Pines Village employee profile: Tracy Huyvaert

For Tracy Huyvaert laughs when she recalls the doubters who questioned whether Pines Village could raise the money needed to pull off its ambitious Tour of Duty in 2007.

Failing to raise the money for the trip to the World War II Memorial and other sites in Washington, D.C. – a “thank you” to local veterans – was simply not an option, she says.

For Tracy, Pines Village’s chief operations officer for resident services, the successful fundraising and tour validated the idea that you really can do anything you set your mind to.

The project also highlighted the synergy of talents in nursing, business and art that Tracy brings to her work.

She studied photography while earning a business degree at Valparaiso University in the early 1990s and then returned to the university’s bachelors nursing program, figuring health care was an ever-abundant career field. 

But she was not completely sure what nursing was all about, Tracy says.  Until she got hooked. Yes, nursing provided a paycheck, but Tracy found it also allowed her to learn and grow in ways she never anticipated.

 “You have a purpose,” she says. “And the little ‘thank-you’s along the way can really add so much value to your life.

At Pines Village, Tracy gets to make full use of both her nursing and business backgrounds. And various side projects have called upon her interest and expertise in the arts, too. 

Tracy was instrumental in landing Pines Village a “Jumpstart the Conversation” grant, which funded the start-up of art classes for seniors at three locations around the city. She has also been involved in creating a permanent art collection at Pines Village featuring watercolors and ceramics by local artist Hazel Hannell, who continued painting throughout her 106 years. “You talk about a model of positive aging,” Tracy says of Hannell, “she’s it.”

From an early age, Tracy had other models of positive aging, including three sets of grandparents.  She moved in next door to her grandparents during her teen years and that grandmother gave Huyvaert her first violin, taught her how to fish and lent her the money to buy a horse. “She was my first bank – the Bank of Grandma,” Tracy says. “She taught me the value of money and supported my dreams.”

Now, in a wonderful turn of events, that same set of grandparents, Katherine and George Fletcher, at age 95 are new residents of Pines Village and Tracy again gets to see them every day.

“This is a blessing,” she says.

Beyond the many pluses for her and for residents, Pines Village plays an important role in the larger community “being a positive model for how people can live wonderful, meaningful lives,” Tracy says.

 “Pines Village sets a high standard of how people should and could live. You come here and see what quality of life can be. This is a pretty special, unique place. I hope we’re making a difference by setting the bar high.”

We Celebrate Life is a collection of portraits, in words and photographs, of just some of the wonderful, extraordinary people who live, work and serve Pines Village Retirement Communities. View more >