Roy Entz has a long history with the Brooksdale property. A member of the extended Neufeld family, Roy lived on site or worked on site for over 2 decades. Brooksdale was a place of meaningful community and work for Roy.

Roy now lives in a retirement and care facility in Abbotsford and recently celebrated his 70th birthday. He lives a quiet life near family, spending his days knitting and enjoying his new home. But the memories of good times at Brooksdale created a longing to be helpful on this special property. Thus it was with great joy that Roy accepted the invitation to come back and mow Brooksdale’s expansive centre lawn.

Roy has limited mobility because of a hip injury. He uses a walker to get around and had to give up driving his beloved truck a few years back. It is therefore with obvious delight that he climbs aboard Brooksdale’s John Deer tractor-mower once a week to spend six to eight hours mowing the bits of lawn that our sheep are not able to graze.

After mowing, Roy joins the A Rocha team for a community lunch and cheerfully chats with any interns or visitors he meets.

Recently Roy arrived at “work” to find that Brooksdale’s tractor mower had been newly christened “The Roymobile.”

“It has my name of it!” he exclaimed incredulously to his friend and Brooksdale’s Hospitality Coordinator, Ute, as she drove him down Brooksdale’s driveway and past the mower.

The naming of the mower was Shaun Gaynor’s idea. Formerly an intern and then staff in charge of Brooksdale’s site maintenance, Shaun had come to appreciate Roy’s enthusiasm for his mowing duties.

“I just wanted him to know how much we value him,” said Shaun.

If Roy’s delight is any indication it seems Shaun’s plan worked!

A big thanks to Roy & the many other volunteers for their care for A Rocha and for creation. Thanks also to Wes at The Sign House in Cloverdale for the donation of “The Roymobile” lettering 🙂