Family is the canvas of resident’s life
When Alex Washburn talks about her family, she talks about her late husband, the Reverend Doctor Steven Washburn who built a career as a minister in the Midwest, as well as her now 40-year-old son and her 10-year-old grandson. But her story also opens a window into a long, interesting, and artistic history. That might take you to a conversation about a long-ago ancestor and his brother-in-law who worked as merchant ship captains and are immortalized in several “primitive” early 19th century paintings. Or it could open discussion about her father, a Captain who headed the International Ice Patrol tasked with recording iceberg flows in an effort to prevent tragedies like the “Titanic”. There’s also the father-in-law who served as dentist for the wife of Chicago’s mayor, and the aunt who served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and was deployed during the Battle of Britain in World War II. And the remarkable tale of her “triple great grandmother” Catherine E. Read Williams, who Alex described as a “selfmade” woman, who worked as a satirist, an historian and as the first True-Crime author in the United States.
“’The Tale of Fall River’ was written in 1833 by a person born in 1790,” Alex said. That wasn’t my husband’s favorite plot line, because it was about a minister who had murdered an inconvenient girlfriend.”
The story Alex tells of her family lives in the many pieces of art she has hanging on her walls inside Wichita Presbyterian Manor.
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New Executive Chef puts heart and soul into every meal
Da'Yvanna 'Davy' Horton, the newly promoted Executive Chef at PMMA, is ready and excited to manage the daily menu at The Landing - and to learn more about residents’ culinary palates.
“I go out there and see if the food quality is good for the residents,” Davy said. That’s the big thing I do hands-on in leadership. Others of course are scheduling, planning the menu, teaching the crew proper placement. But I really enjoy going out and touching base with residents.”
To her, food service is a family affair. “I’m very personable,” she said. “I make it a family deal, we’re friends and we laugh and joke. The residents give me feedback - sometimes bad. But I try to be playful with them.
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“The government put a professional artist aboard my father’s ship, named the ‘Tahoe,’” Alex said. “I have five paintings, all by the same artist, Aldis Browne II. The story was covered by Life Magazine, and I just had that framed article from the art store. It’s a very colorful article.”
“Out of sheer ego, I have two portraits of myself that I hope are displayed in an un-ostentatious way,” Alex laughed.
The letters and books written by Catherine Read Williams have been donated to Brown University, along with the journals and letters of Gen. Henry Hardy Dewolfe, comilitary leader of a failed revolt to allow tenants to vote.
Alex, who also enjoys the name Alexandra, is originally from Rhode Island. She met Steven in Maryland, and the couple traveled to Manhattan, Kansas, where Steven took his first ministry role. Eventually, the couple moved to Wichita where they settled into the College Hill neighborhood for many years.
She has two Master’s degrees, and nearly completed her Doctorate. For some years, she worked as a college English instructor. Steven passed away in September, and Alex made the transition to Presbyterian Manor in March.
“People are very helpful. I think it’s
been a good transition,” Alex said. “The more I put on the walls to remind me of home, naturally, and to distract my eye from the lighter tones, the happier I become. It’s been a good simplification. Having people to help with cleaning and preparing
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meals, and a reduction in housekeeping duties, that’s a help.” Additionally, her son and grandson are only an eight-minute drive from her home. “They live in the next town over, and it’s a big advantage,” she said. u
Even if something’s wrong, I try to make it a brighter situation. I make them feel like we’re all people. I’m not out here for business. I ask them
‘Was it good, what did you like, what do you want to see?’ This is your home. I can give you a feel like you’re at home. They have gotten to know me now that I’m coming out of the kitchen. I’m loving what I’m doing.”
Davy came from a family of givers, with her mom serving at Children's Home and as a foster mom. Her dad also loves to cook, and taught her how to cook from a young age.
“As a kid, I was a big Daddy’s girl, Davy said. “He’d show me how to cook little dishes and then move to bigger things. It’s a good way to bond with your family. It’s how I bonded with my Dad. He’s my go-to if I have questions about how to cook something. I love cooking. I cook from the soul, from the heart, and with love. You feel it before you taste it.”
