Our Team
Abby Durr
Owner & Founder
Founded in 2008, Silver Age helps families find the best in-home care, independent & assisted living communities, memory care, and adult family homes the Greater Seattle area has to offer.
It all began for owner Abby Durr when she had the privilege of caring for her grandpa Sam. Being by his side during his final months altered her course in life. “I lived next door and didn’t have my own family yet, so I got to wash him, hold his hand, hear his life’s regrets, and navigate his end-of-life care with his 5 daughters. It was one of the most fulfilling and rewarding things I’ve ever been a part of.”
Abby’s caregiving journey continued at a local assisted living and memory care community. Helping to open the doors at Spiritwood Assisted Living and Memory Care, Abby recalls when the first resident, Betty moved in. She would tell everyone she was the first resident. “Before long we had 92 residents and I loved knowing each person’s story and the details of their care.” During her years at Spiritwood, as a caregiver, care coordinator, and marketing director, Abby learned of the important role that referral agencies play in providing appropriate continuity of care for senior citizens and felt called to help people in this way.
If you’re like most people, staying in your own home through the end of life is Plan A. If you’d like help exploring Plan B or setting yourself up for success at home, we would be honored to help you identify some special places and trusted services that are just right for your budget, lifestyle, and preferences.
Background: Prior to founding Silver Age, Abby worked as a certified nursing assistant (NAC), Care Coordinator, and Community Relations Director at a local assisted living & memory care community. This gives her a critical eye when evaluating care providers. She knows what it takes to staff and run places well. Abby graduated from Seattle Pacific University with a BA in Sociology, and received her Nursing Assistant training at Bellevue Community College.
Interests: Gardening, hiking, be outside with her kids, and keeping her caregiving skills fresh. She and the team recently completed training to become certified Dementia Consultants through Positive Approach to Care.
Causes Abby loves: The Alzheimer’s Association and NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Ami Reischman
Senior Living Advisor
When Ami’s parents developed dementia and other health issues requiring help, her journey in the senior care industry began. She’s spent over four years and counting, navigating the often-overwhelming process, emotions, and relationships involved. Her experience with her parents gives her a passion and empathy to help others navigate this system confidently while feeling supported.
Background: Ami’s primary focus is to be the best possible mother to her two kids, and to protect and advocate for her elderly father.
Previously a stockbroker, institutional fixed-income salesperson, a vendor at Microsoft in various roles, and an Account Executive and Executive Business Manager for a management consulting firm.
BA in Business Administration and marketing CWU, Dementia specialty training, Mental Health specialty training.
Interests: Yoga, Pilates, hiking, walking, traveling the world, and spending as much time as possible with her dad.
April Graves
Senior Living Advisor
For the past 13 years, April has been helping vulnerable adults adjust to changes that aging can bring. She is passionate about helping families navigate the decisions surrounding hiring in-home care and moving to a retirement or assisted living environment.
Before joining Silver Age in 2022, April worked for a well-known senior living community on the Eastside. This “inside look” at life during the pandemic allows April to share real-life stories with families and help them set realistic expectations.
Her inspiration for serving older adults stems from her close relationship with her Italian grandpa, Elmer. As his health took a sudden turn, she watched her mom struggle to find suitable senior living for both her parents—with only 48 hours to secure plans, and without expert support. Years later, with her own Dad’s end-of-life journey, she again lived the struggles.
April listens with heart, helps families prioritize their goals, and guides them through every step of the way to make empowered long-term decisions. She enjoys learning about each client’s life story, so she can lead them to the best options for their safety, sense of well-being, and connection.
Background: April has an extensive history in the senior care industry, beginning in 2009, with critical roles at Fedelta Home Care, 1st Choice Advisory Services, Madison House Assisted Living, and most recently, Aegis Gardens Newcastle Assisted Living and Memory Care.
April has a BA in Communications from the UW, and has been a Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)® since 2013.
Interests: Enjoys traveling, beach combing, cooking for friends and family, gardening, and reading (book club member 35 years). Also passionate about educating families on the benefits of proactive life care planning vs. a reactive approach.
Heather Bates
Senior Living Advisor
Heather has been in the eldercare field since 2017. Before joining Silver Age Care, she managed a branch for an in-home care agency. In this role, Heather had the pleasure of working with clients, family members, and caregivers to ensure a positive experience for everyone involved. Before joining the eldercare field, she enjoyed a role as a Pre-K teacher.
Heather was inspired to join the eldercare field after caring for her mother and grandparents in their times of need.
Interests: Spending time with her husband and three adult children. Hiking, kayaking, traveling, gardening and reading.
