Executive REPORT
Darrell D. Jones Lieutenant General, USAF (Ret) President & CEO
You never get tired of hearing fans chant “U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!” I admit it – I’m an Olympic junkie. I even found myself watching curling, thinking that maybe, just maybe, I could compete one day. (Truth be told, I’ve never curled – but I have dreams.) As the Winter Games concluded, I felt a deep sense of pride in Team USA and admiration for the individual athletes who accomplished so much. Most spent years – even decades – honing their skills with singular focus and determination. If you look closely, you’ll see that same spirit right here at Blue Skies of Texas.
In this Winter edition of the Courier, you’ll meet residents whose accomplishments rival any Olympic story. Lt Col (Ret) Ed Hughes, a World Champion skeet shooter, won his title in his 90s and is still competing as he approaches his 100th birthday this March. U.S. Merchant Marine Captain (Ret) Larry Rogers spent a lifetime mastering the seas and continues to hold his Master of Steam, Motor, and Sailing Vessels certification. And Lt Col (Ret) Norris Wynne was recently recognized as the only living World War II B-17 pilot. These remarkable achievements are just a few of the reasons Blue Skies of Texas is such an extraordinary community.
At Blue Skies, we also recognize a different kind of gold medal – one earned through service to others. In this issue, you’ll read about the newest inductees into the Order of the Eagle, now in its 38th year. Twelve individuals and corporations were honored for their extraordinary generosity and commitment through the Air Force Villages Charitable Foundation. Their sacrificial philanthropy ensures we can keep our promise to care for residents who may outlive their resources. Their legacy is one of compassion, and it strengthens our entire community.
Like Olympians, we understand that excellence requires discipline and accountability. Blue Skies of Texas is the only CARF-accredited Continuing Care Retirement Community in Texas. We voluntarily undergo rigorous evaluation to ensure we provide the highest level of service and support. While others may avoid such scrutiny, we embrace it as an opportunity to improve and to reaffirm our commitment to excellence.
Finally, this edition highlights one of our most valuable teams – our maintenance professionals. With the implementation of the new Equips maintenance tracking system, they deliver gold-medal service every day. Whether performing preventive maintenance, responding to urgent needs, or finding creative solutions, they work together with professionalism and pride to serve our residents.
You may have to wait two years for the next Summer Olympics and four years for the next Winter Games, but Olympic-level performances happen here every day—through the achievements of our residents and the dedication of our staff. That is the true spirit of Blue Skies of Texas.
Blue Skies Responds Residents Ask
Blue Skies continuously evaluates facilities, services, and amenities to ensure they are meeting residents’ needs and providing optimum safety and security. Residents’ input is factored into those decisions, and when the residents make a request, Blue Skies listens. Here are just a few examples of projects completed in the past year that resulted from residents asking.
EAST CAMPUS
Community Garden – Residents organized an active Garden Club and needed a larger, more accessible space to share their hobby. Now relocated across from Arnold House, the Garden has become a happy hub for folks to socialize, dig in the soil, and grow veggies, fruits and herbs to share with neighbors.
Village Store – This popular convenience store for residents and staff had outgrown its space, so our maintenance team reconfigured the space, and added access to internal mail.
Atrium – Resident Services Director Bianca Cardenas spearheaded a project to make the beautiful Atrium more comfortable, inviting, and aesthetic for residents and staff to gather, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
Sidewalks – Over time, sidewalks on both campuses have shifted unevenly, creating a safety hazard. Maintenance crews are repairing the sidewalks in phases, making them safe for all.
WEST CAMPUS
Fireplace at the Bistro – Resident Jim Conner expressed gratitude to Danielle Weintraub, Resident Services Director –West Campus, and Annie Moore, resident and volunteer who helped get funding from the Thrift Shop, for their roles in adding an inviting electric fireplace to the Bistro.
EV Charging Stations – To accommodate owners of electric vehicles, we have installed two EV charging stations at the main circle.
Thrift Store – Now it’s even more fun to shop for bargains at the Thrift Store, which has been renovated, expanded, and made more user friendly. Shoppers and volunteers are enjoying the updated space.
Upgraded Lighting – The maintenance team has added improved lighting in the covered parking for Towers 3 and 4, and in the area where residents park their golf carts. They’ve also rewired the lighting along walking paths, converting bulbs to LED to improve safety and visibility and to save energy.
Heat/Humidity Sensors – To better control heating and cooling in the Towers and offer comfort to residents, Blue Skies has installed sensors to adjust the temperature and humidity.
Residents Annie Moore and Col. Jim Conner appreciate the warmth the fireplace adds to the Bistro's ambience.
NEW MAINTENANCE TEAM
Saving Money, Improving Quality & Service
Maintaining a home can be burdensome and expensive. Residents often tell us they chose Blue Skies in part because of the difficulty of finding qualified, trustworthy HVAC, plumbing, electrical, painting, landscaping, and other skilled workers.
