Flint from Ohio, amethyst from Canada, coral from Florida and Herkimer diamonds from New York. Eleanore Gano’s memories of retirement are as smooth to the touch and pretty to the eye as they are pleasant to her memory.

At age 95, Eleanore can still tell you where each polished stone was collected and perhaps even recall a story or two connected to the adventure that yielded the prize. A resident of Cardinal Woods in Madison, Eleanore readily shares those stories and stones with residents, staff and all who visit. Most come away with a smooth stone in their pocket and new-found fascination for what’s under our feet.

“You find these rocks in the earth, and you think they’ve been there thousands of years,” she says.

For more than 15 years following their retirements, Eleanor and her late husband, Jerold “Jerry” Gano, traveled the United States and Canada pursuing their rock-hounding hobby. Eleanore says they collected rocks in every contiguous state except Washington, which they were told didn’t offer much in the way of interesting rocks.

Eleanore and Jerry lived in Willoughby when they were pursuing their rock-hound hobby but were familiar to many Ashtabula County rock and mineral collectors through their membership in the local club and participation in shows.

Eleanore worked as a registered nurse for YMCA camps and Red Cross blood collection sites prior to retirement. Her husband was a maintenance welder for General Electric.

Thirty-five years ago, when Jerry and Eleanore retired, their college-professor son, James Gano, gave them a book about rock collecting. The subject resonated with them.

“My husband was kind of gung-ho about it. He didn’t wait long, at all. We had a travel trailer, and we’d take off and go on trips,” she says.

Those adventures were often made with other rock-collecting friends from the Ashtabula club.

“We’d go for a couple of weeks at a time. Ten or 15 couples would decide where we were going to go. Most of us were retired, and we’d just take off,” she recalls.

Eleanore says popular public rock collecting sites are often paired with campgrounds, making it convenient for rock hounds to devote themselves to their search. It was dirty work, at least the way her husband tackled the job. Sometimes, he’d dig holes 6 feet deep in his search for an unusual crystal or rock.

“Whenever someone asked me which one of the men was my husband, I’d say, ‘He’s the dirtiest one down there.’”

Eleanore says her husband enjoyed digging at the landfill in Tampa Bay, Fla., where material dredged from the harbor was deposited. The fill included coral that had turned to stone.

At the other end of the country, they dug for amethyst along the shores of Lake Michigan. Sometimes, Eleanore would look across the landscape for her husband and see only the top of his head bobbing up and down as he dug for rocky treasure.

“It was not child’s play,” she says.

It was fun, however, and gave Eleanore and Jerry a very satisfying and activity-filled retirement. The stones they brought back from their adventures were tumbled with grit for 14 weeks to bring out their beautiful swirls, colors and patterns. Sometimes it took a visit from the diamond-tipped saw blade to expose the beauty within, which was polished to perfection. Eleanore and Jerry learned how to make jewelry from these stones and crystals, and sold them at shows to help fund their next adventure. The couple collected their diamonds in Herkimer, N.Y., famous for the quartz crystal deposits. Their other favorite destination was Flint Ridge, near Columbus, where ancient people collected flint for tools and weapons.

One of Eleanore’s most prized possessions is a necklace made of flint cut to reveal what appears to be a native American woman sitting inside a tepee. The stunning cherished piece was a gift from Jerry.

Eleanore says their last outing as a rock-hounding couple was to Herkimer. Jerry was about 80 at the time, and his health was failing because of a heart condition and Alzheimer’s disease. Always the nurse, Eleanore cared for Jerry until his last breath 15 years ago. They were married for more than 50 years.

After Jerry died, Eleanore resumed her work with the stones.

“I think that made me feel good because I’m carrying on some of the things he’d want me to do,” she says.

As her own health failed, Eleanore was forced into the nursing facility about 18 months ago. Her rocks came with her.

Eleanor and her children arranged to have a showcase placed in a common area of the center. The case holds many of her most stunning rocks and crystals, displayed on napkins from her 50th wedding anniversary party in 1989 and doilies made by her daughter, Judith Stevenson.

Eleanore enjoys sharing her hobby and stories with other residents, and she has used the smooth stones in therapy sessions. She is an avid reader and loves to read about rocks and minerals, as long as it’s not too technical. With the help of her son-in-law, Tom Stevenson, she still makes jewelry from the stones she and her husband collected years ago.

The son who got her started on the adventure lives in Colorado. Another son, Kenneth, lives in Florida. Tom and Judith are Concord Township residents and help her stay involved in the hobby by making sure the rocks move with her, wherever she goes.

“If my bed ever collapses, it won’t go very far because there are boxes full of rocks under there,” she says.