Residents’
Review
J u ly 2 0 1 9
V o lum e 3 2 , Iss u e 7
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!
John Preletz
Resident of the Month
John Preletz was born April 20, 1949, in Detroit, Michigan, to
Vit and Helen Preletz. Vit was in the military and later had a fifty
year career with Chrysler. Vit met John’s mother while serving in
the military by bringing her buckets of hot rivets as she worked on
airplanes. She was considered a “Rosie the Riveter.” John is the
second oldest to one brother and three sisters. One of his sisters
has since passed away.
John attended high school in East Detroit, Michigan, at Denby
High School. His love for cars began while attending school. A
neighbor threw a big box of model cars in the trash. After digging
the box out of the trash, he began detailing the cars with custom
paint jobs, cutting the doors loose from the body to make them
operable and constructing details that were shown in his hot rod
car magazines that would only be found on a real car. This hobby
won him twenty two trophies. His love for cars continued through-
out the years and evolved into a much bigger hobby of customiz-
ing real hot rod cars. He had three Chevy Nova's, two Chazelles, a
Pontiac GTO, and a 1960 box Nova.
John has always considered himself a jack of all trades. He spent time being a carpenter, plumber,
electrician, welder, punch and press operator and a painter. He also spent time working in the restau-
rant business and on a shrimp boat. He recalls a very memorable night of fishing in Key West, Florida
on a shrimp boat. The captain and crew realized they had something of great size caught in their net
and had to call another boat for help. His captain asked him to get an ax to cut the slipknot so the net
would open up. When it opened, the captain went overboard and it slid John to the side and almost
knocked him over. It was an enormous stingray who was wider than the width of the boat. They cut
the tail off and ended up selling it for a thousand dollars. The stingray was a record catch.
After three years of working on a shrimp boat, John had saved enough money to purchase a brand
new 1970 Econoline Chevy van. This marked the beginning of his love for traveling. His broad
knowledge of work trades was able to take him all over the United States. He would spend six months
at a time working contractor jobs with his company in various states including Oregon, Mississippi,
Georgia and Florida. He ended up living in fifteen states over twenty two years.
John’s life took a dramatic turn roughly six years ago while living in Daytona, Florida. He devel-
oped diabetic peripheral neuropathy which caused him lots of pain in his feet and legs. He lost his
license and had his van taken away from him because he was considered no longer safe to drive due to
his condition. He became homeless. Last year, John and a lady friend went to a Greyhound bus station
to head to Lake City, Georgia. The bus had left at 5 p.m. and they arrived at 5:30 p.m. They were the
only ones around the bus station until a black Chevy Blazer pulled up and the people in it held them at
gunpoint. They took his wallet, all his cash, his backpack, her purse, two suitcases, traveler’s checks,
and identification. The only thing John and his friend still had were their bus tickets, so they took the
bus to Lake City, Georgia. John stayed in a family shelter for 90 days in Lake City and then began
hitchhiking to Springfield, Missouri. He made it to the intersection of I-44 and Kansas Expressway on
a 95 degree day last year and was found passed out by a policeman on the interstate. He was taken to
the hospital and shortly after in September of 2018 he became a part of our CMHCF family.
He says his favorite thing about living here is the staff. He said everyone is down to earth and he
receives great care. He reminds everyone to travel all you can before you become too old to travel.
Congratulations, John, on being chosen as CMHCF’s Resident of the Month!