Since Kendal at Oberlin is both a place where people live and work occasionally family ties overlap when one is a resident and the other an employee. This month as we celebrate Mother’s Day we highlight three families with maternal bonds at Kendal.
Jan Koepp grew up in Oberlin and spent her adult years there so when she moved to Kendal in January she knew many of the residents. She was a familiar face in the physical therapy department too, where her son Kris Koepp has worked as a physical therapist assistant since 2011.
“I like to bake and I would bring goodies into the physical therapy department,” Jan says. “Now I see him multiple times a week and like to stop in and say hi.”
Jan was first introduced to Kendal by her mother, who had hoped to move there but died before the community opened in 1993.
“Continuum of care was paramount to her. Yes, she certainly planted the seed,” Jan says, adding “I didn’t want my two children to worry about me.”
Plus, she knew she wanted to remain in Oberlin. “I have a comfort level being here, I like living near Cleveland but I knew I didn’t want to live in a big city. To me, Oberlin is the best of both worlds.”
Jan is still getting settled into her new home and adjusted to life in a vibrant community rather than living alone on 16 acres out in the country. She’s joined the bluebird nest box monitoring team, which she enjoyed doing at her old house, but otherwise is taking it slow. “I’m still unpacking boxes,” she says.
As for Kris, he’s glad to have his mom close, even if he means fewer baked goods. “Covid put a damper on her goodie delivery, and now she has a much smaller kitchen, so I don’t see it returning to pre-pandemic levels, which is OK because I have lost a bit of weight since,” he says.
In 1995, long before becoming a resident, Carol Bojanowksi’s involvement with the community began. Carol was working in the geriatric nursing field when her niece Terry Kovach took a job at Kendal. “She told me back then that Kendal was one of the best senior living organizations around, confident that I made a good choice,” says Terry, director of Sales and Marketing.
In 2005 after Carol retired she became a volunteer at Kendal. She started helping in the Stephens Care Center and eventually joined the Board of Directors. She moved to Kendal in 2017.
“I’m amazed at the contributions she’s made to our community as both a volunteer and resident, and I’m fortunate to have her here, as we get to spend time together very regularly. She’s also is my godmother so Mother’s Day is special for us,” says Terry, whose mother died in 2013.
Last summer, Terry and Carol's niece worked in the care center as an STNA (photographed above).
Maggie was sales and marketing director for 27 years (she retired in 2021) and for 13 of those years her mother Blanche Dohn lived at Kendal. (She died in 2013.)
“Mom had moved from Westerville, about 2 hours from Oberlin, and though not that far, I was only seeing her about once a month. With her at Kendal I had the opportunity of seeing her every day. We would often have lunch together. And then when she stopped driving, she would frequently come home with me after my workday and spend the night. That way she could visit with the rest of the family and next day she would get up bright and early and ride back to Kendal with me,” recalls Maggie, who is on Kendal's Priority List.
As her mom aged, she moved from her cottage to assisted living and eventually into nursing care.
“What an honor it was to be able to visit her each night before I left for home knowing she was safe, comfortable and in excellent hands. It took away any worries my family and I might have had. I will be forever grateful to Kendal for this gift they gave me, my family and my mom,” Maggie says.
On a lighter note, her mom always called her Margaret and would correct residents and staff who called her Maggie. To remedy the situation Maggie’s teammates got her a nametag that said Margaret and she would quickly switch nametags when she saw her mom.