Activities director at Park Pointe senior facility retiring after 44 years

MORRIS – After more than 44 years of bringing out the best in local senior citizens, Barb Hoffman is retiring this month as activities director at Park Pointe Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center.

“I love my work, and I love the people,” Hoffman said. “It has been very rewarding.”

Park Pointe Administrator Suzanne Day called Hoffman’s contributions “immeasurable.”

“I can honestly say that in the 26 years that I’ve been here,” Day said, “I have never heard Barb say no to anyone or anything that was asked of her in regards to a resident. It didn’t matter if it was early in the morning or late at night, the weekend or holiday, in the middle of a blizzard or heat wave. If there was something that needed to be done for a resident, she was always willing and able.”

The best part of her career, Hoffman said, was when she was able to reach through to a resident and invoke some great memories. It still brings her goose bumps to remember how they fill with joy with the recollections.

“You see a whole different side of them,” she said. “When you see their eyes light up or a smile. ... It’s so incredibly important.”

Hoffman laughed when she recalled how she got into the field. Her sister was a nurse’s aide and told Hoffman she should get a job as an aide for a while. Hoffman was a young married mother and had a particular goal.

“There was this gorgeous furniture set,” she said. “I wanted to work long enough to get my new furniture.”

That was in 1971. The facility back then was the Grundy County Home, a nursing home owned by the county. Hoffman started out as an aide, then learned about being an activities director through former directors Mary Jo Phelps and Linda Kelly. Eventually, Hoffman became the activities director herself. She later followed the home with its new name and owners to its new location, a mile west in Morris.

Hoffman has long volunteered her time, as well, to helping people, whether it was in Girl Scouts, her church or the Morris Woman’s Club. It’s a passion for her and also a calling.

“I’ve always had a passion for wanting to help people,” she said. “I feel this [position] is a mission God sent me on. I realized long ago I was making a difference for the people here.”

Some of her fondest memories are working with Shabbona Middle School teacher Ken Iverson, now retired, to bring students to the facility. It was great for the kids and for the seniors, she said. One such program involved veterans telling the students about their service. Another had residents talking to the students about their former careers.

Today, Hoffman organizes activities as varied as coffee and donuts, Bible studies, Bingo, movies and popcorn, attending Grundy County Corn Festival activities and Brown Bag Fridays, trivia, creative writing and more.

There is a big need for volunteers, she said, to help with many of the activities, especially accompanying participants on local outings, as well as reading to the residents, walking them down the hall and taking them out for fresh air.

“[Hoffman is] passionate about what she does here,” Park Pointe Human Resources Director Debra Johnson said. “She’s great at engaging our seniors in activities for their mind, heart, soul and body.”