Causes Heather loves: She is passionate about the MS Society and the ALS Association.
Karen Anderson
Senior Living Advisor
Karen has been in the eldercare field since 2014. Before joining Silver Age, she was a Family Caregiver Support Specialist. Karen assisted unpaid caregivers in Snohomish County. In this role, she ran five support groups per month, helped caregivers navigate their scenarios; provided one-on-one consultation, and connected people to community resources.
She is currently caring for a family member who has transitioned through Home Care, an Adult Family Home, an Assisted Living Community, and now Memory Care. Karen assists families with a deep understanding of their challenges, feelings, and situations.
Interests: Karen enjoys estate sales in part because she gets to learn people’s stories through the way they lived, what they pursued, and what was important to them. She enjoys one-day travel trips to cities around the Puget Sound area.
Her passion for organization led her to nearly start her own business as a professional organizer. When she was young she would empty her mom’s junk drawer and organize it just for the fun of it.
Education: Master’s in marketing and Bachelor’s in accounting. She holds certificates in Aging in Place (CAPS) and Powerful Tools for Caregivers, and is a PAC Certified Independent Consultant through Positive Approach to Care.
Causes Karen loves: Old Dog Haven, domestic violence support groups, and PBS television.
Mark Ibsen
Senior Living Advisor
Mark joined the team in 2018. For 12 years prior to Silver Age, he served seniors representing well-known independent, assisted living, and memory care communities throughout the greater Seattle area. Additionally, he managed specialty communities serving seniors with mental health and dementia challenges in California.
Mark listens closely to his clients needs and desires and helps them prioritize what is most important. Then with empathy, analytic research and careful consideration of their finances, he helps them find their best long term solution.
Background: Mark has an extensive history in the senior care field including key roles at Era Living, Merrill Gardens, Pacific Regent/Watermark Retirement Communities, and Sunrise Senior Living. Mark has a BA in Psychology and a Human Services Management Certificate. In 2021, Mark became a PAC Certified Independent Consultant through Positive Approach to Care.
Interests: Water & snow skiing, and biking & hiking with family and friends, and keeping up with his 3 inspiring daughters in their 20’s.
Causes Mark loves: Mark is involved in numerous community organizations including the Seattle area Senior Care Coalition which promotes the health and welfare of seniors.
Susan Watters
Senior Living Advisor
Susan brings 30 + years of experience in healthcare working as an Occupational Therapist in hospitals, nursing homes, and in-home care.
As an OT Susan has helped many seniors and their families with the decision-making process of transitioning to a new living situation. Susan’s focus is to keep seniors active, engaged socially, and feeling safe in their living environment.
Susan is fortunate to have several family members who are 90+. She has been involved in helping them choose independent and assisted living facilities and adult family homes and watched them thrive and live their final days in their homes.
Background: As an Occupational Therapist, Susan helped people with Parkinson’s, MS, strokes, and other diagnoses live independently with their everyday activities. She takes great care in listening to her client’s needs and helping them problem-solve to find the best place to live that will meet their needs for the long run. In 2021, Susan became a PAC Certified Independent Consultant through Positive Approach to Care.
Interests: Being outdoors, gardening, biking, traveling, and photography.
Causes Susan loves: Food and housing are basic needs Susan considers essential for a person to thrive. She supports the meeting of these needs through local community organizations such as Hopelink and NW Family Life.
Teresa Russell
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
Teresa taught high school Health and Special Education for 13 years prior to joining the Silver Age team. During her time as an educator, Teresa ran a self-contained Special Education classroom where she worked as a behavioral specialist, teaching students with various emotional & behavioral needs. Teresa graduated from Seattle Pacific University with a BA in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Education.
Interests: Traveling, golf, basketball, Functional Medicine, reading and writing. Most of her free time these days consists of traveling to golf tournaments to support her son, who competes nationally.
Causes I love: The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, where Teresa participates in triathlons to raise money for blood cancer research. Seattle Children’s Hospital where she worked during college and is a guild member. The Lewy Body Dementia Association.
Lisa Stimach
Advisor Support & community outreach
Lisa has become her family’s informal “elder care resource coordinator.” When her mother-in-law had cancer years ago, it was overwhelming for her father-in-law. She was fortunate to have the time to find the necessary resources and help transition her mother-in-law to a skilled nursing facility, temporarily, and then on to an adult family home. Several years later, she supported her father-in-law, who had cerebellar ataxia and cancer. Lisa coordinated his moves from independent living to a lengthy hospital stay, followed by a month in skilled nursing, back to his apartment with home care, and finally to an adult family home. Her ability to research, follow up and help figure out next steps, as well as her calm, nurturing, and supportive manner, was a huge gift to her husband and in-laws during an overwhelming time.
