Lutheran Homes of Michigan, Inc.

2005 Volunteers of the Year

Scroll through to read information about all our special Volunteers or click on the links below to go directly to the one you want to learn more about.

BETTY WESTOVER - LUTHERAN HOME - MONROE

The Lord has given many gifts to His servant Betty Westover. She has brought blessings to the Monroe Lutheran Home with many hours of directing the V.F.W. members in a variety of events. In addition to her many community volunteer activities, Betty has spent 8 years giving of her time and talents to the residents of our Home. During her tenure with the Lutheran Home Monroe she has escorted residents to the Zoo and to the County Fair and provided refreshments. She has made special batches of cookies for some veterans who had recently lost their spouses, and she has helped with the area Special Olympics. Presently Betty provides Bingo, along with prizes and refreshments, for the residents, always adding a special flair to the activity. Our residents enjoy Betty's companionship as she sits and talks with them during her visits. It is evident that Betty truly cares about those she serves.

As a member of the V.F.W. Ladies Auxiliary, Betty performs flag presentations and holds special veteran's day programs for our residents. When Lutheran Homes of Michigan broke ground on the new Creekside Village development, we were privileged to have Betty there to present the colors.

Betty is married to Marshall Westover and enjoys 2 children and 2 grandsons. Marshall is retired from the US Air Force and from the Department of Energy. Betty and Marshall have lived in France, Germany, Washington, Virginia, and currently reside in Monroe. Betty encourages volunteerism in others and is a role model for those she recruits. The "Volunteer of the Year" award is our way of saying "Thank You" to Betty for her service to our residents for her friendship that we have enjoyed.

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LENORE "TEDDY" GALSTERER - LUTHERAN HOME - FRANKENMUTH

Teddy Galsterer began volunteering at The Lutheran Home - Frankenmuth shortly after it opened (1969) by playing music for some of our first residents. However, her volunteer service "officially" began being recorded in 1973 - 32 years ago. Through these many years, she has continually used her musical gifts to entertain those who have entered through our doors.

Teddy currently joins us for a monthly "Happy-hour" sing-a-long, bringing happiness and enjoyment to our residents by sharing her piano talents. She always puts great enthusiasm and a lot of gusto in her performances. Teddy has a special flair of involving everyone in the room when she performs. Residents readily join in whenever Teddy plays and they leave with their spirits lifted high! This is a gift Teddy has been sharing for many years. In her younger years when she would play the piano at Zehnder's Hotel, a crowd would always gather to listen or join in. Teddy learned to play the piano by ear and has never taken any lessons, but she is able to play any tune she hears.

Teddy married Walter Galsterer in 1941 and they raised 5 children (Fred, Dick, Ted, Susan, and Eddy). Dick and Ted live in Frankenmuth, Fred in Caro, Susan in Fort Wayne, and Eddy in California. She is a charter member of the St. Lorenz choir, a member of the Bavarian singers, and a volunteer with the St. Lorenz Breakthrough Bible Class.

Teddy can be described as caring, compassionate, talented, and fun. Her time and talents mean a lot to our residents, staff and families at The Lutheran Home - Frankenmuth. We thank her for the many years of serving our residents.

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DAVE & LINDA VANLENTE - LUTHERAN HOME - LIVONIA

Dave and Linda are volunteers that help the BINGO sessions run smoothly. They come in twice a week to call, help with cards, pass out prizes, as well as taking the residents to and from the main dinning room. They originally started coming to the home, as Linda's mother (Ruth Blythe) was a resident here. After Ruth's death in June of 2004 Linda still wanted to come and help the residents in whatever way she could. Her husband Dave is always supportive of Linda, and since his retirement from United Airlines he continues to be busy helping Linda and the residents of this home.

Dave & Linda are members of Risen Christ Lutheran church in Plymouth, since the late 1970's. Dave was very active when we started a building project with the help of Labors for Christ. Dave is a finish carpenter, and is currently redoing his dining room. Several of our staff knows the work Dave has done, as they are owners of tables finished by Dave.

Dave and Linda are tireless workers and have built quite a rapport with our residents, and staff as well. To say these people are deserving of our thanks is an understatement; they deserve much more than that for all they contribute to our program of activities in this home.

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EILEEN RODAMMER - LUTHERAN HOME CARE AGENCY

Lutheran Home Care Agency in Frankenmuth is very blessed to have a great group of caring and dedicated volunteers. Selecting one to honor, as volunteer-of-the-year, is quite a difficult task.

The decision to name Eileen Rodammer as our honoree this year is based on the fact that she has proven to be an asset to all three divisions of our agency, as well as our corporate office. Since completing her training in the beginning of 2003, Eileen has been involved in almost every aspect of our office workings. Her computer skills have proven invaluable as she. . .

  • Creates, implements and maintains spreadsheet programs for purpose of collecting, calculating and generating reports, regarding volunteer hours and cost savings.

  • Enters and tabulates results of Family Satisfaction Surveys.

  • Searches for and compiles computer lists and creates list labels.

  • Generates and prints out our agency's Memorial Donation Thank You letters.

  • Plus so much more!

Eileen has also been involved in a variety of other duties as well, including, filing assignments, faxing assignments, mass mailing projects, fund-raiser events, and dedicates every Tuesday to our agency. She puts in a full day of work on those Tuesdays, and then comes in for other assignments throughout the week if there is a need. We are very fortunate to have Eileen as a member of our volunteer corp., and we are pleased to name her as our 2005 Volunteer of the Year!!

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RALPH PEARCE - THE MANORS

Ralph Pearce has done a wonderful job assisting in increasing the Life Enrichment of the residents here at The Manors. Ralph is a resident at McBrite Manor, where he has been a wonderful example to our volunteers, taking a proactive approach to volunteering. Rick Russell, who recently began his position as Life Enrichment Director at The Manors, recalls that he was on the job less than a month when Ralph introduced himself and offered to run a devotion group at Meadow View Manor. Ralph had already been running a devotion group at Shattuck Manor and was helping residents attend church services at McBrite Manor. Ralph also leads reminiscing groups, where residents gather to discuss days gone by. In addition to sharing his faith and his time, Ralph has also contributed financially with donations to the Life Enrichment department to expand the musical library at The Manors. Ralph's generosity is only surpassed by his devoted faith. It gives us great pleasure to honor Ralph Pearce as the Manors Volunteer of the Year!

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