Pharmacy Perspectives - Winter/Spring 2018 - 15

WINTER

The Meads (Sue, Lauren, Kelly and Tim) at Kelly's graduation from medical school at the Uniformed Services University for Health Sciences.

SPRING 2018

for inaccuracy and waste." They have
discovered that their pharmacy backgrounds and attention to detail come
in handy. In fact, Tim is the stucco
master. "The parallels to compounding
are remarkable," comments Mead.
"Who knew that there are a lot of
similarities between the two skill sets
- building homes and the practice of
pharmacy?" remarks Mead.
Tim is pharmacy director for
PharMerica, Inc. a nationwide long
term care pharmacy provider, and Sue is
director of Pharmacy at The Apothecary
Wardenburg Health Center at the
University of Colorado Boulder.

Building a home in Juarez.

Pharmacy Family Learns
Life Lessons and Skills by
Building Houses Together

BY DANA BRANDORFF

ue and Tim Mead ('79 and '75 respectively), together with their daughters, have built a
strong family bond by building houses for others. "In addition to learning how to roof,
stucco and cut wood, the experience taught us how to give back, to see that we are part of
a bigger world, and to reflect on how much we have," says Sue Mead.
The Meads have helped build dozens of homes in Juarez, Mexico, a Texas border town
located close to El Paso. "In fact, our younger daughter Kelly, has built more houses than
Tim and I," says Mead. Having built 16 homes by the time she was a teenager, Kelly would
travel to Juarez by herself - sometimes twice a year - to assist the community. "She learned how to work
as a team - an incredibly valuable skill to learn at a young age. I believe that set her up well for her current
profession as an orthopedic surgeon."
The family's involvement is a direct result of their church - Trinity Lutheran Church - and its association
with Casas Por Cristo, a not-for-profit whose mission is to build homes, relationships and opportunities.
Dedicated to meeting the physical needs of better housing while meeting the spiritual needs of the recipients,
the organization has provided more than 5,000 families with homes throughout Mexico, Guatemala and
Dominican Republic.
According to Mead, "Tim and I are 'Jacks of All Trades,' when it comes to house building, but we tend
to be in charge of cutting the wood. We have learned to measure twice and cut once as there is no room

R EC E N T LY
HOSTED
SCHOOL OF
PH A R M ACY
EVENTS
Representing 60 years of CU
pharmacy graduates (1954-2014)
alumni from our program who live
and work in the Phoenix area broke
bread at Buca di Beppo in November.
Co-hosted by Bob Light ('78) and
Imanibom Etukeren ('14), the event
attracted a dozen alums in the area.
Dean Altiere, Associate Dean Laura
Borgelt and Development Director
Jonathan Wanderstock rounded out
the attendees.
Several CU Pharmacy alumni, and
even a couple of incoming students, got
together in Long Beach, CA at the end
of February. Dean Ralph Altiere and
Associate Dean Laura Borgelt ('97),
along with alumni Charles Brown ('64)
and Katherine Johnson ('13), hosted the
event at the Sky Room Steak House.

www.ucdenver.edu/pharmacy

http://www.ucdenver.edu/pharmacy

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pharmacy Perspectives - Winter/Spring 2018