Meet Joe
Executive Director
The executive director, along with our friendly and professional staff, strives to create positive, stimulating ways for residents to continue living life with meaning and purpose. We are a friendly family where we treat residents like real people with real life stories.
Our community is a great story that includes heartwarming chapters and incredibly unique characters all in a wonderful setting. Here is the executive director’s story:
How long have you worked in the retirement industry?
Ten years.
What do you like best about your job?
The opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of seniors and to build a community for seniors.
What do you like to do in your free time and why?
I enjoy family time, reading, watching sports, and doing volunteer work. I gain personal reward from family time and volunteer activity. Reading and watching sports are things I like to do in my down time.
If you could meet one person, past or present, who would it be and why?
Joshua of the Old Testament because he was so involved in not only a major conquest, but also in helping to establish a culture of a new nation. Creating and maintaining culture is a passion of mine.
What’s your favorite movie and why?
Fiddler on the Roof, because of the cultural issues that are so intermingled into the story of a struggling family.
What’s your favorite dish or dessert and why?
Chilean Sea Bass and true Key Lime Pie, because they both taste great.
In what ways do your residents inspire you?
They inspire me through their stories and their strength, gained from a lifetime of doing what they had to do and never giving up.
Do you have any memorable experiences with a particular resident you would like to share?
I had a very special resident who seemed to be so much like all the other residents, until I learned that she had been deaf from birth. She was so full of life, had learned to speak just like all others, and had a wealth of experiences from family, work, and travel. She absolutely refused to let her handicap be a handicap.
How do you honor your residents at your community?
By demanding that we create an environment where each resident has their personal identity celebrated, where a strong sense of community is built and maintained, and where each resident is encouraged to maintain a sense of real purpose.
Tell us about a resident with a remarkable life story?
Don was a Professor, a Dean, and Under Secretary of the Agriculture. He had many more achievements, yet he was a gentle and kind man who loved poetry. He also wrote poetry. After his wife’s death, he published a book of his poetry, with many poems written while his responsibilities took him away from his wife. Many of those poems were love poems. He titled his book, “Summing Up,” as a way of saying that these poems were the summation of who he was and the legacy he was leaving. By learning about him and getting to know him, I learned how important it is for everyone to be able to tell their own story and to know and share their legacy.
In what ways do your employees inspire you?
Those employees who “get it” inspire me. They connect with residents and what we are all about. They are a constant inspiration in that they are the environment that we desire for our residents, much more than any of the bricks and mortar we work in.
How do you create a family-like atmosphere at your community?
Listen and teach. I love to be ready for that next teachable moment and to take advantage of it. It is really beautiful when other members of the employee family begin to do the same and use a teachable moment to teach me something that I really needed to learn.
Tell us about an employee who embodies one of our core values – integrity, respect, responsibility, professionalism or teamwork.
Rosemary is one of our housekeepers, and for some time was our only housekeeper. The job was way too much for one person, but she was here every day, doing what was the highest priority and keeping a smile and great outlook. She embodies the spirit of serving our residents with respect and dignity.
At Raider Ranch, we understand that deciding where to live is a big decision that deserves careful thought. We invite you to visit us, stop by for lunch or be a guest at one of our special events or classes. We look forward to meeting you.