The WCA Home Resident for the Month of June is Grace Berdych.

Grace Berdych was born and raised in Dunkirk, where she attended St. Hyacinth Parochial School.   Berdych never got to finish a high school education as her father passed away and she had to leave school to help her family.

For many years Berdych worked at Van Raalte and would travel past School 10 (Industrial High School) and quite often would see young men outside on a break.  Florian Berdych was one of the young men and he took particular note of her and eventually introduced himself and the couple married several years later.  In the years that followed, the couple was blessed with a son and a daughter.

Berdych always worked to help support the family and after leaving Van Raalte she worked picking and tying grapes and then as a clerk and later as manager of the D&K Store at the D&F Plaza in Dunkirk.  Besides working outside the home, Berdych was a member of the Hose #3 Auxiliary and a devoted parishioner in the Blessed Mary Angela RC Church.

Berdych was very family oriented.  Family members remember the homemade popcorn balls she made for everyone at Christmas time and that it was she who was the caregiver for other family members in need of support.  Berdych was always the one to care for elderly family members.

One of the highlights in Berdych’s life came in the early ‘60’s when she was working at Ceases Commissary and they did the catering for a large rally held in Buffalo to support John F. Kennedy for President.  Berdych worked the event and got a close look at that time of the future President Kennedy.

When asked if she likes her stay at the WCA Home, Berdych comments that she likes all the people and being around other people.

Christine (Chris) Hoyt is the WCA Home Employee of the Month for June. 

Born in Rochester, NY, Hoyt graduated from Brockport High School and then went on for two years of training at the Highland School of Nursing in Rochester.

Hoyt lost much of her eyesight in the years that followed and attended the Association for the Blind in Albany.  She took her learning experience and went on to work for the Association for the Blind in Rochester Low Vision Clinic, later worked as the director of a senior center in Barker, New York and held several other jobs until she joined the staff at the WCA Home in 2003 as a PCA.  Her retirement in 2013 was short lived as she came back to work two days a week at the WCA Home as an activities aide and still enjoys her part-time job.

Family is very important to Hoyt.  She now resides in Fredonia with her mother, having raised her two sons and now enjoying her three grandchildren; Kaylee, Kaleb and Benjamin, who she calls the “light of my life”.  Hoyt spent two years in Germany, where her first son was born, has been on five missionary trips to Hati, enjoyed traveling to California, Florida, Maui and lived in El Paso for two years.

Hoyt is current Chairperson for the Friends of WCA Home (a volunteer group) and is very active in her parish activities at St. Joseph RC Church in Fredonia.  For St. Joseph’s, she is instrumental in organizing their regular card parties, baking for them and helping with other parish functions.

In speaking about the residents of the WCA Home, Hoyt says that …”all the ladies are like my grandmothers and I take care of them as if they were”, …”I just adore the ladies and being with them is special, sometimes all they need to feel better is a hug – that is why I am here”.

Hoyt is a truly dedicated employee who is a natural caregiver and a true friend to the residents at the WCA Home.

Congratulations to Mayme Joy, the WCA Home Resident for the month of May.

Mayme Joy was born and raised in Brant and after graduating from Angola High School, she attended Robert’s School of Beauty in Buffalo.  For several years she worked as a beautician at Helene’s Beauty Shop (Fredonia).

Mayme met her husband, Sam Joy, at a bowling alley on Water Street in Fredonia.  Sam and Mayme were married in 1955 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel RC Church in Brant.  Sam ran the family grape farm and he and Mayme lived on the farm until his death in 1975.  The farm was out from the village of Fredonia and Mayme had three young children to care for so she moved to Leon Place to be in the village and raise her children.

Never one to sit still, Mayme eventually began working as a teller for what is now, Community Bank.  Her job at Community Bank lasted for over 20 years until her retirement and she worked her way from teller to Assistant to the Manager.

In her personal life she enjoyed bowling and doing embroidery work which she would then pass on to her aunt who would tat lace around the item.

More recently, Mayme has been active in St. Anthony’s Parish, the Catholic Daughters, the United Seniors, and was treasurer for the Share and Care Center. Mayme still attends the monthly luncheon at the Beaver Club for the Share and Care Seniors.

