Terri Vickery (Former Team Member)

Terri Vickery Terri Vickery came to work in Philanthropy at Franke Tobey Jones after working in a similar job for the MultiCare medical system.  (One of the people she knew at MultiCare, Roy Kimbell, was a Board member at FTJ.)   Terri started in 2003 when FTJ was in the process of building the Garden Apartments and retired in 2019, as FTJ completed the Skilled Nursing and Memory Care buildings. (She worked on the $2.5 million campaign to raise the money for the Care Center.)

Terri loved the poplar trees that formed a line from the entrance of FTJ up to the edge of the Tobey Jones building, but those were taken down when the new Skilled Nursing and Memory Care buildings were built.  When construction began, the soil was tested numerous times by the EPA because of the location of the former smelter at the bottom of our hill.  Fortunately, none of the soil needed to be removed and  new soil could be put on top of the existing soil. A local construction company donated all the clean soil that FTJ needed, thus saving FTJ millions of dollars. 

Terri says that FTJ is “the Cadillac of Retirement Communities.” It has an excellent reputation, as shown by the number of multigenerational residents, though people are coming at younger age now than when she started. Residents are given a say when changes are being considered. For example, when more Duplexes were to be built, the people in the original five Duplexes were asked what they thought should be changed in the new ones. Every resident said, “Don’t change anything–they are perfect the way they are.”  Staff are only hired if they love older people and if they are willing to treat all the residents as adults with names and histories.

Terri remembers that   there used to be many peacocks roaming the FTJ grounds. The birds especially liked roosting on the porches of the Duplexes when those were first built.  Residents initially thought that was wonderful, but then got tired of needing maintenance to clean up after the birds and wanted them gone. One of the maintenance men, Howard, picked them up one at a time, put them in his car, and drove them to his home in the country, where they lived happily ever after.

Teri witnessed many other changes during her time at FTJ:

  1. Retirement tours started by Chris Hall. Since the very first tour, interest in FTJ continues to skyrocket.
  2. Flexible dining times.
  3. The parades during COVID. (Though retired, she participated.) A wonderful Chris Hall idea. 
  4. Independent resident event dinners. Chris put these together once a quarter shortly after she came to work at FTJ and they were fabulous. Another one of Chris’s brilliant ideas.
  5. Fabulous fundraising events at the Senior Center that brought in much needed funds for its members.
  6. Employee-created gift baskets given to the Senior Center during the holidays to use in its fundraising efforts.
  7. Major explosion in Employee Giving to FTJ Annual Fund. This was initiated by Philanthropy and incorporated into new employee orientations by Linda in HR.
  8. Resident representation on the FTJ Board of Directors.
  9. Around 2006 resident Tony Balazic, father of Mary Anne Fray, suggested I write individual biographies so residents could get to know each other better. I wrote them until I retired, and the residents did indeed enjoy reading the stories.
  10. The resident beauty salon in the LP building was relocated twice.
  11. A security company was hired for evening protection.
  12. Speed limit signs were added.

Terri concludes that, “Working at FTJ was the most rewarding job I had. The residents and staff are wonderful and I still think of them all as family.”  (Interviewed by Pam Baker)

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