What warms the heart
RANDOLPH — Julie Loberg and Gail Bazata beam when they talk about their large extended family.
Amongst their children, grandchildren, cousins, aunts and uncles, and others, the two also regularly include extra grandparents – the residents they care for at Colonial Manor where they worked for 25 years and 41 years, respectively.
“My sister worked there, and I remember very distinctly saying I would never work there. And boy do you eat those words,” Loberg said with a chuckle.
She started in the dietary department, working there for two years before moving on to become the activities director.
Bazata, a Licensed Practical Nurse, moved to Randolph in 1979 when her husband, Dennis, got a job at the school. She had previously worked at Bryan Hospital in Lincoln.
“I remember the first time I went up there and thought, ‘What did I sign up for?’ ”she said.
The duo both retired at the end of March with 66 years of experience between them. They never left before now because Colonial Manor became home.
“Those people are like your family,” Bazata said. “There’s several families that there’s three generations I’ve taken care of. The people that come - we know them and know their families, know their stories and their history.”
Loberg said her favorite part of the job was coming up with new activities that became successful. She fondly looks back at all the outdoor activities she was involved in as well as bowling with the residents.
“I would pick up pins for an hour,” she said with a smile.
Both said some of their favorite moments were visiting with residents even when they heard the same stories over and over.
Bazata and Loberg have been through so many changes – extensive facility remodeling and building projects, three different owners and a dozen different administrators – during their time at Colonial Manor.
Bazata recalls a snowstorm in April 1986 where a Coleridge woman gave birth at the facility as she couldn’t make it to the Osmond Hospital. And the Randolph city crews picked her up in a tractor to take her to work.
More recently, working through the COVID-19 pandemic brought its own unique set of challenges and will not be soon forgotten.
“As long as I’ve been a nurse . . . never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would have to work during a pandemic, ever,” Bazata said.
Loberg said working at Colonial Manor has been rewarding and she wishes more people would consider working in long-term care.
“I just see too many people start and quit. They don’t really give it a chance. You’ve got to get to know the residents. You’ve got to be there for them. You can’t be there for the paycheck. That can’t be the sole reason why you’re there,” she said.
Bazata continues to work here and there as needed – a couple days a week on average – at Colonial Manor. Loberg is taking care of her grandchildren and enjoying community volunteer work.
As they settle into retirement, the one thing they will never forget is the people they’ve come to know and love and care for as family.
“Gail and I both got a handwritten letter from a 90-some-year-old resident, saying ‘Thank you’ for all the time you spent taking care of us,” Loberg said. “And you know that warms your heart.”
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