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Human Resources director will retire
in December

Virginia Keller has worked for Multnomah for
more than 16 years

Virginia Keller, director of Human Resources, usually sits in her office, typing job descriptions, reviewing federal and state personnel laws, or interviewing potential employees. But on this day, Oct. 26, she and her staff headed to Albertina's to celebrate her birthday.

Chatter and laughter filled the airy dining room. As they sat at a table by the window, their waitress welcomed them. She brought the food to the table, and the women enjoyed apple Waldorf salad, chicken soup with cheese bread and frozen pumpkin pie.

After lunch, they browsed in the gift shop and admired the antiques. Mrs. Wolever and Mrs. Keller decided to look in the thrift store. Mrs. Keller found some doilies that she thought would match her home's decor but then decided not to purchase them.

They piled into the car and started back to school. As they rounded a corner, Mrs. Wolever pointed out KATU, the local television station, and reminisced about the time she and Mrs. Keller promoted an auction for Multnomah on the morning show.

They both laughed as they recalled that they had headed up two auctions in one year. Mrs. Wolever said, "Can you believe we did that? It sure was a lot of work." Mrs. Keller agreed that the auctions were a lot of work but also fun. Then she said, "We've also worked together on three family picnics. We've done quite a few things together."

Mrs. Keller returned to her office to find red and blue streamers draped from the ceiling and yellow and pink ribbons strewn on her desk chair and venetian blinds.

The admissions department employees had decorated her office while she was gone. She phoned Mrs. Wolever, inviting her to see the decorations.

Mrs. Wolever and Mrs. Keller have been friends and co-workers for more than 15 years. The first few years they worked near each other, but they didn't really get to know each other very well until Mrs. Keller got a job in Human Resources.

Since then, the two women have worked together on several auctions, and they served on the president's council when Dr. Joseph Aldrich was president. Sandy Griffin, senior vice president Paul Griffin's wife, helped them plan the decorations for employee Christmas dinners and several fund-raising auctions.

At the end of December, Mrs. Keller will retire from her job as Human Resources Director after working at Multnomah for more than 16 years. She worked in the financial aid department, directed the development department and now heads Human Resources.

She has spent a lot of her time in front of a computer screen typing policies that keep Multnomah up-to-date on state and federal laws and researching employee benefit packages. A picture of her husband, Dave, sits on her desk. Pictures of her two daughters, Glenis and Jani, and their families sit on the bookshelf against the wall. Her computer screen wallpaper is a big picture of her two cats, Tigger, an orange and white Tabby, and Sealy, a seal-point Siamese, lounging on her bed. She says her cats are lovable, very spoiled and funny.

She has an open-door policy for Multnomah employees who come by her office to ask questions about benefits or other concerns. She said she enjoys her position because she likes researching insurance policies, interviewing prospective employees and planning employee meetings. She also likes the contact with people.

"I think God has blessed Multnomah by bringing incredible people here," she said. "I appreciate the people I work with. I pretty much have contact with everyone on the staff and faculty at one time or another, and they are great group of people to work with," Mrs. Keller said.

Linda Taylor works for Mrs. Keller as the student employment coordinator. Mrs. Taylor said she appreciates Mrs. Keller as a supervisor. "She trusts me enough to let me do what I do best. I will miss her when she leaves," she said.

Mrs. Keller has expanded her job description since she became director of Human Resources. She developed supervisor and management training to help managers become more equipped for their jobs. She also started employee enrichment workshops.

Some of the workshops have been job-related, covering subjects such as management theories and computer training. Others were for the employees' enrichment, covering subjects such as decorating or dealing with aged parents. The purpose of the workshops was to let MBC employees know that they are appreciated.

Paul Griffin said Mrs. Keller has a high standard of professionalism. He said that when she was the director of development, Multnomah had the highest donations in the institution's history. The fund-raising banquet she planned in 1990 was the most successful one MBC has ever had.

"She is committed to excellence. With someone as competent as Mrs. Keller, you don't know what you have until they're gone," he said.

Mr. Griffin said he is sad to see her go because he will miss his friend and their professional relationship. He said that he and his wife, Sandy, will still see the Kellers. He has asked Mrs. Keller to write for the development department after she retires. He said she is a gifted writer. In the past, she wrote student profiles and letters for Dr. Joseph Aldrich and Mr. Griffin. She will work from home and e-mail her stories to Mr. Griffin.

When Mrs. Keller retires, she will join her husband, Dave, who retired last year from teaching at Reynolds High School. The Kellers purchased 24 acres of land on the Klickitat River in Washington State, 75 miles northeast of Portland. They recently bought a triple-wide mobile home, which was delivered to their property. Each of the three pieces of the house was 60 feet long. Mrs. Keller said that to place the home up on their hill, a remote control tractor moved the home down a hill and then manuevered the home up a steep hill. At one point, the trailer wheels holding the home were completely off the ground, and Mr. Keller said he couldn't watch. But methodically, the tractor pushed the three pieces up the hill and moved the home into place.

Mr. and Mrs. Keller have been spending weekends at their property, moving their belongings little by little from their present home in Troutdale. They plan to move permanently to their new home at the end of October, and they hope that their Troutdale home will sell soon.

Mrs. Keller will commute the 150-mile round trip until she retires at the end of December. She said she doesn't think she will mind the commute because she encounters little traffic until she gets to Troutdale.

The Kellers love the beauty of the Northwest. They grew up here, although after Mr. Keller graduated from the University of Washington, they decided to see what other areas of the country were like. They moved to Wisconsin and then to Iowa, where Mrs. Keller attended Faith Baptist Bible College to complete her bachelor's degree. She had graduated from MBC in 1955 with a diploma but always wanted to finish her bachelor's degree.

She began working for the business manager at Faith Baptist College as a secretary. The business manager was in charge of personnel, and he delegated a lot of the work to her. She enjoyed the work and believes that the time there prepared her for her responsibilities at MBC. She worked at Faith eight years before she and her husband moved to Texas and Louisiana. After three years, they decided to return to the Northwest. They missed the Northwest and considered it home.

They settled in Portland, and Mrs. Keller wanted to continue to work in Christian ministry. She said she likes feeling that her work has some eternal benefits. She applied for a job at MBC and was hired.

Mrs. Keller plans to take life slower when she retires. She enjoys cooking meals from scratch but has been too busy to spend time in the kitchen. She likes to do crafts, sew and tole paint. She said she probably will paint some stencils in her new home. She also plans to play the piano more. She said she hasn't had time, but really enjoys playing. She played for family chapel at MBC for several years.

She plans to spend a lot of time with her husband, Dave. The two met while they were students at MBC in 1953. They have been married for 44 years and besides their two daughters, they have four grandchildren. Mrs. Keller hopes to invite them all to their new home. The Kellers do not plan on any extensive travel, but they want to take an Alaskan cruise in the future. They plan to roam their land, and enjoy their new home and the river that runs past their property.

Mrs. Keller said she will miss MBC. She said that a few days ago, when students filled the hallway talking and laughing, she realized that she would miss work and participating in the day-to-day ministry at MBC.