Featured Volunteer

Mary C. has been a Senior Companion since 2003, and serves clients through MAS Case Management. Mary is best described as a real ‘go-getter’!

She is an inspiration to us all as an elder who is staying active and independent through her service.

Mary began her service as an SC on the recommendation of a friend who was in the program. "She was always telling me ‘this is something you should do!’ And I thought, ‘Oh no – I can’t do that!’" Mary recalled, "But then after I’d had a surgery and had left my one day a week job at Shopko, I was just not feeling right. My doctor said she couldn’t find anything wrong with me, and suggested that I needed to get back with people, so I decided to take my friend’s advice."

Mary hasn’t looked back since, and has enjoyed the company of many clients. She currently sees 4 elders, after having recently lost 2. She doesn’t dwell on those losses, but one can tell when she speaks of the clients who passed away, they had a very special place with her – and she misses their friendship. "[Their passing] hit Mary very hard," says her Supervisor, MAS Lead Care Manager DeAndria Gutzmer, "and it made her reflect on what is important, realizing ‘self care’ was as important for her as ‘volunteering’. So, after all these years of volunteering 20 hours a week, she has cut back to 16. Her grief brought her to a place of introspection and now her enthusiasm to serve is back and she lives each day fully and always with such gratitude… She is an inspiration to me!"

The bonds of friendship she has with clients are something special that Mary seems to be uniquely able to create through her service. She speaks of another client, one whom is always ready with a laugh. "When I first met her, my heart just took to her," she says, "now when I think of taking her out I think, ‘tomorrow I get to laugh!’" It’s evident Mary gets as much from her Companion duties and she gives.

"I learn so much from [the clients]. They are all good gals. I enjoy listening to them and finding out what their life was all about."

Mary’s life started on the plains of Eastern Montana in the rural community of Glendive. Always a self-starter, she moved from the family farm into town in order to attend high school, working odd jobs for her room and board. "I think I had a good life!" she says matter of factly. Even though she and her family have lived here since 1963, she admits to still missing the vast plains on the other side of our state.

In Missoula, Mary worked for the Missoula Mercantile for 17 years and then as a desk clerk for what is now the Campus Inn for another 15. She enjoyed these jobs because she was able to work with people. She has 6 children, 16 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren, and she admits that this gives her and her clients a great deal to talk about!

Talking to Mary, it’s easy to see what a great fit the Senior Companion Program is for her, and how her work as a volunteer truly makes a difference in people’s lives. She says confidently that ‘she works because she wants to’ and MAS is surely blessed that she wants to work – with us.