5 Questions with Renee Sturkie: Quality time with families best part of Ronald McDonald House work
You have been involved in the Ronald McDonald House on many levels over many years. How did you become the executive director?
The former executive director made a personal decision to step down but wanted to remain on staff with the house. She came to me in my role as treasurer of the Board of Directors to communicate her decision to step down to the board, which I did.
After a couple of months of working together with the executive committee to develop a recruitment plan for her replacement, the Executive Committee turned to me and asked me if I would consider being the new executive director. It took me about 12 seconds to say "Yes!" It just seemed like a natural fit and was an easy decision to make. I'm so pleased and honored that the board has placed this confidence in me and that I am able to serve the house full time.
What is the most rewarding part of being associated with the Ronald McDonald House?
Without question, the most rewarding moments are those spent with families here at the house. We share in the tense moments of a premature infant's struggle to strengthen as well as the joyful moments when the baby is ready to go home. We support adoptive parents who are welcoming a newborn to their family.
We strive to be that calming smile and listening ear that are an escape and a relief from the day's stresses of worry, fear, beeping machines, blinking monitors, and difficult decisions. We delight in knowing that we are able to help parents, grandparents, guardians, and siblings stay together near the child in the hospital's care, at a time when being together as a family is so important.
With all they have to think about, we make sure that families don't have to worry about a place to sleep, a warm and nutritious meal, a place to relax, a place to wash clothes. Just knowing that in some small way we helped ease the family's burden makes everything we do here worthwhile.
How have you seen Columbus change over the last two decades?
When we moved to Columbus from Atlanta in the early 1990's, there were not very many places to dine out, shop, or just "hang out." We virtually never ventured to the uptown area except for work. Columbus has so much to offer now for all of those things. While all of Columbus' development has been positive, we particularly love the way "uptown" Columbus has been revitalized with all of its wonderful restaurants and cafes, shops and attractions in and around the river. There is literally something for just about everyone to enjoy there now. It seems like a lot more young people are congregating there and enjoying the amenities that uptown has to offer, and that's been so fun to see.
How did your world change when you and your husband became empty-nesters?
Well for starters the house is a lot quieter and cleaner now -- but I wouldn't have traded those years of noise and activity and "stuff" for anything. Both of our kids were very busy with school, sports, church and other interests, so as a family we had a lot of activities to balance.
Instead of our schedules being planned around our kids' many activities we now spend more time doing some things we have always enjoyed but didn't always have time to do, like playing golf, working out (we have a fantastic personal trainer) and traveling -- and we've been into cooking lately too. We have always been very devoted to our careers, but I would say now it is easier, at least logistically speaking, to manage a heavier workload than it was when the kids were younger.
What is the best kept secret in the Chattahoochee Valley?
Given our size, the amenities that our community offers are remarkable. We have world-class fine arts, recreational venues, educational and health care resources, and a pervasive servant leadership that continues to help Columbus grow and strengthen year after year. To use a common phrase, but it fits so perfectly, Columbus is a shining example of what a community can be when private and public partnerships work well together for the common good.
Name: Renee Rhoades Sturkie
Age: 52
Job: Executive director, Ronald McDonald House Charities of West Georgia
Hometown: Born in Columbus, Ohio, but raised in the Atlanta area.
Current home: Columbus
Family: Husband Bill Sturkie, corporate director of personal lines, J. Smith Lanier & Co. We have been married for 29 years. Son Rhoades Sturkie, 23, recently graduated with high honors in biomedical engineering from Georgia Tech, now works for a neurosciences engineering firm in Atlanta. Daughter, Savanna Sturkie, 19, student at UGA’s Grady School of Journalism majoring in magazine journalism and photojournalism, minoring in art history and English.
Education: The Westminster School in Atlanta, 1980; University of Georgia, major in business administration-finance, 1983
Favorite book: “The DaVinci Code” and sequels by Dan Brown
Favorite movie: “Casablanca”
Favorite restaurant: In Columbus, Chef Lee’s. Anywhere else, Crab Daddy’s in St. Simon’s Island.
Favorite quote: “There’s so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, it ill behooves any of us to find fault with the rest of us.” — Edward Wallis Hoch
Favorite song: “Yesterday” The Beatles
Best concert attended: It’s a four-way tie: Paul McCartney and Wings, Band on the Run (1976); Rolling Stones, Bridges to Babylon (1999); The Who, Quadrophenia (2012); and Elton John (2013).
This story was originally published March 15, 2015 at 9:45 PM with the headline "5 Questions with Renee Sturkie: Quality time with families best part of Ronald McDonald House work."