Visitors to Bobbe’s Gift Shoppe at Froedtert Hospital will find more than the typical get well card, flowers or a forgotten toothbrush. They’ll find a well-chosen display of unique gifts, as well as a place of respite, where the volunteers who work there are known to give hugs when needed.
One of those volunteers is Geny Kroll, the shop’s 88-year-old buyer. Kroll has been volunteering at the shop for more than 18 years, logging in more than 18,000 hours. Kroll’s specialty is knowing her customers, many of whom have become regulars because of Kroll’s kind and friendly manner, according to Katie Pokorny, Froedtert Hospital’s manager of volunteer services.
Pokorny says Kroll’s specialty is selecting items for sale in the gift shop.
“Her knack for knowing comes from years of experience, along with a continuous enthusiasm for learning what’s new and staying current on trends,” Pokorny wrote in nominating Kroll as a Health Care Hero for volunteerism. “Geny continues to attend major gift shows in Atlanta, Chicago and the Wisconsin Dells. In making her purchasing decisions, she says, ‘You have to know your clientele.'”
A dedicated volunteer, Kroll’s generosity extends beyond the shop’s doors. When a fellow volunteer had a death in the family, Kroll cleaned the volunteer’s house and made all the food for the funeral luncheon. She frequently takes time to custom-order gifts for the shop’s customers.
Kroll, a grandmother of 11 and great-grandmother of eight, said in an interview earlier this year that her volunteer work keeps her feeling young.
“I always figured that if I stayed home, I would vegetate,” she told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It gets me out to meet people and talk with people. And it keeps my feet busy.”
Fellow Froedtert volunteer Kay Gennarelli describes Kroll as a “petite Irish dynamo.”
Gennarelli, who nominated Kroll to be a Health Care Hero, wrote, “The best part of Geny is displayed when everyone else is getting stressed. She smiles her lovely Irish grin and has a twinkle in her eye that makes the rest of us relax.”
