Ramie Ybarra
Ramie started working in Dining Services on September 21, 1993. Originally a server in the Langston and Fox & Fell, she now helps run the Friends Corner Dining Room with love and efficiency, keeping track of everyone’s special dietary needs and tastes.
She has also worked at Lorenzo's Pizza for 22 years, where she gets to see some of our residents and staff as well. She has always liked to work with people and enjoys the close sense of community.
Fringe benefits like health care, having her daughter here, and the opportunity for advancement are why Ramie came to KAO. Her daughter Mya was one of the first children in the Kendal Early Learning Center (KELC). It’s because of her that they added a door alarm when Mya “escaped” to go find mommy. Subsequently her grandchildren Dontrez, Giles, Marius and Cameron, also attended KELC. She loves how her kids and grandchildren were able to interact with everyone. On special days the children even eat with the residents, and the residents love it. She sees Kendal as a big, extended family and a small town at the same time.
Some Kendal residents helped Ramie and her family build their house through Habitat for Humanity. Twelve years later it’s a center for family fun and cookouts. She was also very touched when her grandson had cancer and residents and staff reached out to help and pray for him. Now that her grandsons are young athletes, she loves to follow their traveling basketball team.
Ramie loves meeting residents’ families, and being with residents like Muriel Morgan who has also been here since the beginning. She likes hearing stories about when bread was a nickel a loaf, or Len Singer explaining that he worked for $.35 an hour and it was good pay. She likes to joke around with residents like Betty DeWitt and June O’Neil. She makes time to take residents out for a stroll, sometimes teaming up with a co-worker like her friend Bonnie White.R
As Kendal has grown, Ramie has trained and worked with a lot of people. For instance, she first met Monica Fuquay at IGA when Monica worked there before coming to Kendal. Monica was so polite and hard working… and now here she is working at Kendal, too! As the dining facilities have expanded, Ramie and her colleagues have had to adapt to changes in methods and surroundings.
Ramie has helped train and has worked with many students from OHS, Firelands, and other area schools, and they still come back to visit. She is invited to their weddings, and loves seeing them grow up – it’s like she has tons of kids. Older staff help the younger ones understand issues of aging, dementia, and the importance of individual differences.
Ramie feels that she has learned a lot, too – all the steps to help make food interesting. The kitchen team makes sure to use different plates and utensils as needed, and to use color to encourage care center residents to eat more. They watch for subtle changes in residents, and are able to inform the nursing staff if a resident is eating less or seems to be having more difficulty. Together they all provide great support to the residents and each other.
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