Ecumen Resident Ken Thompson’s Enduring Love Affair With Helen, Athletics and Worthington
The eyes sparkle and the smile widens as Ken Thompson’s thoughts drift back to the early 1940s. World War II is heating up after the attack on Pearl Harbor — and he will soon be going to Iwo Jima — but right now Ken is a star basketball player at Hamline University at a time when the Pipers are a powerhouse national championship team. And he is in a dance class at Hamline, where he is paired with Helen Backe, by happenstance of height.
The basketball coach had this idea that the team could improve coordination by dancing, so he brought in a girls physical education class to dance with the players. Ken (at 6-2) and Helen were matched as the two shortest in the class.
They clicked, moving to the big band music. “We could really go up and down the floor,” Ken recalls. “But we had trouble going east and west.”
Quickly they figured it out. “By the sixth class, it was romance,” Ken recalls. “She was a honey.”
Now Ken is 93, and Helen died almost four years ago. At his assisted living apartment at Ecumen Meadows in Worthington, Minn., Ken enjoys reflecting on their 66 years together as they raised their family while he built a career as a legendary coach and athletic director at Worthington High School. Throughout all those years, they continued to go dancing every week. “It was just our special thing together,” Ken says.
This morning, before he starts telling his life story, Ken is doing what coaches do— replaying in his head last night’s basketball game that he watched between Worthington and Pipestone. He still cares about high school sports even though he has been retired from Worthington High School for more than 30 years. The measure of the man is that some of the athletes he coached still come to visit him at Ecumen Meadows. (They are now in their 70s.)
Ken grew up in Saint Paul, Minn., “as poor as grass” and went to Johnson High School where he was all-city in basketball in 1938 and also was an outstanding baseball player who later played semi-pro baseball in the Northern League.
But his dream was to play basketball for the renowned Hamline University basketball coach Joe Hutton. That would have to wait three years until he saved enough money to afford college by working at grocery stores and at Northwest Airlines. At age 21 in 1941, Ken became a freshman forward at Hamline and a star player for Coach Hutton.
At that time, the university was a national basketball power that produced a number of NBA players, notably Hall of Famer Vern Mikkelsen, who later became a teammate of Ken’s. “Since I had worked three years before I went to college, I was older than most players on the team,” Ken recalls. “Vern called me ‘Dad.’”
That 1941-42 season, the team won a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national championship. They were 23-1, losing only to the Harlem Globetrotters, who at that time played regular basketball. (In 1999 Ken was inducted into the Hamline University Athletic Hall of Fame.)
While he was at Hamline, World War II was raging, and in 1943 he enrolled in the Navy Reserve and reported to Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., as part of his midshipman school training. He was eligible to play basketball for the Gusties due to his military service and earned All-State honors that year. In 1944 Ken went on active duty in the Navy and was stationed on the USS Missoula, which was carrying Marines to the Pacific islands. In June of that year he took a brief leave to marry Helen.
Ken commanded landing crafts from the Missoula that took the Marines on shore at Iwo Jima. He proudly remembers watching the dozen Marines hoist the flag from his ship on Mount Suribachi in what would become probably the most famous photo from World War II.
Shortly afterward, he helped land troops on Okinawa, where the Japanese kamikaze pilots were “flying so low I thought they were going to take the top of our heads off.”
The war ended while he was still aboard the Missoula, and he remembers sailing past the USS Missouri the day the final peace agreement was signed in a surrender ceremony on that ship—Sept. 2, 1945. That was a very good day, but on so many other days he saw “so many men lose their lives.” Ken’s gaze drifts back those 70 years and clearly the memories are still painful. He clouds over and changes the subject.
With the war done, Ken returned to Hamline and played two more seasons of basketball, qualifying for another national tournament but losing in the third round. In one memorable game against DePaul University, Vern Mikkelsen fouled out, and Ken, at 6-2, was tapped to guard the 6-10 DePaul University star George Mikan, who, like Mikkelsen, went on to play in the NBA for the Minneapolis Lakers.
In 1947, Ken and Helen moved to Worthington. His first year there, he coached at the junior college, then moved to Worthington High School as head basketball coach in 1948. In his first season as coach, he led the Trojans to their first District 8 championship since 1926. The team would go on to win two more district titles in 1951 and 1952 during his 11-year stint as basketball coach.
