Commun ty Matters Wichita Presbyterian Manor
June 2015
Pitching pioneer
WSU honors resident for groundbreaking role On a chilly Kansas spring day, Bea Nutting bundled up in a WuShock blanket to watch the Wichita State University softball team play the second of a two-game home stand against Missouri State University — and win. But during the first and second innings of the game, it was Nutting who took the spotlight. The game announcer told the crowd a special guest was in their midst that afternoon: “a pioneer in women’s softball.” Nutting, a resident of Wichita Presbyterian Manor, played in amateur and professional softball leagues in the 1940s and ‘50s.
Only the best for Dad
Nutting was joined at the game by her daughters, Carol and Kay, and other members of her extended family, as well as Presbyterian Manor staff members including Executive Director Dawn Veh. She received a game ball signed by the entire team.
Today, when the brothers visit their dad at Wichita Presbyterian Manor, they start right in on each other.
According to articles in her scrapbook from The Wichita Eagle and WestSide Story newspaper, young Beatrice Beam learned the game as a girl in Coffeyville. She mastered the underhand “pop-up” fast pitch, and by the age of 19 PITCHING, continued on page 4
Family pleased with father’s experience at Presbyterian Manor When Paul and David Bolton were growing up, they knew to expect the unexpected from their dad. Kenneth Bolton, who recently passed away, was a practical joker — and pranks brought the family close together.
“My dad’s always had this killer sense of humor,” Paul Bolton said. “We go up there and we joke with him, and we harass each other, just like old times, and I think that that’s a familiar territory for him. He doesn’t feel like he’s excluded and isolated.” Those special times have been hard to come by in the past five years, since Alzheimer’s disease began robbing Kenneth Bolton of the things that are familiar. Paul’s brother, David, had been caring for their father at Kenneth’s Wichita home for several years as his health declined. Last year, Paul took extended leave from his chiropractic practice in Colorado to relieve his brother. But like many adult DAD, continued on page 2
Founders Day
Wichita Presbyterian Manor residents and staff celebrated Presbyterian Manor’s Founders Day on April 24.We had a barbecue lunch with a 1949/’50s theme celebrating when Presbyterian Manor first opened in Newton. We also enjoyed cupcakes decorated in the Presbyterian Manor colors of blue, gold and purple. All residents received a purple shopping bag with the PMMA logo, and employees received a flavor infusion cup, also with the logo. Employees also signed Promise Boards to affirming their commitment to the Presbyterian Manor mission and values.
DAD, continued from page 1
Community Matters
is published monthly for residents and friends of Wichita Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more at PresbyterianManors.org. Dawn Veh, executive director Amy Watson, marketing director To submit or suggest articles for this publication, contact Mary Angela Page, activities director, mpage@pmma.org. Telephone: 316-942-7456 Fax: 316-941-3806 Address: 4700 W. 13th St., Wichita, KS 67212-5575 Our mission: We provide quality senior services guided by Christian values. WichitaPresbyterianManor.org
caregivers, they realized their abilities were limited. “As the disease progressed, it just became pretty apparent that the risks involved in him living at home were getting too great,” Paul Bolton said. Paul and David Bolton’s dad had always been there for them. Now they wanted to take care of him as well as he had done.That meant finding a place for their dad to get the skilled health care he needs with the compassion and dignity he deserves. For the Boltons, it was Wichita Presbyterian Manor’s new memory care residences. Paul Bolton’s grandmother and greatgreat aunt had lived at Presbyterian Manor, he said, so there was comfort in that. “(Dad) kind of said all along, ‘Well, if I have to go someplace someday, Presbyterian Manor would be one of
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Community Matters June 2015
the places I’d want to look at,’” Paul Bolton said. “Knowing that he had a positive impression of Presbyterian Manor was a big help.” The Boltons also knew that as the disease progressed, a transition would only get more difficult. So they brought their dad to visit Wichita Presbyterian Manor more than once. “His response, when he saw it, was, ‘This is like a resort in Colorado,’” Paul Bolton said. The family also appreciated the therapeutic approach to memory care at Presbyterian Manor, with activities that would engage him on his own terms, as well as pastoral care. It’s the least they could do for a father who gave them so much. “All the time that I grew up, my parents supported me in everything that I did,” Paul Bolton said. “You do for family what you might not do for other people.”
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4700 W. 13th St., Wichita, KS 67212-5575
Wichita Presbyterian Manor
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Front row: WSU Women’s Softball Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner, Bea Nutting, Assistant Coach Samantha Sheeley. Back row:Team Volunteer Assistant Clarisa Navarro and Assistant Coach Nicole Hudson. PITCHING, continued from page 1
Bea’s own cleats from her ball-playing days. The softball team surrounds Bea for a photo.
she had a tryout for the Rival Dog Food Rivals, one of six teams in the competitive Chicago Metropolitan Girls’ Major Softball League (the forerunner of the National Girls Softball League).
war effort. That’s where she met Bill Nutting, her crew chief and future husband. But she didn’t leave softball behind. Nutting played for the Beech team and became known as “Rosie the Riveter” to fans. Bea served as the Rivals’ control Soon, she joined the Wichita pitcher in 1941 and 1942, Federalettes Girl’s Softball Club, entertaining the capacity wartime where coach Dan Dwyer dubbed crowds most nights during the her “The Darling of the Diamond: season. By day, she worked as a the Dimpled Dame who dishes out riveter in a defense plant. Although those dynamite-driven darters dey it was officially an amateur league, Bea and the other players did receive don’t hit!” a portion of the gate receipts – In 1946, Nutting was asked to usually about $5 a game. join the regional champion Topeka Oilers at the World’s Amateur After two seasons, Bea returned to Wichita to work at Beech for the Softball Championships in Ohio. She
A softball signed by the WSU women’s softball team for Bea.
played ball throughout the 1950s, taking breaks for the births of her daughters in 1947 and 1949. Like many female athletes of the 20th century, Nutting helped pave the way for young women to pursue amateur and professional careers in sports today. We’d call that a grand slam of a legacy.
Coming Up in Community Matters Everyone has a story to tell... We’ll be talking about education in an upcoming edition of Community Matters. Were you a teacher or a school administrator? Do you have fond memories of what school was like when you were young? Are you amazed at the changes in schools now that your grandchildren and great-grandchildren are attending?
If you’d like to share your thoughts or memories, contact Marketing Director Amy Watson and your story may be selected for inclusion in an upcoming Community Matters newsletter.
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Community Matters June 2015
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