By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Denise Niese spent decades fighting for the oldest among us.
Whether in a kitchen hair net or a construction hardhat, Niese with her small stature and sweet smile was not to be underestimated.
Her tenacity built a senior center unrivaled in the region. Her persistence expanded the delivery of nutritious meals, and assistance with home repairs that allowed countless local seniors to remain in their homes.
As executive director of the Wood County Committee on Aging, Niese was equally adept at creating trusted relationships with elderly citizens and with powerful political leaders.
On Friday, after nearly a year of fighting the complications of Covid and a pre-existing health condition, Niese died.
She leaves behind a huge hole – but a legacy that will continue to serve seniors for years to come.
An old soul
Niese always gravitated toward “mature” people.
She grew up with older parents, and had close relationships with her grandmas. As a member of Rainbow Girls, she spent time with seniors. Then in college, she continued to build on that appreciation of older adults.
“I’ve always been comfortable around seniors,” Niese said back in 2021.
Old age is not the equivalent of being obsolete, she said. That attitude led to her career in gerontology. She dedicated her professional life to improving the lives of older adults and giving them opportunities to stay healthy and thrive.
“I always enjoyed the population,” Niese said. “This is back when people didn’t know how to spell gerontology – let alone have degrees in it.”
As the needs of seniors changed, Niese focused on meeting those challenges. The population was growing, and the changes in health insurance often sent seniors home from the hospital when they still had significant needs.
For 17 years, Jim Stainbrook, project liaison at the senior center, worked in the office next to Niese’s – in both the old and new facilities.
“This is a major loss,” he said. “Denise was really the heart of the senior center.”
Stainbrook witnessed Niese’s management style for years.
“She always had an open door to seniors,” he said. “She would wave them in, even if she was on the phone.”
Older residents would come to Niese for advice on everything from getting a doctor’s appointment to housing repair needs.
“Some just wanted someone to listen,” and they found that person in Niese, Stainbrook said.
High standards
Niese set high standards for herself and those around her – resulting in state funding, levy victories, and respect from national and state organizations.
During the opening ceremony for the new senior center in 2021, former State Senator Randy Gardner explained how the project secured state funding.
“We don’t support capital projects unless you have faith in the organization, you trust the leader, you trust the board,” Gardner said, giving a nod to Niese.
Former Wood County Committee on Aging Board President Paul Herringshaw recalled Niese working hard to get state accreditation, despite the state agency ending its accreditation process.
“Denise said, ‘We have to be held accountable to something,’” Herringshaw said. “I admired her for that.”
And Wood County voters seemed to recognize the efforts put forth to serve local seniors, passing the last WCCOA levy in 2021 by 74%.
Niese’s efforts also garnered national recognition and earned her a National Council on Aging 2021 Trailblazer in Aging Award for working toward a just and caring society for seniors.
“We want to honor your dedication and leadership to older adults in Ohio and to the field of senior centers nationally,” a letter from the National Council on Aging stated.
In 2018, Niese was honored by the Ohio Association of Senior Citizens. “We would like to honor you for all you have done to protect Ohio’s most vulnerable persons, including our senior citizens,” the organization wrote to Niese.
New building
Niese’s persistence paid off big time in the spring of 2021, when the new Wood County Senior Center opened at 140 S. Grove St., Bowling Green.
No more hand-me-down digs for Wood County’s senior citizens.
The new 38,000 square foot building is more than twice the size of the former senior center, which was built as a post office more than a century ago, and had been cobbled together to try to meet the needs of local seniors.
“If she put her mind to something – like the need for a new senior center – she was a force to be reckoned with,” said Jason Miller, human resources manager at the senior center.
The new site has more space for yoga classes, pool games, matinee movies, art classes and bingo.
“I just want a comfortable space where the people can sit and enjoy,” Niese said as she walked around the nearly completed facility in March of 2021.
The large dining room can serve 217 at a time, nearly double of the old facility. The building boasts five sizable activity rooms. There is a fitness room with space for 20 yoga mats, and a pool room, which Niese preferred to call the billiards room, lest someone think they splurged on a swimming pool.
There is an art room, with windows facing the south since the artists requested better natural light. And there is a “comfort room,” with a wall full of movie selections and a popcorn maker.
“This is second to none in the state,” in terms of services and the facility, said Dr. Tom Milbrodt, current president of the WCCOA Board. “Mostly due to Denise.”
Leading by example
Niese was equally at home lobbying elected officials for support as donning a hairnet to serve up lunch. Some days when staffing was really short, she could be found trucking meals around to seniors’ homes.
“She had the philosophy that we cross train for every position,” Miller said. “For her, it was second nature.”
But she was always a leader, even when taking a dishwashing shift at the senior center.
