story and photo by Traci Chapman, Staff Writer

Jillene Sroczynski’s life and career have always been one of service, something perhaps best illustrated by her dedication and skill as a nurse at Oklahoma City Veteran’s Administration Health Care System. It is dedication recognized far beyond her supervisors and peers, as the American Legion recently named Sroczynski 2017 National VA Health Care Provider Award.
It was something particularly special to Sroczynski, she said, because she knows what the veterans she treats face – as a former U.S. Air Force pilot, she’s been there.
“It’s especially important to me to remember where I’ve been and what my experiences were in the Air Force and how everyone we treat has been in the same position – many much more with intense, painful and emotionally challenging memories and issues,” Sroczynski said. “It means the world that I can be there for them and help them through what they’re facing.”
A member of Mustang American Legion Post 353, Sroczynski always knew about military life – her father, John Knutson, served in the Vietnam War; he was the one who encouraged her to join the local American Legion post. Her father, in fact, is on her mind most frequently because many of the veterans she treats each day also served in Vietnam, she said.
“Those veterans were different because of the climate in the country when they came home and really for a long time after,” Sroczynski said. “I want to make sure I always give them the respect they deserve, try to be there to support them and show them the gratitude for their service.”
It was, in fact, a Vietnam veteran who put the wheels in motion for Sroczynski’s national honor. Post 353 Commander Paul Ray approached the VA nurse and told her he wanted to throw her name in the hat – something she thought would just end there.
“There are so many accomplished and amazing people working throughout the country for the Veteran’s Administration – I just never expected it to go any further,” Sroczynski said. “When Paul told me about it, I just didn’t think it was for real for the longest time.”
It was indeed real, as last week Department of Oklahoma Commander John Bloxom traveled to Post 353’s monthly meeting to jointly with Ray present Sroczynski with a legislative proclamation signed by Rep. Leslie Osborn (R-Mustang) and Sen. Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle). Sroczynski and Bloxom will in February travel to Washington, D.C., where she will receive the national award.
The honors were a big deal for a little girl who grew up in Montana, graduating in 1992 from Montana State University with a computer science degree. During college, Sroczynski took part in ROTC; after graduation, she went into the U.S. Air Force, where she flew KC-135 Stratotankers.
“It was the best thing, I absolutely loved every single minute of it,” she said.
But, things changed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Sroczynski’s husband, Andrew, served in the Air National Guard, and the couple knew things would change – the country was headed to war.
“We knew it was time for me to get out, that it was just smart with a small child,” Sroczynski said. “So, my life really changed as I decided to stay home as our family grew.”
The couple would have three children – Megan, Gunnar and Julia – and Sroczynski spent the next decade as a stay-at-home mom. When her youngest daughter, Julia, began preschool, Sroczynski decided it was time to go back to work.
Her new career would be nursing, she decided.
It was not necessarily a completely new thought. In the years since Sroczynski retired from the Air Force, the family experienced a tragedy, and it was a nurse who helped her at one of the lowest times of her life, she said.
“This nurse was the kindest, the most understanding person, and the person that I needed at that time,” Sroczynski said. “I knew that I wanted to work again, and I missed the camaraderie of the military – and I saw that was something very strong in the nursing field, so I knew where I was meant to be.”
Sroczynski knew the first step was education. She enrolled in Oklahoma City Community College’s nursing school, before completing her training at Oklahoma City University’s Kramer School of Nursing. Both were experiences she said she would always cherish.
“I loved both OCCC and Kramer, and particularly as I moved through the program at Kramer, they really taught not just the technical aspects of nursing, but also the caring part of nursing,” Sroczynski said. “I loved that.” With her degree in hand, Sroczynski was as certain about where she wanted to be a nurse as she had been that nursing was what she was meant to do. She applied to Oklahoma City’s VA Medical Center – and waited.
“I tried for three or four months to get a job at the VA Center, and I was starting to worry that I might have to go somewhere else first and then come back and apply again at the VA, when I was so lucky – there was an opening,” Sroczynski said. “They needed someone in the intensive care unit, and I was basically offered the job right then.”
From the start, Sroczynski knew her instincts were correct. While the ICU was amazingly busy, the pace fast and at times beyond stressful, Sroczynski said she loved her job – and the people, both patients and the co-workers who worked side-by-side to help veterans when they needed that help the most. “They are amazing people, the staff that works there,” she said. “It’s kind of a calling to work at the VA Center, it’s certainly not easy, but it’s so, so fulfilling.”
Sroczynski worked in the ICU, one of three intensive care units in the sprawling Oklahoma Center Veteran’s Center facility, for about three years. She then moved to the intervention radiology department – and found she could love her job even more, beyond anything she’d ever dreamed possible.
“The other staff members, the patients, just working at the VA Center – it’s a fun job, a fulfilling job, and I wouldn’t change any of it,” Sroczynski said.
“I loved what I did before changing over to this department, but this is so, so far beyond that.”
Sroczynski is one of three nurses who, along with two doctors and three radiology technicians, comprise the intervention radiology department. It’s a job with long hours and more than it’s share of challenges, but something she said she would never change.
“Being a nurse is harder than flying airplanes – emotionally, physically, it’s a coordinated chaos when you’re trying to save somebody,” Sroczynski said. “It’s more than I expected it to be, but it’s so rewarding.
“To be given an award for doing what I love, where I love to do it, is beyond anything I could have believed,” she said.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? Grand Tapestry at Quail Springs

