Commun ty Matters Parsons Presbyterian Manor
Share your “PATH” to success COMING UP IN COMMUNITY MATTERS:
We will be featuring people who have received therapy through our Post Acute to Home® (PATH®) program in an upcoming issue of Community Matters. If you have a story to tell about your experience in our PATH program or know someone who does, 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 Sharla Hopper, marketing director, and your story could be featured in an upcoming edition of Community Matters.
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July 2017
Jackie Pizzo has passion for food, profession
It’s something we all need, and for the most part, something we all enjoy: food. But while we all enjoy consuming it on a daily basis, it takes a special kind of person to enjoy preparing it for others. At Parsons Presbyterian Manor, one of those special people is Dining Supervisor Jackie Pizzo. “My favorite thing about working in food service is that food is the one thing that unifies everyone. It draws us together. It’s the one thing that internationally, we all speak the language of. It creates bonding time. Even around this area, when families get together, there’s always food involved. It gives everyone a chance to get together and enjoy a meal in fellowship,” said Jackie. Jackie loves the food profession so much that she recently completed coursework to be a certified dietary manager, a certification which requires she pass boards from the Association of Nutrition and Food Service Professionals. “I’ve been at Parsons Presbyterian Manor for almost two years. I started as a dietary aide and was promoted last year. I went back to school at Barton Community College to become a certified dietary manager,” said Jackie. “I’ve worked in food service for the majority of my life. Our current certified dietary manager, Ruth Haile, was the CDM at the last place I worked. We have a really good working relationship. She’s been here about a year, and it’s a great place to work. “I appreciate the quality, the teamwork, and the real drive for excellence in what we provide. If it weren’t for PMMA, I wouldn’t have sought my certification, but I’m so glad I did.” When she’s not preparing delicious and nutritious meals at work, she enjoys cooking at home and spending time with her boyfriend and 10-yearold son.
No more birthdays
Wayne Mason, Chaplain, Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice
time. There will be no aging in Heaven because there will be no decline.
There is an old song that contains these I am turning 62 this month, and I am lyrics: “This world is not my home, I’m sure I will hear a few “Happy Birthday just a passing through.” Aren’t you glad toYou” musical greetings. To me, it will this is not our permanent home? There probably be another day of “do this and is a NEW world, a NEW home, we can do that.” I got to thinking – when I get be looking toward. It will be a world of wonder and of peace. After experiencing to Heaven, I will have no more this world for the last 60+ years, I look birthdays. forward to a world that we haven’t The counting of birthdays only matters messed up. here on Earth. It is only here that time I guess there is only one thing I’m trying is measured in any particular way. Think about it: eternity eliminates the to say – I really look forward to only one more birthday. It is the day I will be need to count the accumulation of delivered into Heaven. What a birthday that will be! ®
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W. Wayne Mason, Chaplain
“The world is not my
home...just passing through”
Prayer: Lord, help me not to get so
“For this world is not our permanent wrapped up in the things of this world. home; we are looking forward to a home Let me focus on the worldYou are yet to come.” Hebrews 11:13
preparing for me. Amen
Community Matters is published monthly for residents and friends of Parsons Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of
501(c)(3) organization. Learn more at PresbyterianManors.org. Maegen Pegues, executive director Sharla Hopper, marketing director To submit or suggest articles for this publication, contact shopper@pmma.org. Telephone: 620-421-1450 Fax: 620-421-1897 Address: 3501 Dirr Ave., Parsons, KS 67357-2220 Our mission: We provide quality senior services guided by Christian values. ParsonsPresbyterianManor.org
Par sonns Presbyterian Manorr’s Post-Acute ost Acute T To o ® Homee (PATH ) program isn’t juust about getting you home – it’s about getting you baack to your life. Call 620-717-4030 to oday to schedule your per sonal appointment ment and tour. ParsonsPresbyterianManor.org
2 COMMUNITY MATTERS JULY 2017
Blazing Trails, Building Legacies At 38 years old, Wanda Ladage was faced with some tough choices. As a newly single mother of four girls, it was up to her to secure an income for her family, but she didn’t stop there. Her courage, work ethic and dedication to serving others blazed a trail not only for her daughters, but for countless others who learned under her leadership.
“Mom started out as a farm wife but then went back to school to be an RN at Labette Community College in Parsons,” said Wanda’s daughter, Kim McMum. “She got her associate’s in nursing, then worked for a few years. She went back to school again, this time to Pittsburg State to get her bachelor’s degree in nursing. Then she started teaching at LCC in the nursing program.” Starting all over again at 38, achieving her degrees and teaching in her field
would be accomplishments all on their own, but Wanda kept advancing.
“To continue teaching at LCC, she had to get her master’s in education. So she went back to Pitt State for that degree. Then she became the director of the nursing program at LCC, and while she was director, she went on to KState to get her doctorate. She was at the college more than 20 years teaching and was also was the dean of education. When she retired, she served on LCC board of directors for many years,” said Kim. Wanda, who now lives at Parsons Presbyterian Manor, was also the recipient of several awards over the years, including the 2008 Cardinal Citation Award from LCC.
“When an individual possesses high standards of integrity and values and chooses to commit themselves to a life of service, I believe they should be
Wanda celebrates 38 years of marriage with husband Curt.
recognized,” said Dr. Dee Bohnenblust, director of nursing education at LCC, who nominated Wanda for the award. “Dr. Ladage has contributed remarkable leadership and sound professional skills to the historical development of the LCC nursing program.”
It’s hard to separate Wanda Ladage from her nursing education legacy, but then again, she’s proud of the trail she blazed for countless more who followed in her footsteps.
“When people find out that I am also a nurse, they assume that my mom was my instructor, too. But then they realize that she started nursing school in 1976, the year I graduated high school,” said Kim. “I was proud of her, and we didn’t know if she could keep up, but she had all As. And back then, it wasn’t common to see adults in the college classroom. In most of her Wanda Ladage with her four daughters.
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classes, she was oldest one. She was a trailblazer, definitely. She loved school and loved learning. Once she got started she couldn’t quit. She might have been 50 by the time she got her doctorate and probably 68 or so before she retired. That’s a 30-year career full of accomplishments. She’s proof that it’s never too late to start something new!” Of Wanda’s four daughters, only Kim
became a nurse. Two became teachers and one an accountant.
“I don’t have a degree in teaching, but I retired from nursing home work after 38 years, and am now teaching a health careers class at the high school. My mom is pretty happy about that. I was a nurse, and now I’m a teacher, just like her.” While Wanda’s impact is certainly seen in each of her daughter’s successful
career paths, it’s also seen every day in the community.
We can hardly go anywhere, especially to any hospital or doctor’s office, without hearing, “I know you! You were my teacher or director. She’s left a long, long legacy.”
So how did she do it all? Kim believes one simple, yet profound thing, got her through it all.
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“She loves Jesus, and I think she always tried to love people and serve people like Jesus would. She would say if you want to be first, you have to be last. If you want to be great, you have to serve others. She always loved and served people like Jesus would. And even though she had some really hard times in her life, she still trusted Jesus, and she feels like He got her through.” Wanda has 12 grandchildren and
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more than 15 great-grandchildren, and she just celebrated 38 years of marriage with Curt Ladage. She was an accomplished seamstress and made many of her children’s clothes, and even bridesmaids’ dresses. She loved to travel and has visited all 50 states and many places outside of the United States. “She’s an amazing woman. She’s inspired me and set that example of perseverance,” Kim said.
Wanda’s impact on Labette Community College and the nursing profession is immeasurable.