Welcome to Pines Village Retirement Communities

   Pines Village
   Retirement Communities
   3303 Pines Village Circle

Valparaiso, IN 46383

info@pinesvillage.org

(219)465-1591

(877)295-5500 TOLL FREE

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.

Celebrate with us!

Pines Village resident profile: Irene Malasto

If you ask Irene Malasto to describe herself, the first thing she will say is, “I’m an open book.” It’s no mystery book – but it certainly is a romance, a thriller, and a heartwarming history.

Born Irene Karlawsky in Detroit, Michigan, she was just nine months old when her parents moved to Decatur, Illinois. An only child, Irene had the complete attention of Mom and Dad, took piano lessons, studied ballet, and always did her homework. By the time she was sixteen, Irene became interested in something new.

“Well, about that age you notice boys,” Irene says with a laugh. “And I did.”

Pines Village family profile: Greg & Carol Costakis

A wise man once said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." While some residents of Pines Village Retirement Communities come from as few as five miles away, it is a journey nonetheless -- for the families, as well as the resident.

And what a journey it is -- a logistical, psychological, familial voyage that must cover a lot of terrain. The journey often begins with the realization that home ownership has lost its appeal or its financial sense (often both), or that social life is lacking, or that burdens on family are cumbersome and impractical.

"It is definitely a process," admits Greg Costakis, whose mother Dorothy moved to Pines Village in 2010. "It’s not an overnight decision."

Pines Village board of directors profile: Erica Passauer

Erica Passauer wears many hats. A mother, a lender, and a community volunteer, she leads a busy life. But even though it is one more responsibility for her, Erica relishes her role as a board member of Pines Village Retirement Communities.

Like many who visit Pines Village years before they'll enjoy retirement, Erica admits her first reaction was, "Hey, I want to live here!"

"Pines Village has the tag line "We Celebrate Life." And it's true. It's a beautiful place and people really do come here to live, to stay active, to enjoy new pursuits and meet new people."

Pines Village resident profile: Maxine Philips

“I have to feel like I’m contributing,” says the energetic septuagenarian whose families have contributed so much to the Valparaiso area.

Her great, great grandfather served in the American Revolution which spurred Maxine to become a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, where she is now serving as regent for the local Chapter.

While serving as president of the Porter County Council of Church Women, Maxine’s mother, Mary E. Bartz, helped found Whispering Pines Health Care Center. Because the endeavor to create such a nursing care facility in Valparaiso was so important to her mother, Maxine today serves as treasurer for the Porter County Council of Church Women.

Pines Village employee profile: Rita Duncan

Many Pines Village residents never see one of their community’s most important employees.

And for her part, when Rita Duncan sees residents, it’s often in a much different light from other staff members.

Rita works overnight, taking charge of a range of maintenance jobs and providing security for the Pines Village complex while residents sleep. Because she is the first responder to problems or emergencies residents may face in the wee hours, she often encounters them without the make-up and clothing – even the wigs and dentures – they would normally wear during the day.

But even though she may not later recognize the residents she has helped with a concern, she feels a closeness to them that makes her ready to respond to any situation at a moment’s notice.

Pines Village board of directors profile: Sharon Mortensen - Treasurer

Quick quiz: How is accounting like serving on the Pines Village Board of Directors?

For Sharon Mortensen, both came to her in roundabout ways and quickly became things she loves.

Sharon, a certified public accountant in Valparaiso, as well as Pines Village board treasurer, originally wanted to be an attorney. But before ever getting to law school, she earned a degree in accounting at Valparaiso University and became hooked.

“I love what I do,” Sharon says. “I am one of the lucky people.”

Pines Village resident profile: Ellen Silberman

At least twice in her life, Ellen Silberman has piped up about community problems in need of solving. And sure enough, as reward for her effort, she was the one picked to implement a solution. Both times, her involvement has helped improve the health of her community.