Well, I think dad said do what you want to do but do it to the best you possibly can.

Albert Woods

Do your best and try your hardest.

Nancy Woods

To live your life for the Lord and I try daily. There’s a heaven and hell and I sure don’t want to go to hell.

Bonnie Graves

Be an example to other people because you never know who’s watching.

Loretta Hecker

by Bobby Anderson, staff writer

Valir Hospice has been honoring America’s veterans for more than a decade now.
But Vice President of Hospice Care Laura Trammell, M.Ed, LPC wanted to make sure Valir’s Veteran’s program was the best it could possibly be so she sought out retired Major Traceee Rose, APRN, to make it happen.
Valir Hospice Care is a family of dedicated professionals who care for terminally ill patients, providing them and their families with physical, psychological, social and spiritual support. Using individualized pain – and symptom-management plans, Valir works to enhance the patient’s quality of life.
With a significantly large veteran population, Valir Hospice serves scores of military families each year.
“One of my goals is for her to continue to educate our team that works day-to-day with our veterans and share her knowledge and speak that speak that she knows how to do and educate our team,” Trammell said of Rose. “I think she’s going to be the bridge that we’ve definitely needed in order to have the best program out there.”
The critical care nurse brings her 27 years of Army experience with her to her new role as director of clinical operations.
“I hope to bring enthusiasm. I love veterans because I am a veteran and my dad is a veteran,” Rose said. “I love hearing the stories, being able to talk with them and share their commonalities and being able to speak their language.”
That language is one of shared strife and successes, of losses and victories and of bonds forged.
For many veterans, that language is often lost forever.
But both Trammell and Rose have seen first-hand rekindling that fire at the right moment can bring peace to not only patients but their families.
“A lot of people say they have veteran’s programs but what does that really mean,” Trammell said. “We’re extremely dedicated and we’re extremely proud of it. My father served in Korea and he never spoke about what happened to him.”
“Like Traceee says there are stories out there all the time. I knew we had to do something. I would want my dad honored like this. It’s amazing what our military has done for us.”
Rose retired from the Army in September 2017. The Nurse Corps officer spent nearly three decades serving her country and finished her career in Hawaii.
She wanted to continue to make a difference.
“I had been in large medical facilities my entire nursing career,” Rose said, noting her last hospital had 425 beds with 5,000 employees. “I wanted to find something, somewhere smaller – not necessarily hospital-based where I could feel my ripple effect. Sometimes we get lost in a big pond and you’re just a cog in a wheel.”
Trammell interviewed Rose and quickly realized she needed to put her behind the wheel of Valir’s veterans services.
Even though the armed forces provides palliative care in a different setting, the trauma and intensive care nurse quickly fell in love with the new position.
“All veterans have a story. Every veteran has a story and sometimes they’re just not ready to talk about it or they don’t think it’s relevant right now,” Rose said. “They feel they just did their job and then got out.” In the future Rose would like to partner with more veteran’s organizations to work with in outreach projects.
“The closeness and camaraderie, it just felt comfortable. I knew I wanted to work there,” Rose said. “Just being able to hold a hand and reassure a family, that’s the rewarding piece of all of it.”
It’s no coincidence that Rose felt a pull that Valir was investing in veterans.
CEO Tom Tucker is a West Point graduate and owned a company that forged the Purple Hearts bestowed to those wounded or killed in service.
“It is a gift to the family and a lot of times it’s the part they need in the grief cycle to help them adjust to what’s going on,” Trammell said of honoring veterans before they pass.
“It can bring a lot of understanding,” Rose added. “A lot of it is understanding who your parent was because your parent lived a whole life before you came along.”
Those special ceremonies where families get to see their loved ones honored often provide a glimpse into a world they never experienced.
“We’ve been able to see – even patients with significant dementia – they recognize when they’re being honored,” Trammell said. “It’s been very special for the families to see a little bit of their loved one come back toward the end of life.”
And to honor them as the hero they are.

