While her husband David is a world traveler, Brenda Lebbin considers herself more of a homebody.

“I just work and go home,” said Lebbin, director of the Great Bend Senior Center.

A lifelong resident of Barton County, she was born in Great Bend, grew up in Barton Hills and attended school in Hoisington. She has lived in Ellinwood for about 30 years.

Next February, Lebbin will start her fifth year as director of the Great Bend Senior Center, taking over in 2019 after longtime manager Rozena Tomlin retired. 

“Rosy was like a mom to me,” Lebbin said. “She is such a sweet woman. She started training me when she decided to retire.”

On Dec. 15, 2017, the Senior Center celebrated the 30th anniversary of its opening at 2005 Kansas Ave. Tomlin started working there a few weeks after it opened and retired in 2019.

Lebbin and others are looking forward to this Dec. 15, when the Senior Center will hold its Open House. Children from Great Bend schools will sing after the noon meal.

Lebbin and Tomlin both got their start at the Senior Center as dispatchers for General Public Transportation. The four buses and mini-vans are still based there, all owned by the City of Great Bend under the direction of the Council on Aging. People don’t realize how many services come out of that one building, said Lebbin, who is responsible for it all. The Friendship Meals and Meals on Wheels are prepared in the kitchen. The large meeting room, which was recently repainted and remodeled, is the site for meals, programs and regular activities. There’s also a smaller room in the back that was remodeled with a memorial gift from the family of Rose Younger, who died in 2018 after she was struck by a hit-and-run vehicle as she was walking home from St. Patrick’s Parish center. The Rose Younger room is for smaller meetings and also houses a lending library.

First job

Lebbin’s first job was at a local grocery store in Great Bend.

“I worked at Dillon's for 17 years, from the time I was in high school,” she said.

She and David have been married for 25 years. They have three sons, Brett, Corey and Dylan, all living nearby.

“Corey lives in Hutch but the other two are here, in Ellinwood,” she said. She has three grandchildren.

David Lebbin had six deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan; he retired from the military last year and now he’s a government contractor in Saudi Arabia, which keeps him away from home much of the time.  

Brenda herself isn’t big on traveling. She is a member of Daughters of Isabella and she serves on the board for Cedar Park. Her favorite hobby is shopping. While she admits she enjoys shopping online, it’s also something she enjoys doing with her 13-year-old granddaughter.

The regulars at the Senior Center are also something of an extended family, which is why she has continued to work there for well over a decade.

“I love my job,” she said. “I love people, my family.”

Don Chalfant was a bus driver for the Senior Center for 20 years or longer. He and Lebbin got acquainted when she was the dispatcher.

“She’s done a real fine job,” Chalfant said. And she has grown during her first four years as director. “She’s always thinking of ways to make the place better.” 

Community Connections is a regular feature of the Great Bend Tribune, showcasing people who live in the Golden Belt. We welcome readers to submit names of individuals who are active in the community that they would like to see featured in a future story. Send suggestions to news@gbtribune.com and explain their “community connections.”