 Home | Recent News | Newton | Christena Bowen 02 Dec 2007 For Christena Bowen, Manor connection an enduring one |  | Christena Bowen, who has been involved with Presbyterian Manor since it began, made a major gift when the health care center was first built and has given again towards the Shaping Tomorrow campaign. | |
Christena Bowen first heard about Presbyterian Manor before there was one. She recalls the Rev. Dr. George Nelson’s early visits to her Kill Creek Church and other Presbyterian churches in that area. “He talked about his idea for a health care facility for older people,” she said. Little did she realize the community Nelson envisioned would one day become not only her employer, but ultimately her home. Growing up in rural northern Kansas, Christena was active in her church, which her grandparents had helped establish. After graduating from high school in nearby Osborne, Christena attended Fort Hays State where she earned a bachelor’s degree in home economics. She taught in several Kansas communities before her mother’s ill-health brought her back home. Following her mother’s death, Christena devoted the next 13 years to caring for her ailing father and the family’s small farm. His death in 1966 left her unsettled. The following year, back at Fort Hays to take summer classes, Christena mentioned her quandary to the wife of the local Presbyterian minister. “I’d worked with my father and his peer group; before that I’d had an interest in children. I told her I felt the need to work with older people. She told me to contact George Nelson at Presbyterian Manor.” Christena’s call to Newton sparked not only an enduring association with Presbyterian Manors, but a personal friendship as well. “Dr. Nelson was out,” she said, “so I spoke with his administrator, Lucille Anderson. We became lifelong friends.” Although there was no opening for Christena in food service where she felt most qualified, Lucille soon had her performing a variety of other duties: bookkeeping, nursing, housekeeping. Before the year was out, she was tapped to help open another Manor in Kansas City, Kans. Returning five months later, Christena found Lucille had enrolled her in nursing school in Wichita to pursue a licensed practical nurse designation. As an LPN, Christena spent several years at the Newton Manor before being asked to serve as director of nursing at Presbyterian Manor in Sterling, Kans. There, she gained her administrator’s license. Following her retirement in 1982, Christena moved into one of the Newton Manor’s cottages. “I’ve always been interested in gardening. The man who was director here then had a big vegetable garden, and I started volunteering.” Soon, in addition to nurturing flowers in the spaces around the campus, Christena was volunteering to transport residents. An avid travel enthusiast, she arranged outings from local shopping trips to pleasure excursions around Kansas. In late 1974, Christena and Lucile organized Meadowlark Tours to extend travel experiences for Manor residents as well as Newton and surrounding communities. Meadowlark tours offered trips by bus, plane and boat throughout the world. Asked why she deemed the Shaping Tomorrow campaign worthy of her gift, Christena said, “I was interested in the future of the Manor. Dr. Nelson was in the Kill Creek Church telling us when it began. I’ve been aware almost since it started. When they were building the health care center, I gave that amount [$15,000] because I had a big interest. This time, I gave the same. You do what you can.”
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