On July 1, 2025, Blue Skies transitioned maintenance services from an outside contractor to a fully in-house team. Since that time, service levels have steadily improved, and residents are noticing the difference. One of our most valued benefits is the ease of reaching trained technicians who are friendly, responsive, and eager to help.
The team began this transition by listening. Early resident meetings created an opportunity for open dialogue, and the maintenance staff responded with action. They are now responding more rapidly to open work orders within hours or days – progress that reflects focus, organization, and teamwork.
Today, our 35-member maintenance team represents a strong cross-section of skills and experience. They are responsive, courteous, and committed to doing the job right. Their positive culture shows up in small but meaningful ways:
• Team members intentionally build camaraderie and morale.
• Dress and appearance standards among leaders and managers reflect pride in their work and respect for residents.
• Ongoing training on new equipment and expanded opportunities within their trades support professional growth and skill development.
• Monthly team lunches bring maintenance staff together with leadership, reinforcing collaboration and shared purpose.
• Respect for one another’s work is part of the daily rhythm.
The leadership team at both campuses works closely with technicians to maintain a stable, accountable, and service-oriented environment. At a recent residents’ meeting, a resident commended the maintenance team, and the room responded with applause. That moment said everything.
The maintenance team is making a difference, keeping residents happy, improving response times, and saving the community money by performing work in-house rather than relying on outside contractors. Change can be challenging, but today the team is cohesive, engaged, and proud of the work they do for the Blue Skies community.
These friendly folks are the go-to maintenance team that residents rely on: L-R, Selina Canamar, Facility Coordinator; Gabriel Martinez, Facility Services Manager (West); Erika Provencher, Blue Skies Capital Projects Director; Joe Canamar, Facility Services Manager (East); and Sophia Figueroa, Systems Coordinator.
Our Fascinating Residents!
Blue Skies is abundant with fascinating residents who have served their country in many capacities – the military, medicine, education, business, industry, technology, the arts, and more. We’d like to introduce you to a few folks we know you’d love to meet.
Lieutenant Colonel Ed Hughes, USAF (Ret) – One might not expect a 90-year-old to earn a World Champion title in anything … until one meets Ed Hughes. The retired USAF officer, an avid skeet shooter for 70 years, ran the Military Skeet Shooting Association for 20 years, and at 90, thought it would be fun to enter the World Skeet Shooting Tournament. “Turns out, there weren’t that many shooters in my age group and I won the world title,” he said. In 2026, Ed turns 100, and he’s still shooting regularly with a group of buddies at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio, one of the premier shooting facilities in the world. Always up for a challenge, five years ago, he switched to sporting clays. “It’s a more exciting game. At my age, it’s the only hobby I have left,” he said, after a lifetime of hunting, racquetball, bowling, baseball and other sports. Ed and Jo Ann, his wife of 78 years, operated a Hallmark card shop in Killeen, Texas, retired, traveled the world for 12 years, then moved to Blue Skies in 2016. He selfpublished a book about his 100 years, titled, My Life.
Captain Larry Rogers, USMM (Ret) – As a little boy, Larry Rogers was enthralled watching the great liners sail in and out of New York Harbor. At 17, he was appointed to the Merchant Marine Academy, which launched his career as a ship captain, port captain, and fleet captain for the entire Gulf and East Coast. In 1969, the Coast Guard commended him for saving five lives through quick decision-making during Hurricane Camille. Later, he earned an MBA, and his career soared as he traveled and worked with shipping magnates around the world. He built six tank terminals, including the largest fuel oil terminal in North America. Larry’s experience proves you can take a landlubber out to sea and make him a world class seafarer. It is rare for a U.S. Merchant Captain to have commercial sailboat experience also, but he still holds a Master of Steam, Motor and Sailing Vessels, and enjoys sailing on his own yacht in the Caribbean.
Lieutenant Colonel Norris Wynne, USAF (Ret) – In our 2025 Annual Report, we honored Norris Wynne and his wife Peg, both of whom turned 100 and celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary in 2025. But there’s more, as evidenced by this excerpt from a birthday letter to Norris from USAA: “Your service as the only living World War II B-17 pilot is a profound testament to courage and sacrifice. Enlisting just two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor and serving in the Army Air Corps, before the U.S. Air Force existed, you helped shape history during one of our nation’s most defining moments.” One of his sons, David Wynne, tells us his dad grew up poor, worked a paper route before school every morning, and got a job washing and fueling planes at a local airport. In return, he earned free flight lessons and began flying at age 16. He flew the C-47 in Panama after WWII, shuttling passengers around Latin and South America. He served as Provost Marshal with the Military Police for 28 years and enjoyed a postmilitary career as a college instructor. When he was no longer flying, he took to the seas as a scuba diver. His adventures and stories span 100 years and mark him as a unique American icon.
We’re the ONLY CARF-Accredited CCRC in Texas!
