More Than a Job: Dolores Perez’s 52-Year Journey of Service, Kindness and Care

9/11/2026

Celebrating EVS Week and the Vital Role of Environmental Services in Patient Care

For almost 53 years, Dolores Perez has nourished and nurtured hundreds of patients, staff members and visitors at DeTar Healthcare System from her time in the kitchen working as a dietary aid to her time out on the floor in housekeeping, ensuring a clean environment for healing.

This week, September 13 - 19, during Environmental Services Week, DeTar is highlighting the dedicated staff that keeps the facilities clean and makes the hospital a place of healing, and is recognizing Perez, who has worked in housekeeping for over 40 years and is currently DeTar’s longest-serving employee.

In 1974, Perez walked into DeTar Hospital looking for a job. She was 32 years old, had a family to provide for and a simple goal: to give her children what she didn’t have growing up. Fifty-two years later, at 85 years old, Perez is still walking through those hospital doors. And she is still smiling.

“I love my job, I love what it represents,” Perez said. “I take great pride in my work.”

Perez’s story is not simply one of longevity. It is a story of perseverance.

She left school after the seventh grade to help support her family. Before coming to DeTar, she worked as a housekeeper, cleaning multiple homes each week. Education, however, was something she never stopped believing in.

While working at DeTar, Perez went back to school and earned her GED. She then continued her education at Victoria College, earning a certification that helped her advance her career and eventually become a dietary supervisor. For Perez, earning that certification was never about having a title, it’s about what she did with it.

“For me, earning my certification is not about the title that comes with it, it’s about doing what that paper represents, it’s about what I do with it,” Perez said.

Caring for others comes naturally to her, whether that’s serving a healthy meal, ensuring patients have clean rooms to rest in or showing new staff members how to find their way around the hospital.

Perez started at DeTar washing dishes as a dietary aid where she washed dishes and delivered meals to patients. For her, getting to nourish patients back to health through food was a personal calling because to her, a meal was never just a meal.

When she delivered meals to patients, Perez would look for ways to brighten their day. Maybe it was a flower, maybe it was a joke, maybe it was simply a smile but to her it was a way to remind people that someone cared about them.

“I always try to make patients laugh and smile,” Perez said. “I just enjoy making people feel good and life is all about taking care of yourself and others.”

During her years in dietary, Perez cared for patients in a very personal way. She prepared specialized diets for patients with diabetes, heart conditions and other medical needs and helped create patient menus.

“It doesn't take much for you to be nice to people, and if you can do something for them, just do it,” Perez said. “The Lord will reward you and He’s been good to me.”

In 1985, Perez moved from dietary into housekeeping, a change that allowed her to bring another one of her passions to DeTar.

“I like to clean,” Perez said. “And healing starts with a clean environment.”

She also understands that in a hospital, cleanliness is about far more than appearances, it’s a part of the healing process.

She takes pride in her work and especially in teaching others how to clean — and how to clean right. Over the years, she has become someone who understands that every detail matters and that every employee has a role to play in creating a safe, welcoming environment for patients and families. Perez knows she has a responsibility to do her part.

“It’s everybody’s job to keep this hospital going,” Perez said. “Whether it’s a holiday, a weekend or a late night, this hospital is like a living thing and the work doesn’t stop. I hate missing work, I like being here and getting to visit with people.”

For Isabel Pedraza, linen coordinator, and Carolyn Judkins, team leader, Perez has been more than a mentor, she’s been a friend. Thirty years ago, Perez trained Pedraza and 15 years ago, she trained Judkins.

“Dolores is a very nice person, she showed me how to do everything from top to bottom, how to clean, how to recognize patients, how to talk to patients” Pedraza said. “She's very dedicated and loves her job.”

“We miss her when she’s not here. We just love her,” Judkins said. “Dolores has worked nights, day shift, third shift - she’s done it all.”

No one knows the hospital’s halls quite like Dolores who has traversed them multiple times, delivering meals to patients with a smile or pushing her cleaning cart down the hallway. Her smiling face is one thing both staff and patients can look forward to seeing while at the hospital.

When Perez first began working at DeTar, the hospital was a small, two-story building. She has spent more than five decades watching both the hospital and the community grow and change.

Along the way, she has worked at DeTar Hospital Navarro, DeTar Hospital North and the DeTar Health and Fitness Center, serving in various roles across different departments. Buildings changed. Departments changed. Technology changed. But Perez’s reason for coming to work remained the same. People.

“I love to take care of others in whatever way I can,” Perez said.

That desire to care for others is woven into nearly every part of who Perez is. A smile doesn’t cost anything. A laugh can change someone’s day. A helping hand can mean more than people realize.Perez has spent her career giving those things away freely.

“Life is what you make it, do something worthwhile with it,” Perez said. “We need more love and laughter in the world.”

At 85, Perez still finds joy in making people laugh and smile. She still enjoys helping others. And she still sees value in the work she does every day.

“Either you need to do something or you want to do it, and I want to do this,” Perez said.

Perez came to DeTar in 1974 looking for a job. What she gave DeTar in return was so much more. For 52 years, she has given her time, her hard work, her laughter, her kindness and her heart. And she is still giving.

At 85 years old, Perez isn’t slowing down just yet. If you find yourself visiting DeTar Hospital Navarro, you might just catch a glimpse of Dolores and her cart, smiling at others as she makes her way through the hallways.

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