Darlene Gottschalk

By KIM NANCE
Business Development Manager, Kosciusko Home Care and Hospice

Darlene Gottschalk moved to Warsaw after retiring as a hospice nurse in South Bend. She wanted to be closer to her son and his family. Her grandmother skills were much needed as her son and daughter in-law expanded their family to six children. She also has a daughter with four grown grandchildren in Ohio. Even though she is a busy grandmother, she still finds time to volunteer and work as a part-time caregiver when needed.

When Gottschalk moved to Warsaw she worked at Grace Village for a short time and continues to volunteer there regularly. She also helps to provide childcare for English as a second language parents at her church.

As a young nurse Gottschalk was hired to work at a large hospital. She remembers telling an older nurse at the time that she loved nursing so much she would do it without pay, and now she does. After 30 years, she made a major job change from a large hospital to hospice nurse after her husband’s death. She believes her personal experience of loss made her very compassionate and understanding of hospice patients and their families. She also recognized the importance and how much she appreciated the Hospice volunteers when she was a nurse.

As a volunteer, Gottschalk now visits with hospice patients every week. She shared that she like all the other volunteers are proud to work with hospice staff to walk beside the patient and their families. “We help them communicate their wishes with their families and help them focus on making their quality of life the best that it can be” Gottschalk stated.