“Through all the growth of the agency, she’s been the driving force,” Milbrodt said. “She had a talent for communicating with lots of different people and getting support.”
“She was a wonderful advocate for the elderly,” Herringshaw said. “She had compassion, yet she knew how to say ‘no’ with compassion.”
“She leaves a huge hole,” Miller said. “She was committed to making sure those without a voice had someone speaking for them.”
Champion for seniors
Niese was able to tiptoe around political issues for the sake of seniors.
However, she had her limits. In 2017, when President Donald Trump’s administration questioned the value of federally funded community programs, Niese could no longer hold her tongue.
When Trump’s budget director said cuts to Meals on Wheels were justified because the program was “just not showing any results,” the comments pushed Niese past her normally polite poise.
“I heard that last night and I was appalled,” she said, noting the home-delivered meal program is vital to local residents, serving 132,000 meals that year.
The proof is in the pudding – and all the other menu items.
“We do know that people with home-delivered meals can maintain themselves in their homes at a much lower cost than going into long-term care,” she said.
“It is cost effective,” Niese said. “There are people who have been able to stay in their homes for five, 10 or 15 years,” thanks to the home-delivered meals.
Sense of bigger community
Niese advocated for seniors far beyond the walls of the senior center.
She volunteered to serve on boards at Wood Haven Health Care and the community health center at the Wood County Health Department.
“Her presence really lent some credibility to the whole board,” said Frank McLaughlin, former president of the Board of Health.
“She recognized that care for her target group is a network – it’s a community,” McLaughlin said. “She freely volunteered her time for other agencies and efforts that might be accessed by seniors.”
Niese was also a stalwart member of the BG Kiwanis Club, letting that organization and other non-profits use meeting space at the senior center.
“Anything she could do for us, she did it,” said Cindy Hofner, president of the Kiwanis Club and a volunteer at the senior center.
“She was a good friend to me,” Hofner said. “Denise was a great listener. She gave advice when asked – not always what you wanted to hear – but good advice.”
Niese also volunteered for the Wood County Guardianship Program, to help adults who are unable to look out for themselves. When interviewed about the program in 2016, Niese was serving as guardian for a 47-year-old consumer of Wood County Board of Developmental Disabilities services, and two people in their 90s residing in nursing facilities.
“Society has changed,” Niese said back in 2016. “Families aren’t necessarily living close to their elders or people unable to make decisions.”
The work is rewarding, even when working with nursing facility residents who aren’t able to communicate much, she said. “On the days you can communicate, you celebrate that,” Niese said. “You make sure they are comfortable and well cared for.”
Memory care
Niese could be patient – up to a point. But after waiting more than two years for state funding for the adult day program to serve people with memory problems, she was frustrated.
The new Wood County Senior Center in Bowling Green was built with an area designed to provide day care for older adults. But more than two years later, the room was still empty. That did not sit well with Niese.
“It’s something our constituents have been waiting for since we’ve had this building,” Niese said.
The site finally opened a few months ago – providing a service desperately needed by many – a safe place for people with memory issues to spend their days, and help for families trying to keep them at home.
“This will allow caregivers to have a break – for respite or for work,” Niese said.
“We’ve been ready.”
But one goal for the senior center not yet completed is the renovation of the basement to allow for a woodworking area for seniors and local veterans.
“Her dream was to get the basement done,” Hofner said.
Stainbrook said Niese’s efforts secured funding for the basement renovations, with architectural plans underway.
Covid
After years of working to keep local seniors safe from Covid, Niese contracted the disease last year.
Last December, Covid robbed Niese of 25 pounds of muscle, her ability to breathe on her own, and at one point, the strength to even lift her head. It left her with the unfamiliar directive to be patient with herself. She was accustomed to arriving at work early, staying late, and juggling multiple issues at once.
But during her initial 20 days of hospitalization – five of those days on a ventilator – her customary stamina and spark were dimmed. Niese stressed that her condition was only temporary. She focused on pushing Covid prevention and continuing her work for seniors.
“I was a week shy of getting my booster,” Niese said. “Don’t let down your guard. Stay current with your boosters.”
Though Covid and complications with a pre–existing health condition sapped her physical strength over the past year, Niese continued working as much as she was able. Sometimes, that meant overseeing a board meeting remotely from her hospital bed.
“She kept right at the job,” Milbrodt said.
Until she could no longer.
Where to go from here
A meeting of the WCCOA board’s executive committee will be held on Monday to begin discussions of where the agency goes from here. A search will be conducted for a replacement, Milbrodt said. “That’s going to be a really difficult task.”
“We will 100% stay committed to her vision for the agency,” Miller said.
Milbrodt agreed. “We’re going to carry on the way she would want us to. I’m going to do all I can to facilitate that. She would want us to move forward.”