Mayme became a resident at the WCA Home on August 1, 2013 and is very active in the many activities and outings offered.  She says that she enjoys living here because she has many people to talk to and she especially enjoys having her hair done (in-house) on Thursday mornings and then having her nails done after lunch.  Mayme is always ready for conversation and has a great sense of humor.

Congratulations to Joann Smith, who is the WCA Home’s Employee for the month of May.

Joann was born and raised for her early years in Jamestown and then moved to Fredonia and graduated from Fredonia High School.  She and her three teen-aged children continue to live in Fredonia.

Working with food and people comes naturally to Joanne.  She has worked her way from being a waitress out of high school to where she is today as Head Cook at the WCA Home.  She has held this position since 2006.  Joanne says that cooking relaxes her and is just a natural thing for her to do.

It takes a special person to run the dietary department in a facility.  Joanne is responsible for adhering to the many rules and regulations through New York State and is also in charge of preparing changing seasonal menus with the assistance of a registered dietician.  She also maintains a budget and is in charge of ordering all food and necessary supplies for the kitchen area.   Joanne constantly has an ear as to residents’ food preferences and dietary needs.

Joann enjoys spending her off work hours with her children, and the entire family enjoys traveling to the South for vacations, such as to Georgia and the Myrtle Beach area.

We thank Joann for all her hard work and good humor.

WCA Home’s Employee for the Month of April is Cassandra Blake.

Cassandra was born and raised in Mayville and graduated from the Chautauqua Lake School system.

After graduation, Cassandra attended BOCES and obtained her PCA (Personal Care Aide) certification.  She worked for a while at Heritage Green and Absolut at Westfield and then started work at the WCA Home in July of 2013 as a PCA.

While working at the Absolut at Westfield, Cassandra met her future husband, Michael, through a friend who also worked at the Westfield facility.  Cassandra and Michael have been married a little over five years and have three children, two boys and one girl.  They enjoy watching family type movies and eating popcorn and look forward to the spring weather.  Cassandra and Michael are also looking forward owning their own house shortly.

Cassandra describes herself as a “really loving person who tries to make everyone happy”.  She states that she loves her work at WCA Home and thinks it is absolutely the best place to work.  Cassandra also states that she thinks her boss, Tammy Skelly (Administrator) is wonderful and never wants to leave.

Cassandra is one of those people who truly enjoys her work and has true feelings for all the residents at WCA Home.  She says, she “loves every single resident as well as their individual personality traits”.

Cassandra makes a huge difference in the lives of the residents and is a dedicated employee.

Iva Dattillo is the WCA Home’s Resident for the Month of April

Iva was born and raised in Silver Creek.  She graduated from Silver Creek High School and immediately after her graduation was employed as a secretary at Lis Aircraft, which supplied finished parts for the war effort.  Later in life, Iva worked nine years as a cook at Aunt Millie’s Restaurant in Irving.  Iva smiles as she says she did all the “Italian cooking”, like the sauces, lasagna, and remembers making 400 meatballs every week.  While employed at Aunt Millie’s she had a fall that necessitated her retirement from cooking.

It was “young love” when Iva met her to be husband, George Dattillo:  she was 14 and George was 17.  After a seven-year courtship, George and Iva were married in 1945 and raised two daughters and one foster daughter.  The family enjoyed doing many things together and it was a very happy time.  George worked at Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna until 1974 when he passed away.

Besides raising her own daughters, Iva would often watch the children of friends, enjoyed puttering in the garden, she was a Girl Scout Leader, a member of the Mt. Carmel Social Club and the Rosary Altar Society.

Sandy Buckley, one of Iva’s two daughters organized a 90^th birthday party for Iva at the Colony House in Irving on Sunday, April 30.  It was a large gathering of family and friends to celebrate a lifetime of love and dedication, and the wish for many more years to come.

Iva enjoys life at WCA Home.  After having two respite stays earlier at WCA, she told her daughter, Sandy, that when it came time for her to no longer be able to live alone, she wanted to go to the WCA Home.  She became a permanent resident at the Home on October 3, 2013.

Even though Iva’s eyesight is fading, she enjoys the musical entertainment that comes in for presentations and the conversation with her three table mates when at a meal.  Iva says that the aides just cannot do enough to make you feel comfortable and at home.  She says that you can really tell when someone cares and is not just going through the motions of a job – and she feels the aides here do just that…treat every resident as being special.