The Loop Newspaper - Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide

Just about everyone is aware that Tehachapi's new hospital is due to open sometime next year. Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley also has a new president and CEO. Jeff Lingerfelt arrived to take the reins on August 14. His wife Jenny arrived about a month later. They came from Geneseo, Ill. where Jeff had spent the last two years as CEO of Hammond-Henry Hospital. It was just recently announced that Lingerfelt was named to Becker's Healthcare 60 Critical Access CEOs to Know list for the second time. According to Becker's, during his tenure at Hammond-Henry, the hospital bought Regional Health Partners – Kewanee (Ill.) and also initiated a robotic surgery program.

Jeff was raised in North Carolina and began his undergraduate work at the University of North Carolina. "I'm still a proud Tarheel," says Jeff. He transferred to Southern Adventist University in Chattanooga, Tenn. When he and Jenny lived in North Dakota, he earned his MBA at the University of Mary in Bismark and served as CEO of Heart Of America Medical Center in Rugby. It was while he was there in 2015 that he was recognized as the Outstanding Healthcare Professional of the Year by the Grand Forks-based University of North Dakota. He likes to play golf, is a student of American history and is a big fan of cowboy poetry. He said that he especially likes the classic works of Bruce Kiskaddon and Charles Bader Clark.

Jenny was born in Virginia. She lived in Maine from the age of six to the age of twelve and then moved back to Virginia where her family settled near Washington, DC. She attended Andrews University in Michigan for a time before moving on to Bluefield College and Radford College closer to home in Virginia. She has worked at the state and county level as a license Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA).She grew up loving horses and enjoyed riding. At one time she taught horseback riding. She still has a love of all nature and wildlife and enjoys spending time in the garden. The multitalented Jenny also plays the piano.

Jeff and Jenny have three daughters. Jenny said that she home-schooled all of them over a 20 year period. These proud parents said that the oldest, Rachael, is now a Marriage and Family Counselor and is living in Montana. Sarah-Kate lives in Loma Linda, Calif. and teaches physical education. Annie is a student in Nashville, Tenn. and works as a nanny.

When I asked what they like best about Tehachapi, both Jeff and Jenny said the wonderful people and the quality of life here. Welcome to both of you and we hope that everyone will have the opportunity to meet you in the coming months.

After an absence of 10 years, Jeanne Steely has moved back to Tehachapi from Ashland, Kentucky. Her mother and sister are here but it was mostly her ministry, Crossway to Freedom that brought her back to town.

Jeanne was born and raised in Florence, Ky. and moved to California at the age of 21. She has a brother living in Florida and a sister in Texas. She has a daughter, Kimberly, who has just recently moved to Arizona to be near her daughter, Alexis, Jeanne's granddaughter.

Once confined to a wheelchair with liver failure, Jeanne had moved to Texas to live with her sister. Jeanne said that when her sister was no longer able to care for her, she was sent back to California to die. About four-and-a-half years ago, Jeanne said that her liver miraculously healed and she no longer needed her wheelchair. She added that it was that miracle that prompted her vow to do the Lord's work. Now living in Tehachapi, she is self-sufficient and enjoys the company of Rusty her little Pom-Chi.

She established her ministry a little over a year ago. It became a full time ministry in June of this year, focusing on services for the homeless and those with drug and alcohol problems. Crossway to Freedom meetings in Tehachapi began with Bible study meetings held at Grace Fellowship on Tehachapi Blvd. She also hosted round table discussion groups of Francis Chan's book "The Forgotten God".

Jeanne said that she hopes to someday have a place for Sunday services as well as her Bible study classes. She has been affiliated with Feed My Sheep Ministries and will continue that association. She loves to read write and sing and you can be sure all three will be part of anything she does.

I know we will be hearing more from Jeanne and Crossway to Freedom in the coming months. Welcome to Tehachapi, Jeanne.

If you have moved to the Greater Tehachapi Area within the last six months and would like to know more about your new community, call (661) 822-8188. We will be happy to make an appointment for a hostess to come by and give you lots of helpful information, some valuable coupons, gifts and much more. Many families and individuals who come to the area are pleasantly surprised with the amount of knowledge they gather about their new home. Publishing your welcome article is completely voluntary and is not a requirement of being welcomed.