“I used to say that basketball was a class I taught, and the test was every Friday night.”
During this same period, he also coached baseball, football and golf and taught earth sciences at the high school and middle school. He was a self-proclaimed “rock hound,” who spent several summers in programs that advanced his training as a geologist.
Ken says he was not a coach who yelled and screamed because “I didn’t have to.” He remembers the kids who played for him, almost without exception, as being hardworking and dedicated. In his whole time as a coach, he cut only one player.
In 1959, he became the athletic director at Worthington High School, a job he held for 24 years, while continuing to coach golf. His 1957 golf team won a state championship, and in the 28 years he coached golf his teams won 22 district championships in a row and nine regionals. As athletic director, in addition to supervising and mentoring the other coaches and handling the budgeting and administration of sports programs, he ran the district basketball tournaments.
In 1982, he retired after 36 years with District 518. For a while after that, he managed the Prairie View Golf Course in Worthington. Two heart bypass operations slowed him down, but up until last May when he moved into Ecumen Meadows, he lived in the family home in Worthington, which he still owns.
Over all these years, Ken and Helen raised two daughters, danced and played golf together, and made Ken’s sports career a family affair. Helen would go to the basketball games with the kids and her ever-present scorebook in tow. She intently scored all the games—“always by the book.” Like Ken, she too would be named to the Worthington Trojans Hall of Fame for her dedication as a Trojan athletics booster.
Ken looks back on those days thankful for how blessed he was. The job was great, the kids who played for him were wonderful, and his family was supportive.
“I never walked into that school a day wishing I didn’t have to,” Ken says.
AgePower Tech Search Announces Five Finalists
Five finailsts have been named for the AgePower Tech Search, a collaboration between Ecumen and MOJO Minnesota.
Ecumen Pathstone Living Adds State-of-the-Art Treadmill To Its Rehabilitation Equipment
Ecumen Pathstone Living in Mankato, Minn., has added a LiteGait® Treadmill to its transitional care center allowing older adults to more safely begin rehabilitation walking programs after injuries, surgeries and hospital stays.
The treadmill’s suspension technology reduces the risk of falling, allowing older adults in rehabilitation programs to resume walking with more confidence.
“Thanks to the help from several generous donors, we can now offer this state-of-the art equipment as part of our rehabilitation program,” said Beth Colway, Ecumen Pathstone Living’s development coordinator. “This new treadmill opens up additional options for our physical therapists to help older adults recover from injuries or surgeries and return to living in their homes.”
Beth said the new treadmill cost just over $20,000 — fully paid for by donations.
With some older adults, regaining the ability to walk after hip fractures or other lower body injuries can be extremely difficult. Some never regain the ability to walk because they can’t endure the necessary physical therapy that incorporates walking and weight bearing activities. By utilizing LiteGait®, Pathstone therapists can offer programs that safely increase the possibility of walking again.
LiteGait® explains the capabilities of its treadmill this way: “Our patented system maintains the patient in a secure, upright position. By reducing the risk of falling, LiteGait provides a safer therapy environment. More than just and extra pair of hands, LiteGait’s most important effect is the confidence it inspires in patients. In a process that is often difficult and painful for both patient and therapist, LiteGait® encourages a sense of accomplishment, progress, and ultimately, success.”
LiteGait® can assist with numerous types of therapy, including postural support for sitting, standing, walking and running, pain-free movement that encourages walking with normal gait mechanics, partial weight bearing, upper body mobility, balance and coordination, neurological gait training, geriatric conditioning, fall prevention and weight control programs.
In the photo, Grace Carlson, a resident of Ecumen Pathstone Living Short Stay Care Center, is assisted on the new LiteGait® treadmill by Becca Gish, a physical therapist.
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Ecumen Pathstone Living, which has been serving the Mankato area for more than 75 years, provides services including skilled nursing care, short-term rehabilitation, memory care, and assisted living apartments. Pathstone also offers home care, adult day services, and catering services. More than 500 people each day benefit directly from Pathstone services. Ecumen Pathstone Living is owned by Ecumen, the most innovative leader in senior services. In 2004, Ecumen Pathstone Living opened its transitional care center providing short-term therapy and rehabilitation, which now serves approximately 350 adults each year.
