Underwood Retires
Donna Underwood has retired after 20 years as McDonald County’s public administrator. She shared what her job was like.
Donna Underwood has retired after 20 years as McDonald County’s public administrator. She shared what her job was like.
Not many people know what the public administrator does, Underwood said. The position involves providing care for people with mental disabilities or illnesses. When one of these people cannot take care of themselves and their family cannot, will not or should not take care of them, the public administrator steps up. A judge appoints her guardian and/or conservator.
According to the public administrator’s website, guardianship is the legal process of assisting a person in making decisions for herself/himself regarding personal affairs such as place of residence and medical care. A person under guardianship is known as a ward. Conservatorship deals only with the financial affairs of an individual. A person under conservatorship is known as a protectee.
Underwood said the people in her care were all different. It required a lot of compassion and common sense to care for them. Some of them, even younger ones, were in nursing homes. Younger people with behavioral problems that could be a danger to others are an example.
She said she has had 80 to 100 people she took care of at any given time. She could not do everything for all of them, but she made sure they were taken care of. She saw some of them living in abusive situations and moved them into better situations, such as a nursing home.
“I’ve been lucky,” she said. “Twenty years. You have to be re-elected. There’s no training. You can learn just about anything, but you can’t learn compassion and caring for people.”
To give all those under her care their best life, Underwood had to move some of them to facilities outside of McDonald County. They ended up living all around the state. A law required that she visit each of them once a year, so she spent a lot of time on the road. Underwood was appointed to the position in 1999. The public administrator before her was told by his doctor that he needed less stress in his life, so he retired and Underwood was appointed. In the beginning, she only had 15 people in her care, but that number grew quickly because of her compassion. She had a cellphone in 1999. Her phone now has about 700 contacts in it. She was on call 24/7.
“It’s like having kids,” she said.
Underwood has deep roots in McDonald County. When she was growing up, she worked at her father’s grocery store on the Pineville square. She is also involved in the community through fundraisers. She makes fudge, which is sold for $10 per plate. The fundraising individuals get 75%, and Underwood gets 25% to cover her cost. She donates her time making lots and lots of fudge for community fundraising events.
“We have so many good local folks here in McDonald County, and I am nothing compared to some of them, but as long as everybody does their part, we’ll make it a better place,” she said.
Underwood said she has loved her job, but she felt it was time to step back and let someone else do it. She is leaving the job in the hands of her deputy, Tonya Garvin, and feels good about turning it over to her.
“I’m doing very well. I love the fact that I’ve retired. It’s hard to accept that I’m no longer public administrator. I’ll probably go around trying to solve everyone’s problems,” she said.
Underwood plans to enjoy golfing and canoeing during retirement.