The Landing is a reservation-based restaurant where servers take care of the residents and their guests. The restaurant takes reservations from 5 pm to 6:30 pm, while the nearby Bistro operates from 11 am to 6 pm.
Among the most frequent resident requests, Davy said, is smoked meats.
“I bought a little pellet smoker for the oven, and they love the fact that I can smoke things on it,” Davy said. “I try to give them a smoked item once a week, using Jack Daniels smoke pellets.”
Apart from her role at The Landing, Davy is also a single mother to a 5-yearold daughter, and is currently working through a pledge process for a local service sorority.
“More to give her a role model, and show her there’s no limit to what she can do,” Davy said. “To show the little one looking up to me there’s another side of the world, and to instill in her head that there’s no such words as ‘I can’t.’” u
When Scott Love pauses to reflect on his father Ernie, a few key elements and themes rise to the surface.
The first is his caring soul.
“I’m extremely proud of my father. He’s a wonderful man. I think in terms of his spirit. He’s a caregiver,” Scott said. “He cared for my mother. He cared for Judy (Scott’s stepmother). He cared for both of his parents. He cared for his family friends, all through their end of life experiences. It’s just kind of father’s DNA to be that sort of a person.”
The second is that his father’s love, compassion, and caring was unwavering - even in the face of hardship.
“Life presents itself with a lot of turns,” Scott said. “It’s not a highway, it’s a road with twists and turns. That’s happened for my father and it’s happened for me. Through all of that, my father has shown love and acceptance, kindness and compassion, to me, my sister, and his grandchildren, and everyone around him. I feel lucky for that. Things don’t always go to script. I’m not
sure that they ever do. He’s the underpinning of being a good solid person, and a good man makes all the difference.”
Scott, who lives in Oklahoma City and is father to two children of his own, used those keys laid out by his father as he raised his children to adulthood.
“I try to respect them as adults, and trust them that the decisions they make in their lives are the right decisions for them,” Scott said. “My place is to love them and support them. I’ve felt that from my father. If we can learn as we go, and grow in our relationships and be present for each other. That’s what I’ve seen my father do for me and that’s what I want to do for my children.”
Ernie, who is 92, is battling metastasized cancer and is on comfort care.
“I’m there every week for a day or two,” Scott said. “My father cared for
me when there were things I couldn’t do for myself, and now it’s my turn.”
Nevertheless, Scott is glad that his father has chosen to remain at Presbyterian Manor.
“One of the really nice things is that since my father has been diagnosed with illness, and Judy’s death, there’s been, in the time he’s lived there, a great deal of support and friendship with residents,” he says. “There’s a little shelf outside the door and they put cards on the shelf for him. The words of people who understand from their experience, that’s meant a lot. As a son, I’m really grateful for that. It’s hard to have him living away from him as he is. But he’s very clear thinking and this is where he wants to live. It’s comforting for me to see that support and community for him. Aside from his years in the Navy, that area has always been home for him. And now the last seven-plus years, the Manor.” u
Caring comes full circle for father and sonErnie Love and his son Scott. Welcome home from their honor flight.
Wichita Presbyterian Manor shares customer service survey responses
Wichita Presbyterian Manor continues to seek customer feedback through monthly telephone surveys. Each month, residents and their representatives are randomly selected to participate in telephone satisfaction surveys conducted by Pinnacle Quality Insight.
The graphic highlights recent survey results. All scores are given on a 5-point scale, with 5 being the highest score and 1 the lowest score. Between April 2022 and March 2023, Wichita Presbyterian Manor residents and their families gave the community high scores for safety and security, cleanliness as well as an easy admission process and for demonstrating dignity and respect.
“There are a lot of things we like,” said one resident. “The staff has been very helpful. We like all the employees.”
We greatly value the opinions of our residents and their representatives about the care and services we provide, and we encourage them to participate honestly when contacted by Pinnacle Quality Insight. All state and federal confidentiality laws are met in Pinnacle’s service. u