As part of Oklahoma’s Healthy Aging: Living Longer Better collaborative, a falls prevention work group was established to develop a state strategic plan to prevent falls among Oklahomans 65 years and older. The state plan, Preventing Falls Among Older Adults in Oklahoma, has now been finalized. Participants worked extensively to develop state and community action steps that achieve the goal of reducing the number of nursing home residents falling with major injury and reducing intentional fall-related deaths among persons 65 years and older in Oklahoma.
Commitments to action in the state plan are organized by four focus areas, which include:
Tracking and Monitoring
Policies and Procedures
Public Education
Provider/Prescriber Education
As a result of these commitments to action by partners of the Healthy Aging Collaborative, a fall prevention web portal has been created to centralize available resources. New and existing resources are available for both the community and providers to prevent falls, what to do after a fall, and how to talk about it. Many private partners and state agency representatives continue to work together to help Oklahomans live and age well. State Ombudsman William “Bill” Whited led the small task force responsible for the web portal.
“Collaborators from across practice settings met four times in 19 months,” said Whited. “In that short time they created a strategy with actionable items to help our older adult population in Oklahoma prevent falls. Together, we have been able to do more than draft a report that sits up on a shelf.”
The Healthy Aging Collaborative recognizes that the consequences of a fall can be devastating, resulting in serious injury or death, in addition to high medical costs. Successful implementation of the state plan will have a positive impact on the health and safety of older adults, and give them the ability to age in the community environment of their choice.
“The fall prevention work group of the Healthy Aging Collaborative continues to work hard to complete the action items presented in the state plan to prevent falls among older adults in Oklahoma,” said Whited.
To receive more information on the state plan, Preventing Falls Among Older Adults in Oklahoma, and the Healthy Aging: Living Longer Better initiative, visit healthyaging.health.ok.gov or call (405) 271-5288.
To learn more about how to prevent falls, contact the Injury Prevention Service at (405) 271-3430 or visit falls.health.ok.gov.

Date/ Day/ Location/ Time/ Registration #/ Instructor

Feb 1/ Thursday/ Okla. City/ 9 am – 3:30 pm/ 951-2277/ Varacchi
Integris 3rd Age Life Center – 5100 N. Brookline, Suite 100
Feb 6/ Tuesday/ Norman/ 9 am – 3:30 pm/ 307-3177/ Palinsky
Norman Regional Hospital – 901 N. Porter Ave.
Feb 9/ Friday/ Okla. City/ 8:30 am – 3 pm/ 470-8963/ Kruck
Baptist Village – 9700 Mashburn Blvd.
Feb 9/ Friday/ Okla. City/ 9 am – 3:30 pm/ 951-2277/ Edwards
S.W. Medical Center – 4200 S. Douglas, Suite B-10
Feb 21/ Wednesday/ Warr Acres/ 8:30 am – 3 pm/ 789-9892/ Kruck
Warr Acres Community Center – 4301 N. Ann Arbor Ave. Shawnee Senior Center – 401 S. Bell St.
Mar 1/ Thursday/ Okla. City/ 9 am – 3:30 pm/ 951-2277/ Varacchi
Integris 3rd Age Life Center – 5100 N. Brookline, Suite 100
Mar 2/ Friday/ Okla. City/ 9 am – 3:30 pm/ 681-3266/ Hughey
Woodson Park Senior Center – 3401 S. May Ave.
Mar 6/ Tuesday/ Moore/ 9 am – 3:30 pm/ 307- 3177/ Palinsky
Norman Reg. Hosp Moore (Conference Cntr) – 700 S. Telephone Rd
Mar 9/ Friday/ Okla. City/ 9 am – 3:30 pm/ 951-2277/ Edwards
S.W. Medical Center – 4200 S. Douglas, Suite B-10

The prices for the classes are: $15 for AARP members and $20 for Non-AARP. Call John Palinsky, zone coordinator for the Oklahoma City area at 405-691-4091 or send mail to: johnpalinsky@sbcglobal.net

Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn t4z@aol.com

While enjoying travel destinations and entertainments, I find there are three levels of enjoyment. The first is the anticipation and planning. The second is the actual experience and the third is the reflection on the experience and many times enjoying it again in memory. In addition to travel this can apply to entertainment as well.
With entertainment, whether it’s movies, or sports or live theater, anticipation is a factor of enjoyment. This is also a most variable factor as with live theater, the ultimate presentation depends on many variables not evaluate until the live performance is underway or completed.
Reputation for quality is an important factor when choosing to put down your money for a ticket. One such reputation for high standards are the productions of the Painted Sky Opera company. (www.paintedskyopera.org) Following their artistic success of last years grand opera “Tosca,” the next promise of impeccable talent is with their upcoming production of “Souvenir.”
In place of a traditional musical presentation or opera, “Souvenir” is a two-person play written by Stephen Temperley in 2004 and focuses on the relationship between Jenkins and her long-suffering pianist, Cosme McMoon, who played for her from 1929 until her death in 1944. Like the 2016 biographical film “Florence Foster Jenkins” starring Meryl Streep as Jenkins, “Souvenir” details many important events for the unlikely singer-pianist duo, including their first meeting, their recordings, and their concert at Carnegie Hall.
“I love this show partly because it presents both sides of Florence, who was a truly unique figure in musical history. ‘Souvenir’ shows how ridiculously awful her singing was, but it never mocks her or becomes mean-spirited,” said stage director Rob Glaubitz. “Florence was a good person who genuinely thought that her singing was bringing joy to people. Of course, her singing was indeed bringing people joy, but not in the way she thought.”
Painted Sky Opera features OKC native Molly Cason Johnson as the comically terrible singer Florence Foster Jenkins in “Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins” at 8pm Feb 23-24 and Mar 2-3 and 2pm Feb 25 and Mar 4 at intimate CitySpace Theatre in Civic Center Music Hall. Based on real-life events, “Souvenir” depicts the unique story of Jenkins, who achieved fame in the 1940s for her tone-deaf recordings of operatic favorites as well as her sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall.
Johnson graduated from Oklahoma City University and performed and taught in Texas for many years before returning to Oklahoma City in 2013. She has performed locally with CityRep and Lyric Theatre among other companies.
“As a classically-trained singer, the chance to sing badly on purpose is a delicious and rare treat for me,” said Johnson. “I have loved the vocal prep. Our cats, however, are not so amused.”
“Souvenir” also features live performances of many of the songs that made Florence Foster Jenkins famous. Jenkins was regarded as the worst singer ever to perform at Carnegie Hall. She was infamously unaware that her concerts were popular only because her audiences loved to laugh at her inept and out-of-tune singing. Despite her lack of vocal ability, Florence was also a major supporter of the arts and a talented pianist who was passionate about the importance of music to all parts of society.
The part of Cosme McMoon is played by recent University of Central Oklahoma graduate Joey Harbert who also shows off his pianistic and vocal skills in this production. Both Johnson and Harbert are natives of Oklahoma City.
It will be as entertaining to take in the Oklahoma audience’s reaction to the play, whether to laugh at the off key singing or have empathy for Jenkins. It may be both, which is the excitement of seeing live theater and experiencing an unknown work.
“Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins” is the second show in Painted Sky Opera’s 2017-18 season. Tickets are $30 for adults, with discounts for students, military, and seniors available in-person at the box office. Purchase advance tickets online at the Civic Center website at http://www.okcciviccenter.com or by visiting or calling their box office at 405.297.2264.
Painted Sky Opera’s 2017-18 season concludes in May with Jake Heggie’s “Three Decembers”. For more information, go to www.paintedskyopera.org.

Mr. Terry Zinn – Travel Editor
Past President: International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association
http://realtraveladventures.com/author/zin

Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak has been named Chair of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Antifraud (D) Task Force. Doak was also named to the International Insurance Relations (G) Committee, Executive (EX) Committee and Property and Casualty Insurance (C) Committee.
“These appointments allow me to tackle critical issues affecting the insurance industry and consumers,” said Doak. “Keeping consumers safe from insurance fraud has been a top priority of mine from day one, so I appreciate the opportunity to find innovative ways to accomplish that goal. Collaboration is the key to success, and I look forward to working with my fellow commissioners across the country over the next year.”
The NAIC is the U.S. standard-setting and regulatory support organization created and governed by insurance regulators from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. Through the NAIC, state insurance regulators establish standards and best practices, conduct peer review and coordinate regulatory oversight.
Doak will serve as Chair of the NAIC Midwest Zone in 2018. The zone groups are part of the NAIC Executive Committee. They help carry out the authority and responsibilities of the NAIC’s goals. The Midwest Zone represents 13 states.
Doak has also been named the NAIC’s representative to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). As part of duties, Doak will attend meetings with international insurance regulators to discuss emerging insurance issues around the world.