My Purpose is to Help People

When asked what I do, I have a fairly simple response, I help people. It doesn’t matter which of the many various career fields that I have worked in, that they are talking about. I help people. As an Air Force office, I helped to protect the world and the United States. As a Services Officer in the Air Force, I ran the largest military food service operation the Air Force had in the Pacific, then the largest one they had in Europe, making sure that all of the enlisted troops on base received healthy meals. I also ran billeting, making sure that the single enlisted and officers had adequate dormitories and apartments to live in; the visiting quarters (hotel) for personnel passing through the base, linen exchange, over saw the commissary and bx ensuring that everyone had access to food, supplies, clothing and all the material essentials of life. I also had the privilege of getting to design 2 brand new dining facilities over the years and renovations on several others (along with the political “JOY” of fighting for the funding for my projects at the base level and providing input as they were fought for up through the channels to be included in the annual federal defense budgets each time. As part of a Tiger Team, I helped create the plans for protecting the United States if we were ever attacked from the Southern Hemisphere. As a Unit Commander, I took care of my personnel, making sure they were treated right. When I worked for Dade County School District in Miami, Florida, I took care of the Food Service Departments computerized system for purchasing food and supplies, recipes control including nutritional values and inventory control for the 4th largest school district in the United States. I also got to give nutritional education programs to the students. When I moved back to Europe as a civilian, I got hired as the Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations (NEO)Officer for initially the US Army’s 29th Area Support Group. I was responsible for ensuring that all the US Army civilians and military dependents within the Kaiserslautern Military Community in Germany, were prepared in case a disaster occurred (man-made or natural)that required that they be evacuated back to the states. I quickly was promoted and took over the office becoming responsible for all military units, not just Army, in the area. By the time I left that position, I was my own boss multiple times over as they kept adding areas of responsibility to me. It was the most interesting job I’ve ever had. I would brief groups of 6 women in someone’s living room (or in one case a laundry room in a high rise apartment building), groups of 600 women at a luncheon, classrooms of children. During my time there, the US evacuated the Philippines due to a volcano and I received some of the evacuees into my area. We also, due to the first Persian Gulf War (Desert Storm), evacuated the civilians and family members living in Turkey to Germany, then on to the states. While I didn’t handle that evacuation directly, I had the privilege of debriefing the officer who did and learning his lessons learned for my own operation. While I was there, the US Military created a computer program to track all the family members and civilians in Europe and I was instrumental in helping to define what needed to be in the program and then testing it and fielding it to the over 200 units that were under my control at that point. Back in the US, when my husband retired, I worked briefly for the US Air Force at Scott AFB, in the Civil Engineering Directorate as a budget analyst, helping to ensure funding was received for vital programs at Scott. I left that position, to work at Normandy School District as their Food Service Director, back to ensuring that children received healthy meals each day (though they did complain a lot that I tended to serve “Grandmother meals” rather than the type of meals that their parent’s provided them with - ie meatloaf and spaghetti and similar items vs fast food hot dogs, hamburgers and pizza. I left Normandy when a contract food service company was hired by the district to run the operation, and went for a short while to Vandover which was a transition assistance company. Southwest Bell had recently moved out of state and merged with some of the other “Bells” and I helped employees being laid off to learn the skills needed to find new jobs. I went to work for Barnes Jewish Hospital after that, back to my food service roots. Over the time period I was there, I ran the kitchens on the Jewish side of the hospital (including the Kosher kitchens), patient food service and the cafeteria food service. Still taking care of my employees, while ensuring that my customers and the patients received healthy foods that would be enticing when they weren’t feeling well. I followed that up with working at Fontbonne College (now University) teaching dietetic students and general students. Helping young people to prepare for their futures. I went into Real Estate after that. Now I don’t worry about whether or not employees show up for the night shift, or whether a district superintendent cancelled school after the milk was delivered during a blizzard and similar problems. Instead I focus on individuals and their families and how I can help them to be in the “RIGHT” home to meet their needs. In some cases, that’s going through their homes with them and helping them to fix up their homes for aging in place, so they can live in them longer. In others, it’s helping a young couple find their first “together” home. I help family’s upsize, downsize and right size. Each family and individual I help is different, with different needs and wants, but each receives the best I can give as I help them along the path of homeownership.