Sue Werth, Sales and Marketing Manager at Kingsway Retirement Living
Although they call me the “new kid on the block”, I am no stranger to Belle Plaine or The Lutheran Home Association (TLHA). My parents, Win & Barb Vatthauer, moved to Belle Plaine in 1961, fresh graduates of Dr. Martin Luther College in New Ulm, with assignments to teach at Trinity Lutheran School. My mom taught in the basement of the old church and my dad’s classroom was located in the basement of the old two-room school. And every member of my immediate family has worked for the Lutheran Home in the past, including myself, in a variety of roles. The most recent was my dad who drove the Kingsway Retirement Community activities bus.
I moved away from Belle Plaine in 1991 and I have returned to visit often over the years. I have always considered this community “home”. I spent the last thirty plus years in Colorado Springs, Colorado where I raised two daughters and worked in a wide variety of occupations. After 17 years in retail management with Starbucks Coffee my heart strings tugged on me to return home. I am so very excited to back!
While in Colorado I spent much of my free time hiking in the mountains and national forest areas.
Although Colorado has breathtaking beauty, Minnesota has tremendous beauty all its own, and I look
forward to discovering the lakes and trails all across the state. I also enjoy time with family, spoiling my
six grandchildren, and watching Christmas movies, no matter what time of year it is!
Belle Plaine has grown and changed, but the small town community feel still exists, and I am looking
forward to reconnecting and immersing myself back into everything about it.
I feel it is a great privilege to be returning the TLHA, and working with an incredible staff of people
whose passion comes alive everyday in serving those in our care, both physically and spiritually. Those
who call Kingsway home are a fantastic family to get to be around every day, and I am looking forward to
connecting with others as they search for quality of life in a retirement setting. I am thrilled to be able to
share what Kingsway has to offer.
Emotions run high when I recall the story of Sophie Boessling and what her vision was back in 1898. This
fall we are celebrating 125 years of ministry and I am humbled to be apart of the continuation of the
work she set out to do.