Eight Over 80: Beverly Michael, a champion health care volunteer

At 91, Michael has contributed more than 6,000 volunteer hours to Cedar Falls MercyOne Hospital. That is 250 days. But the former Sartori Hospital is not the only place into which she’s poured her heart and soul. She’s donated her time to at least 16 separate organizations in the Cedar Valley.

“When reviewing the qualifications for Eight Over 80 recognition, no one comes to mind faster than Beverly Michael,” Rosemary Beach wrote in a nomination letter. “Bev has been and continues to be an outstanding example of service-minded citizenship. She has made a difference in the lives of thousands of Cedar Valley residents through her service to many organizations.”

Michael was thrown into the world of health care by happenstance. After graduating from Knoxville High School in Knoxville, southwest of Pella, her shorthand and typing skills impressed the Veterans Affairs clinic in town.

She ended up at the Iowa City VA Clinic, using her paycheck to put her husband through school while continuing her typing and human resources skills. Eventually, she started working for the purchasing department at John Deere in Ottumwa. She then transferred to the Waterloo plant, working in the computer center and benefits department until her retirement in 1993.

The rest and relaxation of retired life did not last long. She saw an ad in the newspaper asking for volunteers at Sartori.

“A lot of small towns had to go so far for health care. … I’ve met so many people who had to go so far, you know, for pregnancies, for just any kind of health care,” she said. “And here we are sitting in Cedar Falls with a great hospital and two good ones in Waterloo, so I felt very fortunate there. So that’s where I devoted a lot of my time.”

Ironically, her best friend from high school asked her to go into nursing school with her after graduation. Michael said she knew nurses did rotations in many departments, and she could not bear to see someone cut open.

That fear was solidified when her daughter came home from roller skating with a wound and a blood clot.

“I fainted and I fell flat on the floor. I would not have made a good nurse,” she said with a laugh. “But I’m very passionate about health care. … I guess I was always interested in health, how to live a healthy life. And I guess I’ve done pretty well at 91.”

At Sartori she was on the volunteer board for 25 years – three of those as president and two as vice president. She also was the editor of the hospital’s newsletter.

She has co-chaired the Festival of Trees, a fundraiser that puts on a display of Christmas trees to celebrate the holiday season. She also ran annual breakfasts and hosted themed blood drives.

Outside of the hospital, she has served on the Cedar Falls Health Trust Board, the Hospital Community Advisory Board and the Iowa Hospital Association Volunteer Board.

But many of her favorite volunteer memories involve children. She helped showcase the hospital and future careers for children at Hansen Elementary School, set up a trick-or-treat event in the hospital’s basement, led carolers throughout the building and organized picnics for sixth grade graduates.

She regularly meets with her second grade pen pal from St. Patrick Catholic School.

After moving to the Western Home Communities about a decade ago, she has sat on the volunteer council and development council and is currently an ambassador at Jorgensen Plaza – the community’s recreation center.

She joked that she volunteers so she’ll miss the robocalls from people hounding her about insurance and car warranties, but the real reason is much more empathetic.

“We’re put on this earth to help each other,” she said. “So I felt like, you know, volunteering is helping other people in one way or another.”

Volunteering opportunities have diminished since the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, but she hopes to start up again soon. Now, her time is spent with her husband, Dick, three daughters, six grandchildren and one newborn great-great-granddaughter.