Brown leads by example, maintains passion for seniors

Senior Services Director George Brown will be retiring at the end of the year.
George Brown has spent the past 20 years serving Clermont County’s older adults as the Clermont Senior Services Executive Director and at the end of 2011 he will turn the agency over to new leadership.

Brown took over for one of Senior Services founding members, Lois Brown Dale, who had served as Executive Director since the agency’s inception in Oct. 1969.

Senior Services Board Chair Tom Rocklin said Brown’s passion and leadership have shaped the agency and brought it to where it is today.

“George is very tuned to issues in the aging population and he is sincerely devoted to finding ways to support seniors and help them stay in their own home, in familiar surroundings,” Rocklin said. “There is a social understanding that that need exists and he has a very keen passion for filling that need cost effectively.”

Coupled with his passion and leadership is Brown’s humble willingness to serve. Rocklin said the Clermont Senior Services’ motto, ‘service with heart,’ describes not only the agency, but it’s Executive Director as well.

“That’s not just words, that is George,” Rocklin said. “He exemplifies servant leadership. When you have a person that demonstrates a willingness to serve the needs of the organization, naturally you have people that will follow him.”

Since Brown began his work with seniors 40 years ago he has never been afraid to step in and help any way he can.

“I don’t think there is any task at Senior Services that he wouldn’t do and hasn’t already done,” Rocklin said.

A career dedicated to serving his elders began for Brown when he became a community organizer in Over the Rhine in 1973.

Brown said it was while working on the streets of Cincinnati’s historic neighborhood that his interest in the field of aging was sparked. He entered Miami University in 1977 and earned his Masters degree in gerontology in 1978. With his new knowledge he worked for a series of agencies in Indiana before becoming the Director of the Indiana Council on Aging under then Democratic Governor Evan Bayh. Brown supported the Governor’s plans to restructure administration within the Council on Aging and other state office, and it was during this restructuring that Brown was replaced two years later by a man with 10 years experience in the office. The change allowed him to take a job in Clermont County that would be his for the next 20 years.

“We were very happy to return to the Cincinnati area,” Brown said.

Senior Services has witnessed tremendous growth over the last 20 years, but Brown is the last man to take credit for that growth.

“I hesitate to talk about accomplishment,” Brown said. “I have had the good fortune of being the team leader for a group of staff, volunteers. I’m just one of those employees and all of us as a team are touching peoples’ hearts and making a difference in peoples’ lives everyday.”

In 1991 Senior Services’ budget was about $2 million. Brown said he led about 60 employees, nine of whom provided home care services, others worked to serve 200 meals on wheels a day. About 80 percent of the transportation provided by the agency was for trips to senior centers and other recreational activities.

Today Senior Services’ budget has grown to $8 million to fund 180 employees, including 60 contracted employees that now provide home care. The number of meals on wheels provided each day has doubled, and Brown said transportation use has reversed, meaning 85 to 90 percent of all destinations are adult day care centers or for medical services.

Despite the many changes over the years, Brown said some things never change.

“What has remained the same is the dedication of our staff, volunteers, and employees,” Brown said. “Many employees that were here when I started are still here, and many volunteers have been here just about as long. Senior Services’ commitment to serving the aging population has been the one constant for the last 40 years, and certainly the last 20.”

Rocklin said Brown has always discerned where the needs of Clermont County’s senior population lie, and he has been the driving force behind the development of Senior Services’ seven senior housing facilities. The senior housing facilities are not something the agency is required to provide, but Rocklin said Brown saw the need and he made it happen.

“He has done a remarkable job getting those pushed along,” Rocklin said. “He has gone above and beyond what a CEO is expected to do.”

Providing assisted living for seniors in their own neighborhoods through the senior housing facilities is something Brown said he was thrilled to accomplish, though he hesitated to call it an accomplishment.

“On a personal level of enjoyment the senior housing project was an especially rewarding part of my experience at Senior Services,” Brown said. “I’m very glad I will still be involved in 2012 to oversee completion of the Dimmitt Woods project.”

The Dimmitt Woods Senior Housing Facility will break ground this year in late spring and Brown will continue to oversee the project on a contract basis after he has turned leadership of Senior Services over to current Associate Director and Chief Operating Officer Cindy Gramke. Gramke spent 16 years with Senior Services under the leadership of Brown Dale and Brown before taking a position with Clermont 20/20. She was rehired by Senior Services two years ago to allow her to re-familiarize herself with the agency before taking on the role of Executive Director next year.

“From a board perspective George’s succession planning has been outstanding,” Rocklin said.

After working along side Gramke for the last two years Brown said he knows he will be leaving Senior Services in good hands.

“I want to emphasize that I feel really good about where we are in the transition of leadership,” Brown said. “You want to know that you’re leaving the house in good order and I have great confidence in Cindy.”

Once Brown has fully stepped down from a leadership role with Clermont Senior Services, he plans to hike and camp through America’s national parks and spend more time with his two children and four grandchildren in the Cincinnati area. His taste for adventure and thoughts on retirement are something he has detailed in his weekly column found on page A4 of today’s edition of The Clermont Sun. His column will likely be enriched with tales of his adventures and the activities at Senior Services for years to come.

Brown said he will likely continue to serve the community, though as of now he does not know in what capacity. He said he will miss the many friends he will now see less frequently.

“The thing I will miss the most is the day to day friendships with fellow employees and colleagues in the community who work for the benefit of, not only our agency, but the good of the community,” Brown said.