In the late 1960s as the mother of three in Baldwin, New York, Ellen voiced her concern about the growing teen drug problem in the Long Island community. Other parents sent her to a conference on the issue and she soon found herself a co-founder and executive director of the Baldwin Council Against Drug Abuse.

Pines Village employee profile: Lorrie Ward

Pines Village senior fitness instructor Lorrie Ward arrives at the Campbell Street Cafe each morning at half past six to find a crowd waiting for her.

The early arrivals, residents of Meridian Woods neighborhood, are eager to get to work in the cafe's fitness center and Lorrie is eager to get them moving.

"I love to see people be active," says Lorrie, who leads fitness initiatives at Pines Village, Meridian Woods and for the city's senior community at Village Park Enrichment Center.

Meridian Woods resident profile: Judy Bornstein

Joy is Judy Bornstein’s favorite word. And as far as joy is concerned, it’s clear she gives as good as she gets.

Judy describes herself as almost 75 going on seven, “because I have so much fun in life. It’s like I’m at recess all the time.”

The Meridian Woods resident is up at four-thirty each morning to enjoy the quiet promise of a new day, ready to bound enthusiastically from one activity to another. Her primary passion is singing. "I dearly love to sing," she says. “I would rather sing than eat – and I love to eat!"

Pines Village volunteer profile: Sharon Costas

Twice a week, Pines Village residents get a little extra treat with dinner.

Live piano music.

And it’s not just any music. Volunteer Sharon Costas presents favorites from the 1920s to the ‘40s. The standards, she says.

Although the songs are relatively new to her repertoire, they’re not new to her appreciative listeners.

Pines Village board of directors profile: Dee Haklin - Vice President

Before Henry Ford and the Model T, there was the Brush Runabout.

Though it was built long before her time, Dee Haklin has fond memories of an early-1900s Brush her grandfather acquired as barter during the Great Depression. A home heating oil deliveryman in Iowa, he had accepted the old motor car as payment from a farmer who didn’t have the money to pay his bill.

Some of her fondest memories, Dee says, are of riding with her grandparents in that long-lived automobile in parades and at county fairs. Her grandfather even took the Brush to the Iowa State Fair one year.

Pines Village resident profile: Dick Brauer

For Dick Brauer, advancing years mean new adventures. “I’ve never been 83 before,” the newly minted 83-year-old says with a note of excitement in his voice.

Freed of what he calls “the heavy lifting” of cooking, cleaning and other home maintenance, the new transplant to Pines Village sees a host of new opportunities to learn and grow with a community of like-minded seniors.

As the retired founding director of the Valparaiso University art museum that bears his name, Dick is glad that many of his new opportunities at Pines Village touch upon the arts.

Pines Village employee profile: Tracy Huyvaert

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.

Pines Village board of directors profile: Patrick Lyp - President 2010-2011

Growing up in New Jersey, Patrick Lyp enjoyed a great luxury. As the oldest of seven siblings, it was certainly not material wealth Lyp basked in. Instead, until he went off to college, Lyp had the luxury of having his grandfather visit the family almost every day.

In that daily connection with his grandfather were the seeds of Patrick Lyp’s appreciation for the contributions of our older citizens.

Pines Village resident profile: Ruth and Louis Foster

For first-time author Ruth Foster, a key to getting that first book published was discovering the riches of Internet research. That and freeing herself of home ownership. The septuagenarian author began her historical mystery novel of the Middle Ages, Effigy of the Cloven Hoof, over 20 years ago, an outgrowth of four extended sojourns in England with her husband Louis.

Pines Village employee profile: Joel Fabugais

“He’s got a heart of gold.” That line usually follows upon a description of a person’s menacing exterior or gruff personality.

But Joel Fabugais — a veteran dining services employee with Pines Village Retirement Communities at the tender age of 23 — breaks that “heart of gold” mold. He’s got one. But there’s no hint of menace or gruffness about him.