Men and Women of the Decade

For each of the past 10 years, November has been a time of reflection and recognition at Gulfshore Life. Since 1998, we’ve singled out the best and the brightest in a region filled with shining stars in the arts and academia, culture and commerce, sports and social responsibility. And so we arrive at a decade of such honors; a fitting time to recognize the special leaders among us who have made the biggest impact on the area over these past 10 years. Anyone with even a passing acquaintance with the Gulfshore will recognize the names of our seven distinguished honorees. They’ve championed the arts and cared for the sick. They’ve founded retail giants and established a new learning center in a new town. They are omnipresent trailblazers using their formidable talents and passions to shape and improve our communities. And here they are: Gulfshore Life’s Men & Women of the Decade.

Myra Janco Daniels
Founder, CEO and Chairman of the Philharmonic Center for the Arts

Myra Janco Daniels wins her place as a culture legend by establishing the Philharmonic Center for the Arts and building it into one of the most successful art complexes in the country. She has raised more than $300 million for the center—and regularly brings in some of the world’s biggest artists and entertainers.

Now one of Southwest Florida’s cultural landmarks, the Phil started out with more modest objectives. When Daniels moved to the area in 1980, she saw a gaping hole in the region’s cultural scene and set to work establishing an orchestra.

"That was a big potato to bite into," she says. "And I don’t know that I was as qualified, but I sure as heck learned in a hurry." She challenged the community to help, and, by 1989, she had raised $19 million and the Phil opened its doors to the public.

This year, the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra celebrated its 25th anniversary, and Daniels says it was one of the most gratifying nights of her life. "Have you ever been someplace where you just felt the love?" she asks. "I went down to the stage and I looked at the audience and there were tears in their eyes."

Her hard work—14-hour workdays and hardly any vacations for 25 years—has paid off. She’s seen the community develop an appreciation for the arts. And through her vision and efforts, Southwest Florida is now a thriving cultural center.

Birthplace: Gary, Ind. "I won’t tell you when." Who she most admires: "The unsung heroes. People who help people." Biggest challenge in the last decade: "Attracting the Major League people—the right people—and bringing them to Naples." What she’d change about herself: "I’d be harder on myself to take time to smell the roses. I crave some time for myself." Life’s most gratifying experience: "Taking nothing and making some-thing in this complex." Message to her younger self: "Don’t expect everyone to love their work as you do. Let everyone take it at their pace." A book with special meaning: When the St. John’s Bible—the first illuminated, handwritten Bible—visited the Naples Museum of Art last year, "It opened up a whole new world for me. I saw the Bible in a more meaningful way." People would be surprised to know: "I love to cook stick-to-your-guts food—soups, puddings. I have about 300 cookbooks." Her secret obsession/guilty pleasure: Interior decorating. "Your home is a painting." What the region needs most in the next decade: "Affordable housing to attract people who are willing to stake out a claim and make this place a better place in which to live."

Nancy and Bill Lascheid
Founders of Naples’ Neighborhood Health Clinic

When Bill and Nancy Lascheid retired from successful careers in medicine a decade ago, the couple sat down at their kitchen table and crafted a plan detailing how they’d spend their newfound free time. It was, according to Bill, 81, the first "all-nighter" he’d pulled since medical school some 55 years earlier.

The result of that very personal exercise is the Naples’ Neighborhood Health Clinic, one of the most important healthcare resources for the uninsured and underinsured working poor of Collier County. "From day one, it was clear that this was something special because it immediately took on a life of its own," says Nancy, 70.

As the founders, this doctor-nurse, husband-wife team continues to work tirelessly alongside 500 volunteers to provide top-notch care for nearly 3,000 area residents. The clinic, which opened in 1999 in a dilapidated storefront in the vacated Grand Central Station, was moved to spacious, modern digs on Goodlette Road North in 2002. The organization remains a "retirement" pursuit that continues to energize the pair. For Bill, the most gratifying part is still "seeing the faces of the patients when they leave the clinic because they know that they have received good care."
"And we did it together," Nancy adds. "This is not autonomous from the marriage—this is the marriage. We’re a team. If you get Bill Lascheid, you get Nancy."

Birthplace: Him, Cleveland; her, Pittsburgh. What he admires in others: "The fact that people are willing to come here, either to work or to volunteer, and enjoy what they’re doing." Biggest sacrifice in the last 10 years: "The lack of time with our children and our grandchildren." But, the compensation: "When you see the pride which our children and our grandchildren and our great grandchildren have in this endeavor, then it helps to negate some of that." Advice to her younger self: "Don’t be so stubborn, be more open." And his: "Hang in there, baby. Keep smiling. People will warm up to somebody who is smiling." What he won’t talk about at cocktail parties: Politics and religion. And for her: Gossip. "I think that’s a waste of time and counterproductive." What this region needs most in the next 10 years: "Our biggest crisis is affordable housing, and healthcare is a huge one too. This clinic is successful, but this clinic cannot be all things to all people."

Jim Nathan
President and CEO OF Lee Memorial Health System

Jim Nathan spent much of his young life in and out of hospitals. His father, he says, was "a professional patient," diagnosed with tuberculosis, emphysema, diabetes and a slew of other ailments. "Some people are military brats; well, I was a hospital brat," Nathan says.

After pursuing government, pre-law and business, Nathan found himself back in the hospital environment, this time studying health administration. "I didn’t want to be around sick people, but I kept realizing that I had a calling," he says.

Nathan headed up Lee Memorial Health System for 16 years before he left to work on national healthcare reform for three years. "I failed miserably along with everybody else I know of who’s tried that," he says. He returned to run Lee Memorial once again in 2000, where he has instilled leadership, designed HealthPark Medical Center’s "healing environment" and, most recently, acquired two local hospitals.

While facing the strain caused by the region’s growth, Nathan focuses on unifying the healthcare community with a sole mission to serve its people. "My job is to be an enabler," he says. "To enable others to do small and large miracles every day."

Birthplace: Albuquerque, N.M. People he most admires: "Those who use their God-given talents to help others." What he’d change about himself: "I’d be better at complimenting my wife, Karen." Most gratifying experience: "When I was first appointed CEO at age 35." Message to his younger self: "You are in control of your own destiny." What he won’t talk about at cocktail parties: Politics. A song with special meaning: The Impossible Dream. People would be surprised to know: "How very shy I am, and that I was quite overweight as a child." Guilty pleasure: Edy’s Slow Churned chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. What the region needs most in the next decade: "Sustainable leadership that is able to deal with the complexities of growth."

Marvin and Helene Gralnick
Founders of Chico's Fas Inc.

Theirs is a fairy tale love story. Marvin and Helene Gralnick met in Guadalajara, Mexico, in the early 70s. They had an instant bond, and Helene joined him in business selling folk art, handmade crafts and clothing, and exporting it to the United States.

The clothing sold best, so they created a clothing and accessories store and eventually established the business’s roots on Sanibel Island, naming it Chico’s.

"Chico’s was started out of passion and love, and it continues that way," says Marvin.

The couple nested on Sanibel—built their business and raised their children there. Soon Chico’s was thriving, with stores opening across the United States.

"Helene was the customer," says Marvin. "She had a very practical, tasteful awareness that had a lot to do with the business and its success."

They retired in 1993, but returned to the business the next year after sales dipped. "There were emotional ties to it and there still are," says Marvin. When they retired last December, Chico’s FAS Inc. operated 909 women’s specialty stores in 47 states, including Chico’s, White House | Black Market, Soma by Chico’s and Fitigues brand names.