Fort Scott Presbyterian Village
FEBRUARY 2022
Residents, employees share their Fort Scott Presbyterian Village experiences While Fort Scott Presbyterian Village has a lot to offer, the residents and staff make it the exceptional place that it is. Their friendliness and compassion make our community a home. We love hearing stories that remind us why we work each day to carry out the mission and values that guide our community. Thanks to everyone for sharing your stories, and thanks for being part of our Presbyterian Village family. Minnie Lou Allen, resident I initially wanted to move to Presbyterian Village because I was going to be having a knee replaced. I came and toured and ended up loving the twobedroom apartment. I didn’t want to let it get away, so I decided to start renting it. I ended up not having my knee replaced but fell in love with [Presbyterian] Village: the building, the staff, and so many of my friends were there. It just felt like home. I feel like Presbyterian Village is kind of a hidden gem here in Fort Scott. I don’t think people realize all the benefits it has to offer to people like me.
Couple’s journey always led back ‘home’ Life took Fort Scott Presbyterian Village residents Letha and Roy Johnson on a number of journeys throughout the years, but home has always been together and always led back to the Fort Scott community.
Minnie Lou Allen
Betty Barnes, resident I moved in when [Presbyterian] Village first opened back in 1994, and my overall reason was I didn’t want to be alone. The safety and security is what has kept me here. I feel safe. I love the fact that I can go out and be as social as I want, but my apartment offers me all the privacy that I need. I have my kitchen if I want to cook, but I love the fact that I don’t have to. Living here has allowed me to be useful as well. I’ve helped out around the office, and I also coordinated religious services. We are truly a community. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Betty Barnes
Roy and Letha Johnson
Sharing experiences – continued on page 3
“We went to high school together, but didn’t date until after we graduated,” Letha said. “We dated for a few months, then he went off to the Army. He said he didn’t want any commitments while he was away, but we wrote all the time, and we’d date when he came home. When he was discharged, we started dating all the time.” Before long, they tied the knot and shot out into their married life like a rocket. “We were married on Oct. 27, 1956, and we were both here at Fort Scott,” Letha said. “When we got married, he was working in Kansas City. He got a Johnson journey – continued on page 2
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Johnson journey – continued from page 1
job there right after he left the service. We were married on Saturday evening, drove to Kansas City after the service and got an apartment in Mission, because he had to go to work on Monday. We didn’t have time for a honeymoon. A year later we drove to Colorado and called it a honeymoon.” They moved around the Kansas City metro area for a few years, but before long, the pull of home drew them back to Fort Scott. “We bought a house in Overland Park, and we finally had our daughter,” Letha said. “When she was about two, Roy said, ‘I don’t think this is a place to raise a child.’ We moved to Fort Scott and bought a farm and lived there for 43 years.” While working at the BFGoodrich store, Letha said someone expressed interest in selling off his milk route. Roy thought that was a good idea, so he bought the route and started delivering milk to customers. “He hauled milk for a while,” Letha said. “Then he went to El Dorado Springs, Mo., and a guy there was selling a tank truck. So Roy sold the milk route and bought the tank truck and ran that for quite a while. That was a seven-days-a-week job.
He hated working on Sundays and didn’t feel good asking others to do it, so he said ‘let’s look for something else.’” Something else came in the form of a lumberyard in the small town of Redfield. “The town had a grocery store and a school, and we bought the lumberyard from the old man wanting to get out,” Letha said. “And we went into the lumber and hardware business. Then the school consolidated with Uniontown, and the grocery store burned down. Then most of the people drove somewhere else for work. Things didn’t look that rosy. We talked to the banker, and he said the only thing to do was to get bigger or close down. To get bigger, you’d have to take on debt, and we didn’t think that was a good idea.” After the grocery store burned down, they dedicated a portion of the hardware store for groceries. That’s how Roy ended up back in the milk business. “A man brought milk to the store, and Roy said he’d like to get out of the business,” Letha said. “He asked if we’d like to get in the milk business, so I ran the store until we sold it, and Roy hauled milk doorto-door.”