You’ve probably seen the CARF International logo affixed to Blue Skies print materials, and you probably know CARF accreditation is a prestigious sign of compliance and excellence. What you may not know is that Blue Skies of Texas is the only CARF-Accredited Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in Texas. This exceptional, continuous accreditation from CARF has been a proud designation since 1987.
Maureen Parrish, Blue Skies Director of Corporate Compliance, understands the significance of CARF accreditation, and what it means to our residents and staff to earn this industry distinction.
She said, “CARF reviews over 1,000 standards during a survey. This independent, established entity visits our campus every five years to give us a complete physical – an intense event that is voluntary on our part. We do it to ensure continued quality improvement. The survey determines how our programs, services, and facilities meet international standards of quality in health and human services.”
CARF examines maintenance and infrastructure; corporate organizational practices (forms, processes, policies, human resources, the Charitable Foundation, boards, governance, insurance, financial practices, risk compliance, performance improvement, safety, and accessibility); and healthcare (nursing practice, infection control, referrals, physicians, education, medical management, pharmacy management, and everything that happens in each health care facility).
Our Own CARF Surveyor!
Maureen recently completed the course work to become a CARF surveyor. She cites some of the ways Blue Skies benefits from her connection as a surveyor:
• We observe best practices, learn how other communities are tackling challenges, and find techniques we can apply to our organization to boost the quality of our processes and improve life for Blue Skies residents.
• When CARF hosts open forums, we can speak on behalf of Blue Skies, thus spreading the word about our community to folks from around the country.
• Surveying other organizations gives me ideas on how best to approach my internal processes of compliance and readiness for Blue Skies.
“CARF understands that perfection is a pursuit, not a finish line. By engaging with our staff, residents, board members, and inviting all parties to a briefing at the end, they share their findings and help us continue to strive for the highest standards,” she said.
Maureen Parrish, left, Director of Corporate Compliance, and Marsha Lloyd, Liberty House Assisted Living Manager, review CARF documents as part of their ongoing efforts to deliver safe, high-quality healthcare.
ORDER OF THE EAGLE A Philanthropic Tradition Since 1988
Welcome, congratulations, and huge thanks to our 2025 Order of the Eagles. Not pictured: Dynamic Mechanical Contracting.
For 38 years, members of the Order of the Eagle have generously lent their support to the multi-faceted mission of the Air Force Villages Charitable Foundation (AFVCF). In early 2026, Blue Skies celebrated new Eagles who joined this philanthropic circle at a gourmet dinner attended by current and established Eagles.
We welcome to the Order of the Eagle: Major Ellen Cahalan, USAF (Ret); Chaplain (Colonel) Robert Certain, USAF (Ret) and Robbie Certain; Colonel Tom Cochran, USAF (Ret) and Cynthia Cochran; John Wendt, PhD; Colonel Ed Wright, USAF (Ret), DDS, MS; and Dynamic Mechanical Contracting. We also recognize a posthumous Eagle (former Inc Board member COL Dan Meyers); a new Eagle who wishes to remain anonymous; and four who became Eagles through estate planning. We thank each for their trust and generosity.
Their gifts make it possible for the AFVCF to make a difference – assisting Air Force officers’ widows in need; easing the burden for residents in healthcare; maintaining quality services and amenities for all residents; supporting Alzheimer’s research and providing state-of-the-art care for residents with dementia; subsidizing staff training; delivering compassionate end-of-life hospice care; and more.
The Order honors those who make gifts of $25,000 or more to the AFVCF, either through a single gift or through accumulated increments. On each Blue Skies campus, a wall of honor recognizes Eagle donors, celebrating four levels of philanthropic support. The West campus Eagle Wall giving levels are as follows. Stars are added to the plaques for each additional $25,000 and $100,000.
• BRONZE EAGLE ($25,000 to $99,999) – Each Eagle is named on a bronze plaque.
• SILVER EAGLE ($100,000 to $499,000) – Each Eagle is named on a silver plaque.
• GOLDEN EAGLE ($500,000 to $999,999) – Eagles are honored with a golden plaque.
• PLATINUM EAGLE ($1 million +) – The ultimate level honors Eagles with a platinum plaque.
The East campus Eagle Wall recognizes the same giving levels with a cloud-shaped plaque.
What Drives Donors to Give?
New Eagle John Wendt supports Freedom House in gratitude for the exemplary care his late wife, Marge, received there. “Freedom House was a gift to us,” he said. Col Tom Cochran and his wife Cynthia support two causes dear to their hearts – the Widows’ Fund, and the Employee Appreciation Fund. Every new Eagle expressed appreciation for life at Blue Skies and gratitude that they have the means to support the AFVCF for its role in making Blue Skies an extraordinary retirement community.
5100 John D. Ryan Blvd.
San Antonio, Texas 78245-3502
Force
who might qualify, please call (210) 568-5029 or (210) 568-3282. All assistance is strictly confidential.
