On Friday, December 28, 2018, Donna Logan set aside her Social Services Director duties at Pleasant View Nursing Home in Rock Port, Missouri, in exchange for retirement after 18 years of service.

Eighteen years is a long time to stick with one job, but when those you serve are like family to you, it’s hard to hang up your hat. But on Friday, December 28, 2018, Donna Logan of Tarkio, Missouri, embraced retirement and set aside her Social Services Director duties at Pleasant View Nursing Home in Rock Port. 

Donna was hired by Patty Steinberg, and since Patty’s retirement, has worked under three other administrators. Though it would be considered an office job, Social Services Director is definitely not one where you can shy away from the public and Donna sure didn’t. She embraced her Pleasant View clients and families with open arms and has spent the last 18 years seeing to their needs. Beginning her duties on December 13, 1999, Donna became an advocate for the residents, taking them under her wing right from the start. She welcomed them at admission and worked with them on medical evaluations, trust accounts, care plans, and in any other social aspect that they might need assistance with. They became her friends, and after 18 years, her family. And sometimes they actually were her family. Her mother was a resident at the facility when Donna began and she was able to enjoy her company on a daily basis while at work. Eighteen years brought a lot of changes Donna’s way, including added paperwork and more regulations, but the new and familiar friendly faces she saw on a daily basis made it all worthwhile. 

Donna said she would miss the residents the most. Everyone who works in the nursing home environment tries to make the place feel like home for the residents, as for many it is, so it becomes your home-away-from-home as well. She’s also enjoyed the camaraderie shared with her coworkers over the years, especially her office-mate, Teena, and will miss them as well.

Though she’ll miss seeing everyone on a daily basis, she plans to visit often. She also plans to enjoy retirement, doing whatever and whenever she wants, including spending time with her four kids, 11 grandkids, and six great-grandkids. Donna’s last week at Pleasant View was an enjoyable one. Her going-away, carry-in dinner day (a few days before her last) was also pajama day at the facility, so many who attended celebrated “in style.”