Commun ty Matters Farmington Presbyterian Manor
March 2018
Join us for dinner and an auction Farmington Presbyterian Manor’s Chicken and Dumpling Dinner and Silent Auction benefits the Good Samaritan’s Program, a fund that supports seniors who have used up their finances through no fault of their own. The dinner and auction are hosted at the Farmington Presbyterian Church on March 22 from 4 to 7 p.m. The silent auction will end at 7 p.m. Dine-in and carry-out available.
Activities assistant Mandy Blackmon and Norma Sutton, a resident in memory care, arrange some silk tulips.
Ticket prices: $8 in advance through March 21. $9 at door.
Phyllis Wigger, front row, left, and family
$7 when purchasing 10 or more group tickets in advance.
Honoring women’s achievements
Contact Presbyterian Manor at 573756-6768 with any questions.
March is Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate the accomplishments of women everywhere. We spoke with two of our residents who had different professional experiences as women and as mothers, but who both made significant contributions to their communities and the workplace. Pat Mayfield It was 1973 when Pat Mayfield started selling real estate in the Farmington area. It was an active time in the women’s rights movement, as laws were passed against gender discrimination in education and hiring. Even so, when Pat opened her own real estate business three years later, she wasn’t readily accepted by the mostly male brokers she competed with. HONOR, continued on page 2
Pat said life at Presbyterian Manor is “like living in luxury senior hotel... It’s not the end of your life, it’s another chapter in your life. Maybe the best chapter.”
HONOR, continued from page 1
“There was only one other real estate company here with a woman as the owner and broker,” Pat said. “We had to fight our way through and we would say, ‘We’re women and we can do it.’” Eventually, Pat’s results proved she was more than capable of running her own business – something her husband had encouraged her to do. In time, she had three locations and supervised a staff of about 30 salespeople, all the while weathering the market’s ups and downs. Her son, John Jr., joined her at Mayfield Real Estate. He took over in 2001 when Pat retired, and it remains one
Community Matters is published monthly for residents and friends of Farmington Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more at PresbyterianManors.org Jane Hull, executive director Anne Allen, marketing director To submit or suggest articles for this publication, contact aallen@pmma.org Telephone: 573-756-6768 Fax: 573-756-6014 Address: 500 Cayce St., Farmington, MO 63640-2910 Our mission: We provide quality senior services guided by Christian values. FarmingtonPresbyterianManor.org
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Community Matters March 2018
Phyllis Wigger
Pat Mayfield
of the top-selling agencies in the region. Her favorite thing about real estate work was the people, from her clients to her employees. Pat said she hopes she helped break ground for more women to enter the field and succeed. “I have noticed in the ads so many young women who have opened their own offices. I’m really proud and happy for them. When I started that was almost unheard of. They said, ‘She won’t last long.’”
When she was still a Farmington High School student in the 1940s, Phyllis Wigger became an operator for the local telephone company. She was a country girl who had attended a one-room schoolhouse through eighth grade, and at 16, she wanted to work. But Phyllis had no interest in becoming a nurse as her dad had urged. Phyllis worked at the phone company for 10 years, into her marriage and starting a family.
Pat’s granddaughter also is following in her footsteps, bringing Mayfield Real Estate into its third generation. Today, Pat enjoys keeping a journal of anecdotes from life at Farmington Presbyterian Manor, and she’s compiling them into a book. Her role model is the great Erma Bombeck. “It’s about so many of the people here that I’ve met that have interesting lives, and others who have got so much personality and willpower. They think so positive; I just admire them. And there are so many funny things that happen here.”
Phyllis Wigger
When she had her second of their three children, she decided to stop working for a while and be at home with them. “The most fun of my life was raising my family, really,” she said. HONOR, continued on page 3 Like us on Facebook
HONOR, continued from page 2
For 10 more years, Phyllis enjoyed the life of a stay-at-home mom. Circumstances changed again, however, and she went back to work when the kids were in school. Phyllis and her husband divorced after 28 years. She tried to return to her old position at the phone company, but she met resistance. She took the employment exam; they said they lost it. After she pressed, they allowed her to retake the test, only to offer her a split shift at an office 100 miles from her home.
Phyllis said it was clear they didn’t want to hire an older woman.
the most fun in the world, but it was an interesting job.”
Instead, she found work at the community hospital, then joined the State of Missouri’s social services department. For 15 years, Phyllis first helped people apply for food stamps, then she worked with the children’s home.
Today Phyllis is happy to have one of her sons and her daughter close by, and she’s clearly proud of all they have accomplished.
She enjoyed her job because it was meaningful, but it wasn’t easy. “I thought I was doing something where I was helping people,” she said. “I found it to be a difficult job. There are a lot of sad situations that people get into. That part was not
Thanks to the examples these women set and their perseverance, doors have opened for future generations of women to pursue their dreams – of work, of family, of serving their communities. We hope you’ll take a moment this month to reflect on the women in your life who influenced your own accomplishments!
Farmington Presbyterian Manor’s Post-Acute To Home (PATH®) program isn’t just about getting you home—it’s about getting you back to your life. Call 573-756-6768 today to schedule your personal appointment and tour. FarmingtonPresbyterianManor.org Like us on Facebook
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Farmington Presbyterian Manor 500 Cayce St. Farmington, MO 63640-2910 Return Service Requested
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facebook Tell us your story We will be celebrating Older American’s Month and National Nursing Home Week in an upcoming issue of Community Matters. The Older Americans Month theme is “Engage at Every Age.” If you have ways that you are intentionally staying engaged in activities you’ve always loved, using technology or if you just want to tell the world what you love about living in your senior living community, we want to share the story. Contact Anne Allen, marketing director, and your story could be featured in an upcoming edition of Community Matters.
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Community Matters March 2018
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