Remembrances of a Friend, Pioneer and “Champion of Old People”
by Gene MitchellThe aging-services field is mourning the loss of Rev. Howard Washburn, one of the founders of LeadingAge and a pioneer in aging-services models, who died Feb. 21 at age 89.
In 1961, Washburn was one of the 99 leaders who came together at Arden House in upstate New York, a meeting that led to the creation of the American Association of Homes for the Aging (now LeadingAge).
Howard Washburn
Washburn lived on the Lebanon, OH campus of Otterbein Senior Lifestyle Choices, and for 26 years was a special advisor to the president and CEO of Otterbein.
Click here for a tribute to Washburn from LeadingAge President and CEO Larry Minnix. On that page you’ll also find links to two recent videos of Washburn: a conversation between Washburn and Minnix, and Washburn’s address at the LeadingAge 50th Anniversary Luncheon, during the LeadingAge Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, in October 2011.
Washburn appeared twice recently in LeadingAge magazine. See the article, “To the Future, Informed by the Past” on p. 32 of the May/June 2011 LeadingAge magazine for Washburn’s comments on LeadingAge’s history. He was also among the sources for a September/October 2009 article, “Needed Now: a Public Policy for Long-Term Care,” which was inspired by a 1976 article by Herbert Shore, another LeadingAge founder and a long-time colleague and friend of Washburn’s.
An obituary and tribute to Washburn appears on the Otterbein Senior Lifestyle Choices website.
LeadingAge talked to several of Washburn’s friends and colleagues about the impact of his work and the way he lived his life.
“We’ve lost a champion of old people in this country. Howard tried to promote the way their lives would be enriched. He adopted me as a mentee and one of his professional children. He was really a part of the vision of creating what is now LeadingAge. He had impact in a lot of other ways, including creating innovative HUD housing in New Jersey, and even at [University of] North Texas, he was one of the visionaries there, along with Herbert Shore and Dr. [Cora] Martin.
“His greatest love was the wisdom of aging, and how to create a milieu that encourages positive aging. He aged positively himself, dealt with [his] infirmities with grace, never complaining. There was always a tomorrow and a new day of opportunity for Howard.”
- Donald Gilmore, former CEO of Otterbein Homes, Lebanon, Ohio, and past LeadingAge chair.
“Howard was one of those very kind, thoughtful presences. Always, while making difficult decisions, he was a wise participant in the discussions, a caring person. He was always loyal to his organization, and always had a smile. He was not a dour person; he was upbeat all the time. Symbolic of that was at the [LeadingAge 50th] anniversary, where he gave that sage advice, ‘don’t fall.’”
- Msgr. Charles Fahey, professor emeritus of Fordham University’s Third Age Center for Gerontological Studies and program officer for the Milbank Memorial Fund. Involved with LeadingAge almost from its beginning, Fahey has been association chair and has served many other national organizations in the service of the aging.
“Howard and I went back a long way. When I got into the field, he and Herb [Shore] were established leaders and he was a mentor to a lot of us; he didn’t mind sharing his time and energies with us, and he became a close friend.
“He was one of the first people into the HUD housing projects. He developed a prototype in Dallas at the Methodist Home, and he and Herb, being in the same city, worked in tandem. I came in the field in 1966 and both were generous with their time, and gave me the benefit of introductions I never would have gotten otherwise.
“He worked with [Shore] to establish the program at North Texas. It enticed a number of us to become preceptors, when the field needed qualified leadership. It didn’t have a good image at the time and people weren’t interested in making a career out of it, but Howard was really special to a number of us guys who got into it. He was one of our fathers, and highly respected, and I’m glad to have known him. I’m a better person for having known him.”
- M. Joe Helms, former LeadingAge chair and Award of Honor winner, was very active in the association’s volunteer structure for many years.
“Howard and I date back to 1966. When he came to Otterbein, shortly after I became CEO there, he was a consultant with the Methodist Board of Hospitals and Homes. He came at my request to advise us on long-range planning. That started a long-term friendship. In 1985 he became administrator of Otterbein Lebanon, and was there from then on. It was hard to peg when his retirement [was], he was always involved somehow. We both had motor homes and traveled together.
“Howard never knew an enemy and if you met him at all you met a friend. He never lost track of the real purpose of what we were trying to do in serving older persons, helping people who could not afford to pay the bill, as well as others. He was a pioneer along with Herb Shore and some of the other important people with AAHA. We benefited from all that not only because I knew him but because he helped me find other people I could visit to learn about many things that became a part of Otterbein.
“His level of commitment to the field was absolute, and he was always encouraging to anyone in it. If you knew Howard you felt like he was your teacher.
“We also had a dominoes club; there were four couples who played and he always won. I suppose someone beat him now and then but Howard was always a great competitor. I kept a cumulative score month by month, and of course he had the best score.”
- Charles Dilgard, long-time CEO of Otterbein Homes, who retired in 1994. Dilgard gave the eulogy at Washburn’s funeral.
“We had a long career together. I always respected him and liked his laughter. He had a wealth of knowledge that was helpful to me and others in the leadership.”
- Judge Thomas Jenkins, an early board chair who guided the young association through growing pains in the 1960s.
“Howard was still working at Otterbein at the time of his death, at age 89. After I became CEO three years ago, he reached out to me. Knowing his reputation as a leader and a strategist, and his devotion to developing state-of-the-art programs, I thought our first meeting would be about strategy, what we should be doing in the future, etc. But he didn’t want to talk about that; he actually wanted to get to know me on a personal level. Wanted to know who I was, what was in my heart, what made me tick. I think what that did was allow us to create an enduring friendship. It was indicative of Howard and how he worked. He always wanted to get to know the individual, and in today’s busy world, that doesn’t always happen.”
- Jill Hreben, president and CEO of Otterbein Senior Lifestyle Choices.