Muleskinner

Issue date: 3/20/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Lora Powell: for the Digitalburg.com Margie Fleener, manager of the Brookside and Delwood Apartments, works to keep all the bookkeeping caught up for both complexes.

Margie Fleener, manager of the Brookside and Dellwood apartment complexes in Warrensburg, works around the clock to make sure her apartments are in the best condition.

Fleener carries a cell phone with her at all times, so she can be contacted by new and prospective tenants. Besides her duties of collecting rent, controlling leases and meeting the needs of her renters, she cleans each apartment in both complexes, as well as the hallways.

Her main office is located at 612 S. Main St. in the Brookside complex, but she is back and forth between each complex six to seven days of the week.

"I have over 200 people, so I deal with many different personalities and problems. I try to get to know everyone because it's good practice. You should have a name, not just be called by an apartment number," Fleener said.

A Career in Caretaking

Fleener, a Warrensburg native, has not always been in the apartment business. She began her life-long career in healthcare at the age of 12 when she began working at the Foster Nursing Home in Warrensburg. At 16, she began working at the Warrensburg Medical Center, which is now the Johnson County Care Center on Market Street.

"I helped move people to the new hospital, the Western Missouri Medical Center. I worked there through my high school days; I worked on weekends, summer vacation and after school," Fleener said.

Family Matters

Fleener later married and moved to Pleasant Hill, Mo., where she began work at Cass County Memorial Hospital. Her time in Pleasant Hill was particularly special because that was where her son was born.

"My son has two children, my grandkids, and he lives with his family in San Diego, California. I sure do miss them," Fleener said.

After she and her son's father divorced, Fleener moved to Springfield, Mo., where she began working at Cox Medical Center. She worked there for 27 years before she quit to take on her most important healthcare job: taking care of her father who had developed terminal cancer.

"My brothers and sisters all had families and I did not have anyone, so I felt like I could come take care of him. I took care of my father six years and two months before he expired," Fleener said.

Continued...

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