LLU School of Dentistry Dentalgram

Personality sketch: Can you guess who this is?

Can you guess who this is? Read the article and check your answer at the end.

This School of Dentistry staff member once worked as a dental assistant in the School and now works with patients and students. She can identify nearly 70 edible wild plants on the LLU campus and has a sister who works for the School.

She began working in the School’s DAU department as a dental assistant in 1980 and received her RDA and CDA certifications in 1981. In 1985, she transferred to dental records as a record analyst and in 1999, she transferred to urgent care/new patient screening, radiology as a chart auditor, the position she now holds. Her supervisor is Carol Sorrells, supervisor, radiology and urgent care.

Throughout the day she interacts with hundreds of students, patients and visitors as she greets patients, schedules appointments, and answers questions over the phone. She audits charts for the department, and helps coordinate denture repair appointments and process prosthodontic screening patients.

She also serves on the School’s spiritual life committee led by Fred Kasischke that meets once a quarter to plan student activities.

Ten years ago, she signed up to take a edible wild plant class offered through the University’s Gentry Gym (now offered through the Drayson Center). She enjoyed the class so much that she started to assist Miriam Kramer with the class. Ms. Kramer is a secretary in the Graduate School.

In the class students learn to identify and prepare edible wild plants. She also prepares food for students to sample at the end of each class. Some of the dishes include dandelion jelly, creamed tumbleweed, acorn muffins, green salad made from lambs quarters, purslane chickweed, mallow, and mustard flowers. She lectures about how to collect and preserve plant samples, and is one of three artists who illustrated the manual used for the class.

This employee also has a passion to share the gospel of Jesus through the media, and on the weekend can be seen operating a videocamera in the University Church.

Since 1998, she has volunteered with Loma Linda Broadcasting Network (LLBN) and University Church media ministries as a video camera operator and floor manager.

Since 1999, she has been a volunteer trafficking manager for LLBN. This entails overseeing the video library and preparing the weekly 24-hour-a-day schedule of programs for broadcast on the local cable channel 17. These also can be seen on the internet website www.llbn.tv. In addition the programs are broadcast live via satellite nationwide including parts of Mexico and Canada each Sabbath morning from the University Church and LLBN studios.

She has joined crews to film programs including the Clergy Conference featuring Martin Luther King Jr. III, The Heralds Reunion Concert, The Heritage Singers, Wedgwood Trio, Faith For Today Reunion, and many others.

Since 1999, she has served as a member of the University Church media board and on the manager’s and technical committee.

In 2001, she was presented by the LLBN board the Award of Excellence. The crystal award bears the inscription: “For faithfulness, commitment, and character in serving God’s people through LLBN-TV.”

She was born in Buffalo, New York, and is the youngest of three children. She has a brother, David Purucker, who lives in New York. Her sister, Shirley, works in the School’s copy center.