YOUR STORY MATTERS HERE: Jill Easterling

By Tim Wesley

Jill Easterling enjoys working in her chosen field of interior design.  But she’s really passionate about building bridges.

Whether seeking creative ways to match a client’s needs with its budget, or minding the generation gap at home between her 86-year-old father and her 15-year-old son, Jill delights in bridge-building, and the discipline and spiritual growth it requires.

“Design is a very subjective field, so everyone has their likes and dislikes,” she said.  “I try to remember that we are all God’s creatures and are equally important in His eyes.  That means everyone’s views and opinions are valid, not just mine.  It’s really about trying to be respectful of other people and keeping an open mind.”

She finds daily opportunities to apply those principles, both professionally and personally.

As director of quoting services for Zelienople-based Hospitality Furnishings & Design, Jill helps hotel clients such as Marriott and Hilton design and purchase everything from window treatments to furniture.  She loves the variety that comes from working with worldwide brands and diverse projects.

“No project is ever the same,” she said.  “Between the design, the customers, the locations and special circumstances, something is always different.”

And something is usually challenging, especially with today’s reality of supply-chain constraints and rising prices.   

“I wear a fire fighter’s hat most of the day,” Jill said.  “Right now, we’re working to find solutions for customers who are juggling their needs with the increased costs of goods and transportation.  We source a lot overseas but with transportation costs now much higher than normal, sometimes domestic suppliers can actually be more cost-effective.  I spent two days recently looking for an alternative vendor for window treatments.  These days, price and availability sometimes changes daily.”

A native of Ohio, Jill and her adopted son moved to Pennsylvania for her new job about 10 years ago.  Moving away from family was a big change, but connecting with Dutilh in 2015 helped to bridge the gap.

“I can’t imagine living here in Pennsylvania, away from all my family in Ohio, if I didn’t have this church community,” she said.  “I’m so grateful for all the gifts my family and me receive through interacting with the many wonderful people at Dutilh.”

Over the years, Jill became involved at Dutilh by participating in small groups, by mentoring a confirmand, and by serving on various committees, including the Board of Trustees and the Leadership Board.  In each role, she met new friends and learned more about the church and its inner workings. 

Most recently, she served on Dutilh’s Building Committee, which was involved in the interior design portion of the Make Room campaign.  For Jill and the committee, it was a highly iterative process that required the ultimate in listening, flexibility, patience and, you guessed it, bridge-building.

“We had to think through the different needs of the church and learn what’s important to people,” she said.  “For some members, it was all about accessibility, while others thought the gym was the most important space.  So we had to look at those different and sometimes competing needs and try to do the best for everyone.

“One of our goals was to create an inviting environment to help entice new members into the church, and typically that means younger people who find us through the preschool program or Vacation Bible School.  So while we weren’t directing the design only toward that age group, we needed to help them feel like they were finding ‘their’ church.  At the same time, we wanted to ensure that our current attendees and visitors felt a warmth and sense of community with plenty of seating areas to hang out and visit, room to host events in Fellowship Hall, fun classrooms for teens and little ones, and easier access to areas for anyone with physical limitations.”

Just as in her professional life, Jill immersed herself in the project’s details, such as the signage and bright colors for the preschool; the vision that Bud Fickley, director of Student Ministry, espoused for the youth group space; and a mural created by Betsy Pedicone.

“The mural in the corridor is one of my favorite features,” Jill said.  “We wanted it to tell a story and invite people in visually.  Betsy’s art was amazing.  We knew not everyone would get it, but I recently had an older gentleman come up to me, and he said he didn’t like it at first, but then he saw how it connected the message of the scriptures to Dutilh’s message, and now he loves it.”

Throughout the process, Jill relied on her faith principles, often literally.

“Sometimes I’d get there early for meetings so I could go into the sanctuary to just pray to remind me to focus on what we’re trying to accomplish,” she said.  “This isn’t life or death stuff, but it brings out emotions in people, and all opinions are completely valid because this isn’t my church any more than anyone else’s.”

Jill’s involvement at Dutilh has strengthened ties to her church family, but the most personal, most important bridge she’s built is the one that connects her father, Richard, to her son, Mike. 

A freshman at Seneca Valley High School who enjoys audio-visual technology and volunteers in the sound booth at Dutilh, Mike was adopted from an orphanage in Guatemala when he was nine months old.  He filled an important gap in Jill’s life.

“I always wanted to be a mom, and I kept thinking maybe someday I’ll adopt,” she said.  “I was 40 when he came home with me and made me a mom.  I had lived a full life up to that point, with college, my career, a busy life with friends.  Then I started the second part of my life.  The best part.  Mike is my world, and I am thankful every day that God put the two of us together.”

The adoption process spanned five years and had more than a few bends in the road.

“There were a lot of decisions to work through,” Jill said.  “Did I want to adopt internationally or domestically?  A boy or a girl?  I figured God makes that decision when you’re a birth parent, so I didn’t want to pick.  They put me on the shortest list, and at that time it was for boys.  You put together a little flip book with some pictures of your family and you, where you live, do you have pets, etc.  The birth mothers look at that and they get to pick the family their baby goes with, and she picked me.  When he was born, I first saw him when he was five weeks old.  It was the first time I got to hold him, and he just fit in my arms.”

After meeting her new son, Jill had to leave Mike there, then return in eight months to pick him up for the journey to his new home.

Today, that home in Cranberry Township also includes Richard, who moved in with his daughter and grandson four years ago after his wife, Jill’s mom, passed away.  Richard was an insurance salesman who taught driver’s education for about 15 years during retirement.  His health is generally good, so he often hits a local gym for a morning workout, then visits the township’s senior center for lunch with a few friends.  On Sundays, he attends Dutilh’s 9:30 a.m. service with Jill and Mike.

“He would like the music better at 11 a.m., but he has met so many people and enjoys coming with us,” Jill said.

The three have cultivated many other ties that bind them together and bridge the generation gaps.

Richard and Mike occasionally go fishing, not so much to catch fish but just to spend the time together.  Richard recently bought a miniature ping pong set with little paddles and a net that stretches across the kitchen counter.  Jill and Mike share similar tastes in music – 1980s-vintage rock and roll – and movies – the Marvel Comics superhero series – so they often attend events together.

And if you’re looking for a capstone connection, that would be Jeopardy, the popular television game show, which they watch together during dinner.

“That’s Dad’s passion; he doesn’t miss it,” Jill said.  “Dad is the best, especially with history questions.  With any questions about new and modern topics, Mike and I are better.  We just have fun and joke around a lot.”

Sounds like a well-built bridge.

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If you or someone you know in the Dutilh family has an interesting story or profession, send us your ideas! We would love to help tell the story. Email: communications@dutilhumc.org.