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Janice McPhail was hired as Service Coordinator at the Village of Mill Creek in Battle Creek Michigan this past August. She has lived a life devoted to service and is a shining example of what makes service coordinators such valuable assets in PVM facilities. Her passion for supporting aging individuals has been evident for quite some time.

Family is very important to Janice. Her parents, Myron and Edith Zongker have passed away but played a major role in her life, along with her older sister Karen. Myron was a truck driver turned boxer who ended his career working for the Clark Equipment Company. Edith also worked at Clark Equipment Company and then stayed home to help raise their children. The family lived on a small farm and had their own calves and horses along with their dog Puggie, a brindle boxer.

Janice attended Athens High School in Athens Michigan, growing up on a farm and experiencing the joys of small town living. Her first stop after graduating was Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek Michigan, where she initially wanted to be a nurse but changed her mind after witnessing barrels of dead cats in one of her classes. She then went on to Argubright Business College in Battle Creek, what is now known as Davenport University, where she received an Associates Degree in Business. Then, she eventually enrolled in Everest University where she received her Bachelors of Arts in Medical Assisting.

All through school and after receiving her Bachelors degree, Janice worked at jobs where she took care of elderly individuals. For 10 years, she cared for her parents, Myron and Edith, taking them to doctors appointments and addressing various afflictions like diabetes. Her personal work blended with her professional pursuits, as she began working at the Burnham Brook Center for Senior Citizens, helping clients to exercise and take care of themselves. After many trips to the doctors office with those she cared for, Doctors kept wanting to tell Janice how wait times for their patients seemed to go by much faster because she was there, because she made them laugh and feel safe enough to interact with each other. When she heard about the opportunity to work at Mill Creek as a Service Coordinator, these previous experiences and votes of confidence from co-workers and doctors inspired her to go for it and apply.

When asked, Janice said Mill Creek is a family. Even before being hired, she was talking to residents before her interview in the lobby, engaging in enough conversation that her interviewer had to give her a few minutes to wrap up with them before starting their own discussion. She says it has been a blessing to work in Battle Creek, where she has a network of businesses and individuals who she can call upon to speak at the Village, from Chiropractors to experts on Obamacare.

Traveling and working on arts and crafts projects are fun pastimes. Her favorite places to go are Italy and Hawaii. She loves big Italian meals where people sit together at long tables and converse. When home, she paints rocks, makes earrings and crochets among other things.

Janice loves books, citing the bible as the most important in her life. She generally enjoys books on spirituality as well. When relaxing, she says romance movies are her favorite, specifically the movie “Somewhere in Time” that took place on Mackinaw Island.

In the future, Janice hopes to transition more into management roles where she can make sure things are done correctly in line with the Hannan Foundation. She enjoys structure and a positive working environment and wants to create opportunities for her programs to reflect that as well.

Harold Massingille was hired as service coordinator at Village of Brush Park Manor in October 2007. He is a lifelong Detroiter who came from a loving family that imparted strong values like character and devotion to loved ones.

His father, Jessie, worked construction as a young man but was injured and later worked at Eastern Market as a night watchman. He had a tremendous work ethic and made sure his four sons, including Harold, did too. All four boys worked with their father at the Market most nights, washing off the butcher’s counters. It was, as Harold described it, a way to “keep us off the street.” After work, he and his brothers returned home to get ready for the next school day. Harold’s mom, Betsy Ann, took care of her four boys and managed the house.

As a resident of the northwest section of Detroit, Harold attended Central High School. It was there that he met Gwen, whom he dated throughout high school and then married eight years later after having an on again off again courtship.

For 33 years, Harold worked for General Motors (GM). He started out as a clerk and worked his way up to become a reliability engineer, a position he held for his final 15 years working for the company. Over time, GM saw promise in Harold and sent him to the now closed General Motors Institute in Flint, where he received training on reliability analysis and other skills like measuring regressions on GM parts.

The experience of moving up the ranks at GM drove Harold to attend the University of Detroit, graduating in 1977 with a Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA). He loved college, but found socializing difficult, as he continued to work during the day and spend time with his wife Gwen whenever possible. Regardless, he still managed to form a close-knit group of friends that stay in touch to this day, some have moved to other parts of the country, but they still find time to re-connect.

While working at GM provided many great experiences, Harold says that it was not as fun as his work at Brush Park since 2007. As a reliability engineer, he would give his boss and upper management reports and not hear anything else about them afterwards. He rarely saw the outcomes of all the hard work he had put into reports and his analysis. Now, however, when he is able to get someone important services like access to food stamps, he sees the looks of appreciation on resident’s faces and knows he did something meaningful.

When he is not working at Brush Park Manor, Harold enjoys gardening, often with his wife Gwen. She is a retired seamstress who had her own business in Detroit for many years.

While Harold and Gwen did not have children of their own, they have kept a tight knit family and see their four grandnieces and nephews from Harold’s brothers quite often.  As Harold puts it, they are always at his house because that’s the way it’s always been. Their parents were there when they were kids too.

Harold would say his favorite book is the Bible, though he has many favorites like books talking about hospice and issues facing aging communities, along with John Grisham novels. One of Harold’s great passions is attending book signings, one time getting a picture with Maya Angelou when she was in town many years ago.

In the near future, Harold is looking forward to a writing class he is helping to start. It is promoting healthy aging, by encouraging residents to tell their stories.