Over time, the demand for athome milk delivery waned, and after years of physical work, Roy began having difficulty with his feet and legs. A friend in the insurance business persuaded Roy to sell insurance, which he did until his retirement in 2016 at the age of 82. “We’ve had a varied life, but a busy one,” Letha said. “We dived right into anything that came along. For the most part it was successful. I think it’s been pretty good. We never missed a meal.” Throughout the years, Letha said that communication has been the key to their successful marriage. “We’ve never had any great problems,” she said. “We’ve had a few arguments along the way, but nothing big. Communication is the big thing. You need to communicate, for crying out loud! Roy’s a great communicator. He’d come home and tell me everything that happened in his day. A couple just needs to talk things out. We had a few fusses and fights, but if you don’t, I don’t know if you have a marriage at all. Just don’t get too mad at each other. And we’ve pretty much worked together on everything we’ve had to do. I think that helps.” u
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Community Matters 620-223-5550 u Fax: 620-223-7800 2401 S. Horton Fort Scott, KS 66701 FortScottPresbyterianVillage.org
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COMMUNITY MATTERS | February 2022
is published monthly for residents and friends of Fort Scott Presbyterian Village by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
To submit or suggest articles: mbrillhart@pmma.org Ginger Nance, executive director Megan Brillhart, marketing coordinator
OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.
Sharing experiences – continued from page 1
Patsy Scott, resident
Barb Scott Gerald Elliott
Patsy Scott
I don’t know why I didn’t move in sooner! OK, I do know why. I thought Presbyterian Village was something else completely, and I was not ready to make that move. It took me a while to move in, but after I did I was so happy. I wanted all my friends to move in as well, and so far, a few of them have. Everyone is just so kind here. I’m a very social person, and I really enjoy that we get to go down and have lunch together every day. There is exercise and many other activities. I still go out and do all my other activities as well going to eat and playing cards. I’m just so happy to be here. Gerald Elliott, resident I was living in a big house with this big yard and pool, and it was just too much to take care of. I had some friends living at [Presbyterian] Village and really just thought this was the best move for me. I’m so glad I did. I’ve made many other
Barb Scott, staff member friends living here and really enjoy the I am blessed to be a part of the time we spend together. Presbyterian Village team for more than 25 years, and it all started when Kathy Powell, resident my husband's widowed mother I LOVE it here! I get the help I need, needed to downsize from her big but I also get to help out a lot! I was home. She was still very active but living alone at home when I found out wanted to be where she could get help my good friend was moving into if she needed it. When we toured Presbyterian Village. I decided I would [Presbyterian] Village, the staff and go ahead and make the move. I love management made us feel so welcome. being so close to all my good friends! We were amazed by the beautiful I’ve made several new ones, and even building, the size of apartments, the reconnected with one. There is just so level of care available if needed, much to do, and it is great how easy it activities, dining and so much more. It is for me to come and go! I feel like I was hard to leave her home of many can still be independent but know the years, but she was able to bring her staff is there if I ever do need any help. own furniture and special items to create a new home. She was even able to bring her two much-loved cats. She found that many of her lifelong friends and neighbors were here and very soon made many new friends. She loved it.
Kathy Powell with Sassy
I was not looking for a job change, but after working more than 20 years in the nursing home setting, I saw this as the change that I needed and wanted to be a part of. The residents are amazing, and I work with an outstanding team of coworkers. This has been such a rewarding job. It is like my second home and family, and I am very thankful to be here. u
Fort Scott Presbyterian Village | A PMMA COMMUNITY
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2401 S. Horton Fort Scott, KS 66701 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Fort Scott campus shares customer satisfaction survey results Fort Scott Presbyterian Village 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.
high willingness to recommend the community to others. “It is a great place to live. They take real good care of you,” one respondent said. “I would recommend it to anyone. I wouldn’t go any other place. It is nice to have the apartments, too.”
The graphic to the right highlights some of the survey results. All scores are given on a 5-point scale, with 5 being the highest score and 1 the lowest score. Between December 2020 and November 2021, Fort Scott Presbyterian Village residents and their families gave the community high scores in safety and security, dining services, and demonstrating dignity and respect. In addition, residents and families also reported a
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COMMUNITY MATTERS | February 2022
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