SVP Steve Ordahl Tells the Star Tribune How Ecumen Got Ahead of Change in Senior Housing
The Star Tribune recently interviewed Steve Ordahl, senior vice president of business development at Ecumen, about his insights into how senior housing development has changed in the past decade, and what he sees ahead for the marketplace.
Steve retires January 15, 2014, after guiding Ecumen’s development and diversification efforts for the past 10 years and helping make the company a leader in creating new options for seniors.
Director of Nursing Maria Stokka To Retire After 35 Years at Ecumen’s Pelican Valley Health Center
For the past 35 years, Maria Stokka has been coming to work as the director of nursing at Ecumen-managed Pelican Valley Health Center, providing care to the families of Pelican Rapids. On February 28, 2014, she will retire from this job that has intricately connected her with the lives of the 2,500 people who make this northwestern Minnesota community home.
“When you have done a job like this for 35 years, you’ve taken care of more than one generation,” Maria says. “You get to know families and extended families at some of the most important times in their lives. They are your neighbors — and sometimes your relatives.”
In fact, Maria’s mother was in the care center here, and her husband’s mother and father both were here.
When Maria, originally from Fairmount, N.D., graduated from St. Luke’s School of Nursing in Fargo, she didn’t envision a career in long-term care nursing. She and her husband moved to Pelican Rapids and there was a job open at another care center, where she worked for five years until her first child was born. After that, she started working nights at Pelican Valley Health Center and was quickly promoted to director of nursing.
“Once I was in it, I had no desire to do any other type of nursing,” she says. “This is so much more personal. You know the residents. You know their families. And you’re there for them at some of the most important times in their lives.”
Barbara Garrity, the Executive Director at Pelican Valley Health Care, says working with Maria “has been an absolute honor.”
“She is so easy to work with and always does her job with the residents’ well-being in mind,” Barbara says. “She is also an exceptional, hands-on leader, and the staff has the utmost respect for her.”
The respect is mutual. Maria describes her management style as a team approach. “It takes the whole team to get the job done right,” she says. “No one job is more important than another, and everyone has something to offer. I respect and appreciate what others do. And I remind them that what they do is really important.”
And that outlook has led to some incredible employment histories for the nursing department. Several other nursing department staff members, including Maria’s sister, have more than 30 years of service at Pelican Valley. “The longevity of the staff here can be largely attributed to Maria’s leadership,” Barbara says.
Maria says she strives to always be open, honest and fair. “I don’t sugar coat. I don’t overreact. I talk things through and encourage others to do the same.”
So why retire now? “I want to leave while I’m on top of my game,” Maria says.
She plans to spend time traveling with her husband, Jerome, who is now retired. They have a son and a daughter in the area and four grandchildren, who she will now be spending more time with.
In her spare time, Maria does crafts like beadwork and embroidery and also likes crosswords and reading.
Will she miss the job she has been doing for the past 35 years? “Oh, I’m sure there will be a big void,” Maria says. “But I’m not leaving the community. I’ll still be seeing everybody.”
Ecumen Trustee Anne Simpson’s Journey Through the Wilderness of Alzheimer’s
Anne Simpson, who joined the Ecumen Board of Trustees in 2013, was caregiver to her husband, Bob, as they fought his battle with Alzheimer’s and Lewy Body Dementia that ended in 2011. Her book, Through the Wilderness of Alzheimer’s chronicles their experience with a focus on helping others who must take the same journey.
It is a poignant, painful, often funny, unvarnished memoir-in-real-time. Throughout the book, sadness is not overplayed, bitterness and anger not mitigated, joy in each other not abandoned, and hope for their future – together and beyond Bob’s eventual death – never beyond reach. Both Bob and Anne were clearly committed to an honest account of this challenging time. “It was just important for us to do that,” says Anne.
Anne and Bob forged their life together over the past four decades — he a United Church of Christ (UCC) minister, she the mother and homemaker for their blended family. At the time they married, four of their six children were teenagers, the youngest was eight.
From Grand Marais to Wayzata, St. Paul to Amery, Wisc., Bob led churches and the greater UCC organization. On a farm in Amery they raised sheep while Bob served interim terms at UCC churches. They retired to their favorite artsy, eclectic and caring community of Grand Marais, in 1993. Within two years, Bob would begin his journey with Alzheimer’s, accompanied by his faithful partner, caregiver and friend.
