Julie Hill Lehr

It’s October. A month where we recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month, enjoy Halloween treats and this year, celebrate 40 years of Missouri Days in Trenton.

I look forward to hearing more of your ideas on who we should recognize next month. Please email your ideas to me in care of editor Gabe Stark, GStark@cherryroad.com or contact him at 660-654-0926. I look forward to hearing from you. This month’s featured Trentonian is Deanna McCarter.

Deanna McCarter – Rising to the Challenge

It’s easy to see why Deanna McCarter is an important part of the Trenton community. She is not afraid to take on a challenge and work to accomplish it. One of her early challenges was moving from a very small town in Missouri to a larger small town in Missouri.

After attending Lockwood High School in Lockwood, MO, Deanna married her high school sweetheart, Lynn McCarter, and pursued a career in nursing. She graduated from Burge School of Nursing with Cox Medical Center in Springfield, MO and became a registered nurse.

The newlyweds moved to Trenton in 1977 so Lynn could pursue a job with Butler Manufacturing who built grain bins and other buildings for farmers. Trenton seemed like a gigantic place compared to the small town of Lockwood.

“When we first moved here, what really confused me was five points, said Deanna. “I couldn’t figure out how that worked for a while, but eventually I did. Trenton even had a theater so you didn’t have to go to another town to watch a movie.”

Career

Deanna learned that nurses were always in demand and quickly took a job at Wright Memorial Hospital. She worked at Wright Memorial for 24 years. One of her greatest challenges and highlights during those years was starting the Home Health and Hospice programs at the hospital. She found a great deal of satisfaction helping people during some of their most difficult life experiences.

That work led her to moving onto nursing with the state of Missouri. Her first job was working on the state hotline helping disabled people and those over 65. She worked on the hotline, helping them find state resources that could help improve their life.

Next came a job keeping seniors safe in a nursing home setting. Her job was to make sure the nursing homes were in compliance with state law. She surveyed 18 counties in north central Missouri for five years. The surveys helped protect residents from a variety of violations including quality of care, medication management and resident rights.

She then transitioned to a different job with the state surveying home health and hospice agencies in the state including Trenton’s own Serve Link Home Care. After 10 years in that position Deanna was ready to retire.

However, her retirement didn’t go quite as planned due to a 2018 change in state regulations impacting Serve Link. Then administrator Jeff Crowley, knew that the service business was due to be audited in 2019 and asked Deanna if she would help them meet the new requirements. She accepted and is still working at Serve Link today as the quality assurance manager.

Deanna’s jobs for the state put her in a watchdog capacity taking on challenges to help oversee compliance requirements that helped keep seniors in northern Missouri protected.

“My goal was to be a trusted liaison between the patient, their families and the physicians, “Deanna said. “As a homecare nurse, there were situations where I was their point of contact for medical care in isolated rural areas. I basically tried to provide essential healthcare, advocacy and leadership where it was needed.”

Family

While Deanna was caring for people in the community and northern Missouri, she and Lynn were raising their family. The pair have three grown daughters, Melissa King, Rachel McCarter, and Sara Ohlberg. Melissa and Rachel work in Trenton, and Sara works in Hamilton, MO.

Deanna and Lynn have five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Her children have guided some of her work in the community. Deanna serves on the Gifted Group, an advocacy group helping disabled individuals learn life skills. She and her husband, with the assistance of other individuals, helped start the Families and Friends of the Developmentally Disabled in Grundy County organization. This group’s mission is to meet the service and support needs of Grundy County citizens with developmental disabilities in a cost-effective manner.

Volunteer Work and Hobbies

Deanna serves on a number of boards in Trenton including the Citizens and Community Board at Sunnyview Nursing Facility and the Friendship Apartments.

She enjoys working at the Community Food Pantry of Grundy County once a week and the Church Women United Thrift Store.

She is a member of the Hodge Presbyterian Church. She is active in her church including having sung in the church choir, serving as a Sunday school teacher, a deacon and an elder. Deanna says, “I love my church and have been in service to it for a long time.”

She sings in the Grand River Choir, a multi-county chorus group. The group performs twice a year at the Trenton Performing Arts Center. She is also an active member of the AD PEO chapter.

Deanna wants Trentonians to know that home is where you make it. “Try to get involved in your town by giving more of yourself then you expect to receive,” she said.

Trenton

Deanna said she and Lynn stayed in Trenton mostly because of their children. Their daughter Rachel had special needs that required specific programming and she was able to find that in town.

“The school system is one of the biggest reasons we stayed in Trenton,” she explained.

She said she has lived by her dad’s teachings to keep smiling. “I taught my children to treat others the way you want to be treated and to greet them with a smile.”

The way Deanna has met life’s challenges has made her the person she is today, serving family, community and friends.

“My life has been fulfilling,” she said. “I have been blessed.”