While president of the West Bend Co., Tom had a great team to work with including manufacturing, finance, and human resources. The majority of the company’s products were made in West Bend such as drip coffee makers, electric skillets, slow cookers, and bread machines. He worked closely with major retailers such as Walmart, K-Mart, and True Value hardware. Sam Walton, founder and president of Walmart and Sam’s Club knew Tom as “Mr. West Bend.” Through customers Tom was able to go to 15 Super Bowl games. Margie was able to attend a few games as well. Extensive customer contacts allowed them other opportunities, including getting to know ABC sportscaster, Chris Schenkel. They became good friends with Pat Summerall, a former football player and TV sportscaster and Ray Nitschke, Green Bay Packers legend. While living in Palatine their neighbor was Tim McKaskey, who was one of the owners of the Chicago Bears. Tim’s grandfather was George Halas, known as Papa Bear, the original owner. During the time he was president of the West Bend Co. he was also corporate vice president of its parent company, Premark, along with the sister companies of Tupperware, Wilsonart, and Hobart. Tom retired when Premark was sold to Illinois Tool. The couple was active in the West Bend community. Tom was a board member of the First National Bank/M&I Bank and chairman and member of St. Joseph’s Hospital Board. Margie was president of the St. Joseph’s Hospital Auxiliary for one year. Tom was the West Bend United
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Way campaign chairman and a member of the Cedar Community Foundation Board and Cedar Community Finance Committee. Besides seeing the world with business traveling, Tom and Margie also traveled to Salzburg, Austria, Alaska, and Hawaii. They owned a vacation home in South Carolina for 22 years, and they now have a vacation home near Lake Tomahawk. They enjoyed vacations at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Their favorite and most memorable vacation was celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with their children and grandchildren for a week at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. This month, Tom and Margie will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. In his younger days Tom enjoyed golf, fishing, and duck hunting. Margie used to do quilting, sewing, and needlework crafts. Now she enjoys reading and they mostly enjoy time with their family. Tom and Margie moved to Cedar Community’s independent living apartments in September of 2020. Their mothers lived there in the early days of Cedar Community. They attended the Annual Chili Social and Used Book Sale, took the tour, and discovered how much Cedar Community had changed, and all it has to offer. They were impressed with the friendliness of the residents and team members. They agreed that moving here from a condominium in West Bend was the best decision they could have made.
Cedar Community Receives 2021 Customer Experience Award from Pinnacle Quality Insight Cedar Community is proud to announce we are the recipient of Pinnacle Quality Insight’s 2021 Customer Experience Award™. Qualifying for the award in the category of independent living, Cedar Community displays a continued dedication to providing best-in-class senior lifestyle services. Julie Gabelmann, Vice President of Independent Living, describes receiving the award as an honor, stating that, “We truly appreciate everything our team members do to provide life-enriching programming and an environment for our residents to fully enjoy the many advantages of living more in their retirement years.” Throughout our more than 67-year history of serving the community, Cedar Community has placed a strong emphasis on ensuring that the individual needs of every resident are met. Over the course of 2020, a sampling of Cedar Community’s customers and their families participated in monthly telephone interviews that included open-ended questions, as well the opportunity to rate Cedar Community in specific categories. Every month, Cedar Community gathered its real-time survey results to gain a better understanding of the resident’s needs and make improvements when necessary. By qualifying for the Pinnacle Customer Experience Award™, Cedar Community has satisfied the rigorous demand of scoring in the top 15 percent of the nation across a 12-month average.
Gladys Sachse Resident, Cedar Community Independent Living
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