Volunteer donates time to preserve PMMA history

As the first administrator of Presbyterian Manors, Dr. George W. Nelson had a front-row seat to the origins and early history of PMMA—a history he committed to paper in 1972. However, in the 49 years that have passed, Dr. Nelson’s hand-typed manuscript has been the only copy of the document that has been in existence. In order to preserve this important piece of PMMA history, and allow it to be shared with others throughout the organization, Tracy Yenor recently volunteered her time to create an electronic version of the document.

“Dr. Nelson provided a highly detailed account of Presbyterian Manors’ early years,” said Lisa Diehl, PMMA’s corporate communications director. “As the first administrator for the Presbyterian Manor system, his account provides a unique perspective on how Presbyterian Manor was founded, how new locations were identified and how critical the Presbyterian church’s involvement was in those early years. We’re so grateful that Tracy agreed to help us preserve that history by retyping that original manuscript.”

In order to recreate the document, Tracy dedicated countless hours inputting information and checking—and then rechecking—its accuracy.

“The process took approximately 45 minutes per page front to back. This included typing, spelling and grammar check—it took about 25 minutes just for that,” said Tracy. “Then I printed, read and proofed every single word, edited and reran spelling and grammar.”

However, throughout the editing process, Tracy was committed to not altering the original manuscript in any way.

“Every word is from Dr. Nelson,” said Tracy. “To assume that I could change his words would be disrespectful and would take away from his personality.”

From a personal standpoint, Tracy says that her involvement in the project was one of pure joy.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed this project,” said Tracy. “I am deeply humbled by the men and women who took on this labor of love to ensure the health and happiness of so many. Dr. George W. Nelson had so much pride in his team and took the time to write the history of how the Manors came to life and still live on to this day. It’s a very interesting read and I’m happy to have had the chance to be a small part of his work.”

Tracy read about our need for a volunteer in a past issue of Community Matters. She quickly answered our request for assistance. Thank you, Tracy!

Volunteers are beginning to come back into the building for visits and programs, though we know the guidelines may fluctuate. For more information, contact Melinda Ebersole, director of life enrichment, at 316-283-5400 or mebersole@pmma.org.

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