Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
TOOELE — It will take about 60 seconds to understand that Sarah Obray is passionate about aging.
Aging as a topic will get her going, ready to share information, program ideas, the people she works with — she will talk about everything, except herself.
In fact, when it's time to ask her about herself, she will turn the tables on you and bring it back to aging, senior health, programming needs and her colleagues.
"I've never really liked ... well, recognition, I guess," Obray said. "You can see how much I love the topic of aging and how I love talking about it, but being recognized for something? I don't know."
Obray will be forced to get used to being recognized for her work next month in Chicago, when she will receive USAging's Aging Innovation Award, one of fewer than 20 across the nation to be celebrated.
USAging is a national advocacy organization centering on improving the health and wellness of the increasingly senior population. For 50 years, they have worked and supported local aging efforts across the country as well as the Title VI Native American Aging Programs.
As the award highlights, Obray has a long commitment to aging as a field of employment, but also as a passionate part of her life.
Obray, who first took a step in the world of gerontology — the study of the aging process and its impact on society — when she was in high school in New Mexico. Upon heading to Brigham Young University for her undergraduate degree and eventually to the University of Utah for a masters degree, she studied some aspect of gerontology.
She has taught classes on gerontology at the University of Utah. She has developed programs for Utah residents wanting to learn more about dementia and Alzheimer's. She has facilitated support groups for caregivers for those diagnosed with dementia. Along the way, she has maintained the belief that the programs should allow participants to engage with each other and, maybe, build friendships.
Obray has done a lot of work, but she always stayed out of the spotlight. Thank goodness Amy Hortiezer, the director of aging services for the Tooele County Health Department, pushed Obray into a spotlight by nominating her for the Innovation Award.
It was not a difficult decision, it appears, to nominate Obray for the award. Hortiezer speaks highly of her and feels almost lucky to have her on the staff.
But it's one thing to nominate someone and a whole other for that person to win, especially when they are from a small county in Utah.
Most of the people who have won awards from USAging have been from America's larger cities — Portland, Detroit, the Washington, D.C. suburbs, for example. Obray is the award recipient from the smallest community among the big metropolitan folks, indicating that she is doing work on par with others in the big cities.
Regardless of how Obray feels about being recognized by USAging, she is excited to attend the award ceremony during the organization's annual conference.
It takes place in July in Chicago, a city she has never visited. She will not have much time to see everything Chicago has to offer, but she will be there long enough to visit Grant Park and have a Chicago hot dog.
"I haven't been much of a world traveler," she said. "But I am looking forward to seeing Chicago. And getting some pizza."
