Sam Rowley Named Lydia’s House Administrator

January 12th, 2023

Sam Rowley the Administrator of Lydia's House at Mennonite Village

Sam Rowley was introduced to senior services at an early age. At 17 Sam took a position as a dietary aid at a Senior facility in Salem.

“Having conversations, listening to the stories, and developing relationships with those older adults really opened my eyes to how much I enjoyed this field,” Sam said.

That experience served as a springboard to a journey that has led Sam to take the position of Administrator of Lydia’s House at Mennonite Village.

“I was introduced to the memory care portion of (the industry), and I fell in love with working with those residents especially,” Sam added. “Diving into their world and meeting them where they are in hopes of making their day brighter even for just a moment was so rewarding. Being that person who can make a positive impact on someone who is going through an awful disease is really what drew me to this passion.”

Sam comes to Mennonite Village after serving in several positions at Prestige at Orchard Heights and Capital Manor in Salem. A product of West Salem High School, Chemeketa Community College, and Western Oregon University, Sam is currently working on his master’s degree in Organizational Leadership and is scheduled to complete that work in June. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Gerontology.

During his career, Sam has extensive background coordinating life enrichment activities for residents, and most recently served as the memory care coordinator at Capital Manor.

Sam said he is excited to join the Mennonite Village family and looks forward to implementing a vision for Lydia’s House.

“My priorities coming into this position is to help foster the sense of family and teamwork between my team members. Additionally, I want to start looking at our processes and slow build on and improve them, so we provide better care for our residents. For example, I want to develop a wonderful activity program for our residents. This is just one aspect that I want to spend time on improving,” Sam said.