“It’s taken some time to re-define myself – who am I now that I’m not a caregiver?” Anne says. “I am energized now to engage others in conversations about the aging process.” She is particularly interested in working with people who are working to improve the aging experience, enabling people with choices and leading eventually to a gentle ending.
With longstanding Ecumen Trustee, the Rev. Kris Linner, Anne has written a companion curriculum to her book that teaches in practical terms the lessons she and Bob learned firsthand. Through the curriculum and workshops, congregations can support their members who are experiencing Alzheimer’s — as caregivers or as those with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. The curriculum is available from Huff Publishing Associates.
Today Anne makes her home in a Grand Avenue condo in St. Paul. You might find her out walking the neighborhood or at a nearby restaurant enjoying lunch or dinner with friends. We are grateful that she is dedicating a portion of her free time and gracious energy to Ecumen.
Anne’s poem “Autumn Sabbath,” below, captures the spirit of her journey with Bob:
Put on your old wool hat, my love.
Come –
let’s walk uphill
where noon sun warms our shoulders and
summer ripeness lingers on the breeze…
…Drink deep with me the burgundy of oak,
sniff musk bouquet of birch Chablis,
then let us dip and swirl ‘til we are dizzy,
do-si-do with muffled steps on careless leaves.
Forget neat piles that we have yet to rake,
the wood to stack, windows to be washed.
Let’s be grasshoppers today
and ants, perhaps, tomorrow.
We’ll let the dogs run free on rocky ground;
we’ll hear the birds call, watch them feed
and toast to their long journey
though they’ll pack the sun away.
Put on your hiking boots, a jacket;
I’ll bring bread.
Let me take your work-rough hand in mine.
Stay out with me
until the sun goes down.
Oliver, the Golden Retriever, Feels the Love At Ecumen Scenic Shores
Oliver, the golden retriever, has an extended family of 40. He’s being raised by the residents of Ecumen Scenic Shores Assisted Living in Two Harbors, Minn.
Housing Manager Julie Luchsinger sums it up this way: “A big thing at Ecumen is creating home, and home to a lot of people is having a dog lying around,” she said. The Lake County News Chronicle tells Oliver’s story.
[Oliver is shown in the photo with resident Bobby Smith, who used to train dogs.]
Readers’ Choice: The Most Popular Changing Aging Blog Posts of 2013 (Part 2)
Yesterday we listed the top 5 Changing Aging blog posts for 2013. Today top posts ranked 6 through 10 are listed below with links:
7. Irene Carlson's Dream Come True
8. The 20 Basics From Ritz-Carlton - Have You Experienced Them?
9. Ecumen and MOJO Minnesota Launch AgePower Tech Search
10. A Volley Across the Generations Between Gustavus Adolphus College and Ecumen in Saint Peter
Readers’ Choice: The Most Popular Changing Aging Blog Posts of 2013 (Part 1)
As 2013 comes to a close, we’re sharing your favorite blogs from the past 12 months. The most popular stories are an eclectic mix of news and features about people and programs — inspired by Ecumen’s vision of “a world in which aging is viewed and understood in radically different ways.”
We are calling out the top 10— with the top 5 listed today and next 5 coming tomorrow.
1. Ecumen Receives $3 Million Margaret A. Cargill Foundation Grant
2. A Goodbye Without Tears – Almost by Ecumen Blogger Jim Klobuchar
3. Top 10 Holiday Gifts for Seniors: Ecumen Staff Offers Advice
4. A Visit with the Man with 125 Kids
5. Secrets to 75 Years of Marriage and a Final Goodbye on Valentine's Day
Ecumen of Litchfield Residents and Staff Sing the Praises of Lutefisk
In the great lutefisk debate, a group of residents and staff at Ecumen of Litchfield vote strongly in favor of the controversial cod.
They make field trips to the Litchfield VFW to partake and literally sing the praises of lutefisk. In his "Land of 10,000 Stories," KARE11's Boyd Huppert tells this stinky fish story.
At the beginning of the video, you can see the Ecumen of Litchfield residents walking into the VFW, and toward the end, staffers Julie K. and Jeanie D. lead the diners in the "Lutefisk Song."