Becky Butler
Becky says she has “been here since mud!” She married Mark on October 9, 1993. In her wedding dress on the way to the church, she asked her father to stop at the post office to mail her application to work at Kendal at Oberlin. She started work here a month later.
Becky wanted to work here because of her grandmother's experience in a nursing home. Her grandmother, a retired Bhome health nurse, was in a care facility that just wasn't providing the quality of care that she had given her own patients. Becky wanted to work in a place where care was excellent to honor her grandmother's high standard of care, a place where people were seen as individuals. She didn't have the background to care for residents, but she focuses on caring for the staff since that is what she was trained to do.
Becky has sat at the same desk for the last 20 years, but with further training has earned a new title with more responsibility: Human Resources Generalist. Kendal at Oberlin is a special place to work. When her daughter Meghan was born six weeks early, Barbara Thomas came to the hospital in Cleveland to visit her. What other CEO would do that? She really feels supported, and the staff is a close-knit team.
Ina Jean Kornblith was the first resident Becky got to know well. At Christmas, Ina Jean had an aide bring her all the way to the office and got up from her wheelchair to wish Becky a Merry Christmas. That, Becky said, was a wonderful present! Thelma Morris is another special person to Becky because she looks and moves so much like her godmother. Thelma has the same personality... just so bubbly. They always share special hugs. When Becky first came to Kendal there were roughly 60 staff members. Now, with Kendal of Northern Ohio, there are 246, of whom 232 are at Kendal at Oberlin. It has really grown.
Health care reform issues affect staff as well residents. Kendal self-insures, not just to save costs but to encourage healthier habits by decreasing premium costs as employees reach their individual goals. They reward effort as well as full success, supporting each other as they move toward their objectives. Becky sees her role as “what can I do to help?” Everyone working at Kendal for 20 or more hours a week is offered health insurance.
The Butlers love to travel. They have traveled throughout the US as well as Europe and the Caribbean. As their daughter says, it helps to broaden their view of the world and learn more about cultures, religions, and diversity, and thereby better understand all people.
Becky and her husband have known each other since high school, and Mark is her best friend. Meghan, one of the first staff children in Kendal’s Early Learning Center, is now a physical therapy student at Cleveland State. Their “adopted daughters,” former exchange students Madelen (Norway) and Rachel (Germany) are considered part of the Butler family. Both girls volunteered at Kendal, and Rachel even joined the German table in the Fox and Fell one evening when she missed her native language and home too much. Both girls and the Butlers remain close.
At Kendal at Oberlin it often becomes a family affair. Becky is sure a great asset to ours!