By Laurie Ritter

Meet Marni Ardrey, a Support Coordinator at Boone County Family Resources. Since 1990 she has held many roles at the agency such as Teacher Counselor and Site Supervisor in the Supported Living program. In 2001, she moved from Supported Living to Family & Community Living Support and began the role she has now as Support Coordinator for adults.

Q: What is your favorite thing about your job?

A: My favorite thing is definitely the people, whether they are clients, family members, coworkers, or staff from other agencies. I have met so many wonderful people over the years.

Q: What brought you into this field?

A: I worked at a grocery store while attending MU and some of the individuals from Woodhaven came in regularly to shop.  I enjoyed getting to know them and later applied to work at BCFR after seeing an ad in the paper.  I was studying rehabilitation (drug & alcohol) counseling but decided I liked working in this field better.

Q: What’s something most people don’t know about you?

A: I have been continuously employed since I was a senior in high school but have only worked for three companies.

Q: What are your hobbies outside of work, if any?

A: I don’t do them as much as I would like but I enjoy working on genealogy, sewing, crafts, reading, gardening, cooking, and anything with my family.

Q: Tell a little bit about your family…

A: I’ve been married to Colby for 24 years. We have two sons, ages 19 and 15, and a daughter, age 17. We also have three rescued Schnauzers and four horses. Our oldest son receives services from BCFR and now works at CMSE. Colby and I were both born and raised in Columbia and my kids are 4th generation Kewpies. I found out my grandfather was even the quarterback in 1936 when the Kewpies won the state championship! He died when I was three but I am so fortunate to have been close to three grandparents. My other grandfather was a psychology professor at Mizzou (and my unofficial advisor) so of course I am a Tiger as well as a Kewpie.

Q: How many years have you been with the agency?

A: I’ve worked for BCFR for 25 years as of 8/9/15.