KMH Newsletter September 2013
Meet Paige Unruh Paige Unruh is a busy woman.
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In This Issue Meet Paige Unruh Roommates, friends, sisters Phase one remodel construction almost done – really Final Friday is finally back Recipe of the Month: Zucchini Lasagna
Not only is she planning for the birth of her second child – another girl, due the day after Thanksgiving – but she’s also planning for the future of KMH’s new state-of-theart rehabilitation house, which opened in early July. Unruh is the Rapid Recovery Suites Household Coordinator, a job that requires her to spend her days attached to a clipboard and a high-tech pager that helps her keep track not only of her long list of meetings but also of residents who are coming and going. Her job, which she describes as being different every day, requires her to conduct many assessments, plan activities for residents who are recovering in the 14,450-square-foot home's posh private rooms and oversee three household coordinators. It’s a job she finds rewarding, she said. “I really like helping people stay independent as long as they can,” Unruh said. The Rapid Recovery Suites Household at KMH is designed for short term stays for those who need physical therapy and rehabilitation following a procedure or health event so the residents that Unruh hosts are all in the process of healing to return to their own homes, whether that is another area of KMH or elsewhere.
Paige Unruh
Pavilion, where she stayed until she learned KMH was looking for a social worker in the Rapid Recovery Suites. She raised her hand. The job is not what she expected it to be, she said, but she likes it so far. The building is so nice; she says with a smile, it almost feels like a luxury hotel. And she likes being able to show families the high-tech rooms where their relatives will recover. Recently, her hard work was reflected in a survey sent back by a patient who’d had a successful stay at the Rapid Recovery Suites.
Unruh was a Wichita State University student pursuing a degree in social work when she first landed at KMH.
On the card, she praised the staff and said her experience was perfect. She offered the highest score – a 5 – in every category.
She was doing her practicum at KMH, and she fit right in.
“I was very excited for our staff,” Unruh said. “They’ve been working hard and sometimes they don’t get the recognition they deserve.”
When she graduated, she was hired as the social services director in the medical
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Roommates, friends, sisters Ruth Loudenslager and Yvonna Hartke are good roommates, they say. Part of the reason, they admit, might be that they’ve known each other for more than 90 years. Ruth, who is 93, and Yvonna, 97, are sisters. They’ve been roommates in the Independent Living Towers at KMH for the past four years. The sisters also have a longtime connection to KMH. Their parents, Walter and Nora Anderson, both lived at KMH, as did their older brother, Wayne. “We think my dad would be so pleased to know we were living together and living here,” Ruth said. Yvonna and Ruth spent most of their childhood in Wichita. Their father was a butcher and a grocery store owner, and the girls – along with older brother Wayne and little sisters Vera and Minerva – were part of a close-knit family. Their father was a devoted Mason. Their mother was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. The pair, who are the only two members of their immediate family still living, have clear memories of KMH’s importance to their father. “When we first moved to Wichita, we’d go out on Sunday drives and we’d drive past KMH, and he would say, ‘If anything happens to your mother and I, this is where you’ll live,’” said Yvonna. Until 1959, there were children at KMH, says director of marketing, Jill Laffoon. In fact, originally the campus was created as a home for children of Masons whose families had no resources to care for them, or who had been orphaned. “This
Ruth Loudenslager and Yvonna Hartke
was before there were widespread social services for families in need,” explains Laffoon, “KMH was home to many children from 1896 to 1959.” The Great Depression, World Wars and the spread of TB left many Kansans--adults and children--in need. For several decades during that time, KMH was home to both adults and children. The children were educated through Wichita public schools and also learned to play instruments through lessons provided at KMH; some ultimately returned to their families but many stayed through high school and entered college with support from KMH and local Masonic and Eastern Star lodges. As social services spread and the ratio of children to adults, especially elders, widened, the campus became a senior living campus and opened to the public in the 1970’s. “There
are a lot of misconceptions about what the Masons are about,” says Laffoon, “but the fact is that they began a legacy with KMH of caring for the community.”
Phase one remodel construction almost done – really
“We always knew we had a home,” Ruth said.
In addition to the new Rapid Recovery Suites on the south end of the KMH campus, projects inside the Towers and the East Office buildings are nearly done. In the west end of the Towers, the Fellowship Lounge is done, and an adjacent dining area is also finished and in use.
The girls both graduated from East High – Yvonna in 1933 and Ruth in 1938. Both held jobs. Both married. Both had children. Yvonna, whose husband died in the 1970s, spent many years in California but moved back home later in life to be closer to her siblings. She filled her time in Wichita traveling with Ruth and her husband, who died in 1999. In 2009, the sisters were living in separate apartments and would meet every day for coffee. They shopped together, and talked on the phone every day. Eventually, they decided, it’d make more sense to move in together. They began looking at various independent living facilities in Wichita. KMH had the two-bedroom apartment they wanted. Their children helped them move. “Nobody put us here,” Ruth said. “We put ourselves here.” Though it took the sisters time to adjust to not living alone anymore, they’re happy they made the decision. They don’t fight – such things were never permitted in their family. And even when they exchange heated words, they mend fences quickly.
