Meet Lois Kercher--The Lady Monarch's Sixth Lady
Lois Kercher’s role as the Lady Monarch’s sixth Lady Monarch began years ago when she needed a motivational speaker for her employees at Sentara Health System. Over the years, she had received promotional materials for speakers and was interested in the Stanford University women’s basketball coach. Believing that the cost including transportation would be too high, she reached out to Old Dominion University’s Wendy Larry, then the Lady Monarch’s coach. Larry agreed and did an outstanding job. They had never agreed to a fee and when Lois asked Larry about the fee, it was waived with an agreement that Lois would support the team. Lois has been very supportive of the Lady Monarchs, not only going to their games and cheering them on to victory, but showing up at Norfolk International to bid them luck when they travel.
While growing up in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Illinois, Lois’ dad was affected by a neuromuscular disease which left him a quadriplegic. When her mother was at work, she was his caregiver. This experience led her to a career in nursing. She went to the University of Iowa which was far enough away not to be in the Chicago area but yet close enough to be easily able to go home for weekends. After graduating, she moved to Washington, D.C. and worked for 20 years at the George Washington University Medical Center. While in Washington, she went to grad school to specialize in cardiovascular nursing and earned a both a master’s of Science in Nursing, and a PhD.
She met her husband, Leon-Paul (Lee) Georges, a physician at the Bethesda Medical Center, through mutual friends. The friends had tried for years to get the two of them together. They had their first date in January 1985, got engaged in February, told their families in March, and were married in June.
Lee was approached by Dr. Oz Edwards to retire from his position at the Bethesda Medical Center and start the Strelitz Diabetes Center in Norfolk. Lee agreed which led to the couple relocating to Norfolk. Lois was initially less than enthusiastic about moving to a smaller town having lived in the hustle and bustle of Chicago and Washington. Today, she says you couldn’t rip her away. Norfolk has many of the cultural amenities of the larger cities which Lois believes is attributable to the military influence.
Lois utilized her nursing and administrative skills as the Chief Nursing Officer for Sentara. She retired in 2013 from that position. She also served as President of the American Organization of Nurse Executives.
Susan Donn invited Lois to come to a Rotary meeting several years ago. At the time, Lois didn’t know anything about Rotary. She and Jim O’Brien had lunch one day and she was “hooked” when Jim talked about the Club’s Reading is Fundamental program. Lois wanted to be a part of that activity and loves participating in the club’s multiple service projects. There are two things she likes about Rotary. The first is “When we all roll up our sleeves and work together to serve the community.” The other is that Rotary is a great networking tool and club members are always helpful. Lois joined our club in 2008, has served on the board of directors and is a Paul Harris Fellow.
Lois, who lives in West Ghent, loves being outdoors including sailing on the Chesapeake Bay and in the Virgin Islands, hiking sections of the Appalachian Trail, climbing Mount Washington, rafting the Grand Canyon, and skiing in the United States and Europe. She is the stepmother to three boys and a surrogate grandmother for her siblings’ children. She loves interacting with them and frequently travels to visit and participate in life events.