Five Generations of Mothers and Daughters: One Family’s Century of Experience With Concordia

Last year we introduced you to one family whose legacy of mother-daughter relationships has positively impacted the Cabot community for nearly a century. This year, not only has the Goepfert/Vantine family continued to serve families, patients and residents faithfully, but a new generation of family members has also found a place at Concordia.

Loraine Vantine, a resident coordinator at Concordia at Cabot, is working at the same organization as her mother, Irma Goepfert, her grandmother, Mabel Goepfert, and her daughters: Summer Vantine and Sheila Adams. Her granddaughter, Adora, was recently enrolled at the campus daycare which means that five generations of the family have been directly involved with the organization.

The family history first took root when Loraine’s grandmother, Mabel Goepfert, worked as a food preparer in 1928. After Mabel worked at the campus, her daughter-in-law, Irma Goepfert, was employed as a dietary aide from January 1971 to August 1995. Naturally, Loraine followed in her family’s footsteps and began working at Concordia at Rebecca Residence as an administrative assistant in 2011. Since then, she has taken on a variety of roles and was promoted to her current position in 2017.

“Working with the residents in Haven I is like being at home,” Loraine said. “They are an extension of my family and it’s a wonderful blessing to serve them.”

Like Loraine, both Summer and Sheila felt called to serve others at the same place as their mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Summer joined the Concordia family in June 2010 and worked as a dietary aide while in high school. After high school, she completed nursing school and is currently a RN supervisor on the skilled nursing floor in the Lund Care Center.

“I continue to work here because overall it’s a great company to work for,” Summer said. “Everyone works so well as a team, and we are all here for our patients. I continue to learn new things every day and I have grown a lot since I’ve started. I was 16 at the time and now I’m 26. A lot has changed and it has been a cool experience.”

Sheila’s journey working at Concordia was more recent. Joining the Concordia team nine months ago, she works as a rehabilitation nurse, helping patients recover from falls, injuries or recent surgeries.  

“I’ve been a Home Health Pediatric RN for my entire nursing career and was looking for a job that had a more clinical atmosphere to refresh my skills,” Sheila said. “We can get really attached to our patients. It’s a great feeling seeing people get strong enough to go home, but it can be hard to say goodbye. While it’s a job that demands a lot of attention to detail and energy, it’s incredibly rewarding.”

Even though Sheila only recently starting working at Concordia, she noted that the organization has always been an important part of her family’s history.

“Concordia has always been a staple of my life,” she said. “I remember, as a little girl, visiting my grandma who was working in Oertel. Then as I got older, both my mom and sister started working there as well. I remember taking my newborn daughter [Adora] to visit her Aunt Summer while she was working, and I had no idea just how familiar I would soon become with Blankenbuehler Hall.”

For both Sheila and Summer, working at the same organization as their mom has definitely had perks, especially around the holidays.

“My mom loves to send interdepartmental mail now that we’re all in the same company,” Sheila said. “She’s sent us care packages for both Valentine’s Day and Easter this year and she always tells us how proud she is of both of us. As for working with my sister, we’ve bonded in a unique way as nurses in the same clinical setting. We take turns making each other laugh when the other is having a tough day and it’s always therapeutic for us to talk about our experiences.”

While the family has always been close, working at the same organization has solidified their relationships. There are also many opportunities for special moments to share.

“I’m very close with my daughters,” Loraine said. “My daughters work hard and take a lot of pride in their own jobs. I’m always overjoyed to hear one of my Haven residents who had a stay in short term rehab tell me they met one of them and how wonderful they were. Am I a proud mom? You better believe it.”

To all of the wonderful mothers and mother-figures who give so much each day, thank you for your compassion, kindness and caring. If you have a unique Mother’s Day story, share it with us in the comments below.

For more information on career opportunities at Concordia at Cabot or any of our locations in Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio or Tampa, Florida visit our careers page at: www.concordiacareers.org or call our administrative headquarters at: 724-352-1571.