It’s been a long year of hammers, saws, hammers, drills and hammers. But the first phase of construction going on around KMH is almost complete.
Nearby, crews are putting the finishing touches on the front lobby, which has been closed since March. It has new lighting, new furniture and new life. Three private parlors, one on each floor, in the Towers also are complete and now are remodeled with new furnishings and fireplaces. The pink and blue décor is gone, and the new and improved sitting areas are twice the size and feature natural light, French doors that open onto the courtyard, kitchen/serving areas with a tile backsplash, plenty of room to entertain guests or hang out and a computer station for resident use. Many apartments in the Towers also have been remodeled and the last few residents that have been in temporary apartments are returning to their updated apartments. In addition, new wood floors, a new mail center and concierge area as well as enormous, arched entry doors have been installed in the entryway of the Towers. Over on the east end of campus, restrooms by the administrative offices have been remodeled, and there’s also new carpet, new ceilings and lighting throughout the first floor of the administration area and lobby. The Fellowship Hall, often used for receptions, employee meetings, luncheons and is home to Masonic Lodge 456 has been restored to reflect the history of the campus—and also updated with a new ceiling, flooring, lighting and window treatments.
What’s with those ears?
Though the two have been a bit unsettled by having to temporarily move out of their apartment while construction takes place in the Towers, they love their home at KMH, they say. “There’s enough going on here to keep us interested and busy,” Yvonna said. “I thank the Lord every day that I’m here,” Ruth said. “If you’re not happy here, you wouldn’t be happy anywhere.”
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Final Friday is finally back. After a hiatus since May because of ongoing construction on campus, marketing director Jill Laffoon has organized a Final Friday event for September that will fill the KMH hallways with art and art appreciators.
One change to this Final Friday: The event will start in the Towers, on the west end of the campus instead of the East Office. The new Fellowship Lounge will offer chef prepared food and refreshments as well as live music.
The September show will feature between 180 and 200 original paintings produced by members of the Kansas Art Guild, an organization formed in 1977 that includes artists from Wichita and beyond who regularly meet at the Wichita Center for the Arts and put on exhibitions around the area.
Visitors then will travel the opposite way they usually do to view the art – from the Towers entrance to the main entrance.
The event will happen from 6 to 8 p.m. on Sept. 27.
Friends University will provide live jazz music. Residents and members of the public are welcome.
Recipe of the Month
Paige continued Unruh, whose husband is a mechanic, also has a 15-month-old daughter. She grew up in Valley Center.
from Executive Chef Terronez
Residents who want to get to know her should act fast.
Zucchini Lasagna 1 pound lean ground beef 3 cloves garlic Half of an onion, chopped 1-teaspoon olive oil Salt and pepper 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped 3 medium zucchini, slice to about 1/8 inch thickness 15 ounces ricotta, part skim 16 oz. shredded Mozzarella ¼ cup shredded Parmesan 1 large egg
Unruh will be on maternity leave for six weeks once her new daughter arrives. In the meantime, her focus will be on her new job, which fits right into the plan she made for herself in college. “I really liked the idea of getting a degree and helping people,” she said.
Directions: Brown beef and drain the fat. Season to taste with salt. Pour olive oil in the same pan and sauté garlic and onions till soft. Return beef to pan and add tomatoes, basil and salt and pepper. Simmer on low, covered for 30-40 minutes. Sauce will be thick.
Nutritional Information: Servings, 8; Calories, 345, Fat, 17 grams; Carbs, 16 grams; Fiber, 2 grams; Protein, 36 grams; Sugar, 8 grams; Sodium, 801
Cut to edge for 3x5 recipe card.
Salt zucchini slices and set aside for 10 minutes, then blot with towel. Grill zucchini one to two minutes on each side. Mix cheeses and egg in a separate bowl. Spread sauce on the bottom of a greased 9x12 casserole pan and layer zucchini on top. Next put a layer of the cheese mixture, then a layer of mozzarella. Repeat until ingredients are gone. Top with sauce and mozzarella. Cover with foil. Bake 45 minutes covered at 375°, then uncovered 15 minutes. Let stand about 5 - 10 minutes before serving.
This newsletter is published by Kansas Masonic Home, a not-for-profit 501(c) (3) organization. For information, contact Matthew Bogner, Chief Executive Officer, Kansas Masonic Home, 316-269-7500, 401 S. Seneca, Wichita, KS 67213. Matthew Bogner, CEO Jill Laffoon, Director of Marketing
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