was on the train going home. His parents' wedding gift to the young couple was a trip to an early alcoholism facility, the Keeley Institute. Later trying to make sense of those chaotic years, Dick said he was angry – angry at something or someone that he could never quite define.Īfter service with the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II, Dick returned to Chicago where he met and soon married Catherine Tilton. He later said, "I think that I'm one of those people who from the time they took their first drink was an alcoholic." His adolescence was marked by running away, getting into fights, failed attempts at school, and job escapades – all fueled by alcohol. Thanks to his work, thousands have been forever changed at "Magic Mountain," the Caron Pennsylvania campus nestled in the eastern hills of the state, and more recently at Caron Renaissance and Caron Ocean Drive in Florida.īorn in 1914 to an affluent family living in Chicago, Richard (Dick) Caron was roaming Chicago's "Tenderloin" by the time he was 13, drinking alcohol in Prohibition-era speakeasies. He became a remarkable man and an inspiration to many. Caron started out his adult life as an almost incorrigible alcoholic.
The Legacy of Richard and Catherine Caron Inspires Recovery For Life
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