Background: Lisa has been an elementary substitute teacher for the last 10+ years. She enjoys teaching and having the flexibility to be around for her sons as they go through school. Prior to substitute teaching, she was a stay-at-home mom for several years. Before children, she worked at Microsoft as a Program Manager.
Interests: Lisa enjoys hanging out with family and friends, gardening, RV camping, cuddling up with a good book, cheering on her husband when he drag races and her sons in whatever activity they are currently involved in, and helping friends and family by researching helpful resources.
Fred Nystrom
MARKETING & community outreach
Fred’s introduction to the issues and challenges of aging came about suddenly as he was forced to recognize the early signs of dementia occurring with his mother. With his mother living alone in another state and personal visits just once or twice a year, it was easy to miss her subtle changes. Until it wasn’t! In quick succession, there was the move into Fred’s home, the attempt at independent living, moving into an adult family home, and finally into memory care prior to her passing.
Fred’s interest in helping other families through the somewhat confusing options for caring for their loved one has been his main motivation to specialize in counseling families and fine-tuning the placement recommendations to fit their mental, emotional, and financial needs.
Background: Fred’s professional background, though varied, has always relied on his taking a marketing approach to problem solving. His experience in the marketing department of Sunset Magazine, his management of the Pacific Northwest sales for Sunset, his development of a national marketing organization for the lodging industry, and his consultancy with the Ford Foundation, all served to fine tune his skills. Fred and his wife Mardi also published and sold over 150,000 of their travel guidebooks, Special Places for Discerning Travelers. This led to them being selected as one of the first travel content providers to Microsoft. Fred also served as Executive Director for Life Enrichment Options, an Issaquah non-profit with adult family homes for young adults with disabilities. He served as the Association Director of Klahanie, a 3,100 home HOA, and General Manager of 88 Condominiums, a new 21-story high-rise in Bellevue.
Interests: Fred and his family continue to pursue their long-term interest in traveling to intriguing destinations.
Causes: Fred wears his main cause on his sleeve- literally! On his right wrist is a small tattoo of a semi-colon in support of the Semi-Colon Project, promoting awareness and providing help for those who endure some form of mental illness.
Kelly VanDuine
Social Media
When Kelly’s grandmother, Electra, was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson’s, Kelly took a break from college to become her full-time caregiver. Four years later, at 23, Kelly is now a Certified Home Care Aide (HCA), and is Electra’s primary caretaker. After four years of caregiving, Kelly now has experience with bathing, incontinence management, overnight care, feeding, infection management, medications, transfers, and more. Kelly went back to school in 2021 and finished her Associate’s Degree at Spokane Community College. She is currently an Honors student at Arizona State University working towards a BA in Psychology. She is completing a Senior Thesis project on her experience as a Gen Z caregiver.
Background:
Kelly has been working as a social media manager for three years at various small businesses, ranging from photography and screenwriting to tutoring and journalism. Kelly currently manages Silver Age’s social media accounts. She is a Certified HCA in the state of Washington and Red Cross First Aid, CPR & AED certified for infants, children, and adults. She is currently a Junior at Arizona State University. She also volunteers with the Alzheimer’s Association promoting the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s and related fundraising events.
Interests:
Kelly loves to crochet for fun and sells some of her projects on her Etsy shop, KellBell Designs. She enjoys spending time with her dog Lucy and bird Charlie. She loves reading, writing, and embroidery and has been practicing martial arts for six years.
Professional Memberships
To stay sharp and give back, Silver Age is affiliated with these organizations.
Association of Senior Referral Professionals
Promotes professional and ethical standards within the senior placement and referral industry. Silver Age is a founding member, asrpwa.org.
Senior Care Coalition
Supports those who serve seniors by providing a welcoming environment for education, resource exchange, and business development.
The National Placement & Referral Alliance
Cultivates professionalism, fairness, and the development of the senior placement and referral industry through collective initiatives to better serve seniors and their families.
Washington Health Care Association
The Washington Health Care Association is a statewide non-profit organization representing over 400 assisted living and skilled nursing facilities. Affiliate Business Membership, https://www.whca.org/.
Issaquah Chamber of Commerce
Official Chamber for the city of Issaquah. Business Membershp 2023-2024.
The Health Care Providers Council of Pierce County
A non-profit organization that promotes the highest possible standards of service, care, and well-being for older and disabled adults through networking, education, and events.
Edmonds Chamber of Commerce
Official Chamber for the city of Edmonds. Business Membership 2018-2024, https://edmondschamber.com/.