Staff and Contact

Kate Gray, Director

Kate Gray was born and raised in Texas, where she lived until 1998 when she moved to Washington State.  Ms. Gray has worked in non-profits most of her life.  After holding the position of Executive Director of Assisted Living Communities, she joined Franke Tobey Jones as the Senior Center Director in 2010,  

Ms. Gray graduated from Evergreen State College with a Bachelor’s Degree in psychology and business.  Through an internship, Kate was employed by Assured Home Health and Hospice where she was the Bereavement Counselor and Program Development Director.  During her tenure in this position, she was awarded the National Hospice Award for Outstanding Program Development.  Later she was appointed to the National Hospice Standards Committee.  Eventually, Ms. Gray took an Executive Director position at Evergreen Court in Bellevue, WA.  She was hired by Emeritus and eventually managed both Evergreen Lodge and Kirkland Lodge, both are assisted living communities. 

Ms. Gray loves Franke Tobey Jones and its mission, and enjoys working with the seniors at Pt. Defiance~Ruston Senior Center.  When asked why she does what she does, she stated “It’s in honor of my parents.  I took care of them in their latter years and I just love working with seniors.  I learn so much from them!”  While working at the Senior Center, Ms. Gray went on to pursue a Master’s Degree in Public Health Preparedness and Biosecurity for Agriculture. She states that “while those subjects may seem unrelated to my current position, I have often utilized my Public Health Preparedness training at the Senior Center.” 

Kate was married for almost 18 years.  Her pride and joy is her daughter, Kristen, who lives in Seattle.  Kate’s second joy is her recently acquired baby, Hershey, a Miniature Australian Labradoodle.  Hershey has quickly become the well known ambassador of the Senior Center, greeting everyone with a friendly wagging tail.  When Hershey is not in the building, everyone wants to know her whereabouts.  When Ms. Gray is not working, she enjoys reading, playing with Hershey and reveling in the beauty of Washington State.

Kate invites you to check out the Point Defiance~Ruston Senior Center and join any of the many activities offered every week.  (The calendar is located on the “Newsletter and Calendar” page.

 
Lesley Pollack, Assistant

Lesley grew up in Michigan, just 45 minutes from ‘The Lake’ (that would be Lake Michigan), and still misses those amazing fresh-water beaches.  After meeting her husband at college and marrying in 1998, the couple moved to Ruston, sight unseen, to try out Washington ‘for a year’.  Almost 27 years later they are still in the same house and loving the Pacific Northwest.  Well, the summers for sure! 

Lesley spent many years in the graphic design and printing industry.  More recently she took over managing a beautiful church wedding venue and enjoyed helping happy couples on their wedding day.  She also ran many events at her church, including several Christmas brunches and events with themes like ‘Narnia’, ‘Flight Around the World’, and ‘Birthday Party’.  Such great fun!

After the wedding venue closed, Lesley took a year off of working and enjoyed doing projects in the yard and home.  She practiced cooking new recipes, read lots of books, kept up with learning Dutch on Duolingo, completed some photo books, and enjoyed relaxing on the front deck.  After the year she was ready to get out of the house again, and she was happy to see the job posting at the Senior Center.  Hooray for a job super close to home!  This summer she looks forward to walking to work.  (Really, it should be ‘work’, because is spending the day hanging out with all the fun seniors really work?  Not really!)

Lesley hopes to see you soon at the Senior Center and is looking forward to trying out all the activities with you.  Come on in!