Family Legacy, Part 2
Around two years after Leland and Tanya Brenneman founded Stuarts Draft Retirement Community, it became clear that with some extra support, their business could truly flourish. Family friends Rodney and Renee Martin seemed an obvious choice to provide that support.
Rodney and Leland had run in the same social circles in Stuarts Draft and had known each other since school. And since the Brennemans had returned from overseas, the two families had been in church together. Their lives were already deeply intermingled, creating a shared experience of faith and values. So when the Brennemans came to the Martins with a business proposal, Rodney and Renee were eager to invest. They became partners in SDRC and immediately became profoundly involved in the community.
In no time, it became apparent that the Martins were investing far more than money into the business. They committed their day-to-day lives to the betterment of the residents, staff, and community. Rodney became foundational in building relationships in and through SDRC. His commitment to the vision and mission of the community was lived out through a daily grind of meeting needs, serving the residents, and supporting the staff. Over time, Rodney became the face of Stuarts Draft Retirement Community, and together with the Brennemans, the Martins helped create the brand of SDRC that now evokes trust, faith, and a deeply rooted sense of care and relationship. In fact, without ever articulating the phrase, Rodney Martin became an embodiment of what would become SDRC’s motto…building the Shenandoah Valley’s choice senior living community one relationship at a time.
When one of the Martin’s four daughters married Jon Dooley, the business underwent another evolution. Jon joined the SDRC staff in 2018 in Resident Relations and then moved into an Associate Executive role in 2020, allowing Rodney to transition to a support role. But Jon functions in the exact same manner his father-in-law did, throwing himself into the relational business of caring for residents and staff alike. He now serves alongside of Executive Director David Brenneman and continues the legacy the Martin family started at SDRC nearly three decades ago.
Today Rodney and Renee are busy serving their community in new and exciting ways. They invest in local ministries such as Young Life and Love Inc., and they support global missions through their work with Agape. Sharing a vision for the future of the business, the Martins have also become active investors in the development of The Village at Mint Spring. While their work is now mainly behind the scenes, it continues to add value to what they helped create in the first place: a family-run retirement community that celebrates all seasons of life and cultivates faithful living.