Residents’
Review
April 2019
Volume 32, Issue 4
Citizens Memorial Healthcare Facility is an affiliate of CMH, Bolivar, Mo., 417-326-6000
Facility Location: 1218 West Locust, Bolivar, MO 65613, 417-326-7648
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Resident of the Month 1
Activity Photos 2
Employee Spotlight 3
Announcements 4
Calendar of Events 5
Birthdays 6
New Residents 6
Discharges 6
Sympathy 6
Our Mission
Caring for every generation
through exceptional services by
leading physicians and a
compassionate healthcare team.
Our Vision
Be the first choice for customer
focused healthcare to every
generation.
Our Values
I am...
P ositive
R espectful
I nnovative
D edicated
E mpowered
Together, we are CMH PRIDE!
Irvin Priest
Resident of the Month
Irvin Priest was born Jan. 2, 1947, in St. Louis, Missouri to
Howard and Lorena Priest. Irvin is the middle child of his two
brothers. His older brother, Leon is six years older and brother Ron-
nie is ten years younger than Irvin. Their father was the senior pas-
tor at Tabernacle Baptist Church for over a decade. Irvin’s family
attended this church when he was young and when the pastor re-
tired, the church offered the position to Howard. He had pastored
other churches previously and gladly accepted this position. Lorena
was a homemaker and later worked in the restaurant business.
Irvin described himself as being very different from his brothers
while growing up. His brothers had different characteristics and
would fight to win arguments. He was the mild mannered brother
and would talk his way out of problems. Irvin graduated from Bour-
bon high school in Bourbon, Missouri. He then attended a southern
Baptist college in St. Louis for two years.
Shortly after graduating high school he married his high school
sweetheart Wanda. Unfortunately due to their young age their mar-
riage ended in divorce ten years later. The couple were blessed with two children, Christopher and
Phaedra. Approximately 30 years ago, Christopher and a friend decided to head to Illinois for a camp-
ing trip. His friend was driving, fell asleep at the wheel, and hit a concrete overpass wall which killed
both of them. Irvin was heartbroken. Thankfully he still has his beautiful daughter Phaedra. He is so
proud of her and she has been the one person in the family that has nurtured herself to goodness and
kept the family going. He is also very proud of his three grandchildren.
Irvin began his grocery store career after graduating high school and spent the next 4-5 years work-
ing as a meat cutter in a small grocery store in Bourbon. He then followed in his father’s footsteps
becoming a pastor for two different Baptist churches in the St. Louis area and one in Illinois. Several
years later he moved to Corpus Christi, Texas and worked for HEB grocery store for the next ten years
as their meat market manager.
One of the funniest pranks that he ever pulled was on his son Chris. “Chris loved shooting fire-
works. One year during 4 th of July, Chris made the trip to Corpus Christi to visit me. Chris was taking
a shower while singing away and I thought it would be funny to scare him by lighting some “small”
firecrackers in the bathroom. I found a metal coffee can, placed the firecrackers in the can, set them on
the shower ledge where he could not see them, lit the fuse, and ran out of the room,” said Irvin. Irvin
did not realize that the so called, “small” firecrackers were actually the ones that projected out when
lit. He could hear Chris scream in complete fear for his life. Chris thought a plane was crashing into
the house so he grabbed the shower curtain to cover up with and ran as fast as he could. Irvin said it
took him all afternoon to calm down.
The highlight of Irvin’s life was when he was saved at eight years old. He said there was nothing
that anyone could have said to him to change his mind. When the pastor asked him his important ques-
tions, he had the correct answers for every one of them. He felt that since he was saved at such a
young age, he was able to deal with things better and felt that certain situations were less hurtful to
him than if he would have been saved at an older age.
Irvin joined our CMHCF family in December 2017. He loves the atmosphere and playing Bingo at
the facility the most. “Everyone including the staff and residents are all a friend to me,” said Irvin.
Congratulations, Irvin, on being chosen as CMHCF’s April Resident of the Month. We are so glad
you are here!