THE WOMAN BEHIND THE TRIBE
105 YEARS OF LIFE LIVED FULLY ‘LIVING GREED FOR LIFE”
EMILY B. (SITOSKY) SERIAN ⋅ ROSSITER, PA
Emily B. Serian — Nana, as she became known to so many around the world — attributed her longevity to living greedy for life: a desire to absorb every precious moment. She died peacefully at home surrounded by her family, her beloved Cleveland Indians memorabilia, and the legacy she had quietly built across a century.
When we sit quiet and listen to the life stories of others, we learn to be compassionate — free of judgment.
Born to poor Polish immigrants on a farm in Rossiter, PA, one of 16 siblings, Nana knew poverty, hunger, and the sting of being bullied for tattered clothes. But woven through all of that was her sheer joy of living — her fierce belief in belonging to something larger than herself.
She could see need in others and respond without hesitation. She believed that if we treated each other as relatives, love and purpose would become a way of life. Those who knew her joined her tribe — and carried her voice forward.
Tribal living is built on the belief that we can survive many hardships in this life — except living lonely and without purpose. Generational love is the ultimate antidote to isolation.
Nana, in her own words
Her message was simple: be good to one another, care for your community, and treat people like family.
Her Legacy Lives Across Generation
Nana understood that what we pass from one generation to the next is more than a family name or a collection of memories. We pass along the way we welcome people, the stories we choose to preserve, and the responsibility we feel for one another.
Nana’s Tribe carries her spirit beyond our family—creating opportunities for people of different ages and backgrounds to know one another, learn from one another, and discover what becomes possible when everyone has a place to belong.
WHY NOW:
We Were Built for Each Other
Young people today are more connected than any generation before them, and somehow lonelier than all of them. The seniors who built our neighborhoods with their hands and their presence now sit alone inside them. Somewhere along the way, we decided generations belong in separate worlds. Nana never believed that for a minute.
Here is what the data can’t capture. When generations actually sit together — when a young person listens to someone who lived through the Depression or marched through the Civil Rights Movement — something shifts. Another person’s lived history undoes the shortcuts our minds like to take, the assumptions we’ve carried so long we forgot they were assumptions.
Bias doesn’t survive close contact. Bullying requires distance — emotional, generational, human. When we truly know someone’s story, it becomes nearly impossible to reduce them to a target.
And it works in both directions. Seniors who spend real time with young people find their own certainties softening — about who this generation is, what they’re carrying, and what they’re capable of.
The World Health Organization has created a global commission on social isolation because the research has become impossible to ignore. Science is finally catching up to what Nana knew in her bones: we were built for each other — not just for people our own age, but for the whole messy, beautiful span of a human life.
Nana grew up poor, the daughter of Polish immigrants, bullied for tattered clothes and an empty lunchbox. She never forgot what it felt like to be unseen. She used to say that when we sit quiet and listen to the life stories of others, we learn to be compassionate, free of judgment. That sounds like a soft idea. It is actually a radical one.
Generational connection isn’t nostalgia. It is how we heal each other, and how we finally learn to see each other clearly — maybe for the first time.
The antidote to bias is a conversation across generations. Every generation holds a piece of the truth the other needs.
THE BOARD
Who carries her voice forward.
Every legacy needs people willing to carry it with care.
The board helps guide the mission, protect Nana’s legacy, and carry the work forward with care.
DR. LORI STEVIC RUST
PRESIDENT
Lori Stevic-Rust, Ph.D., ABPP, is a board-certified clinical health psychologist, author, entrepreneur, and award-winning keynote speaker specializing in women’s empowerment, holistic health, and healthy aging, with particular expertise in brain health and dementia care. Her advocacy for women and seniors has earned her the Outstanding Leadership Award from the Western Reserve Area on Aging, recognition as a YWCA Woman of Achievement, and induction into the KSU Hall of Fame. She has written seven books, including her memoir Greedy for Life, Put on Your Big Girl Shoes, the dementia caregiver guide So Your Loved One Has Dementia- Now What and the children’s book Lily’s Red Shoes of Courage. An international dementia care consultant and creator of Holistic Dementia Care®.
In memory of her soulmate—her beloved 105-year-old Nana—Dr. Lori founded Nana’s Tribe Foundation, which brings seniors and youth together to eliminate isolation and bias through intergenerational connections that foster learning and inspire purpose. She carried this mission to the TEDWomen conference, where she spoke on the value of intergenerational relationships. She lives with her husband, Jay Rust, and is the proud mother of two adult daughters, Sarah and Katie, and grandmother to Isla Jane and Ava Madelyn.
CHRISTINE CHRISTINE WISKOCHIL
TREASURER
Christine Benner Wiskochil is a Vice President with Baird. She provides a wide range of wealth management and investment services to her clients through the Baird office in downtown Cleveland. Her areas of expertise within financial services inclide life insurance protection strategies, retirement planning with a focus on investments and education and investment strategies. Christine and her team have served clients for over 60 years.
Christine earned her Bachelor’s Degree from The University of Toledo and graduated Cum Laude. She began her career in the Financial Services industry in 1991.
Christine has a passion for using her finance and communication skills to strengthen her community. She has been a treasurer of Cleveland Rotary Club, Rocky River Chamber of Commerce and a Board Member of Recovery Resources. Christine was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio and now resides in Lakewood, OH. In her free time, she enjoys camping, outdoor activities, fitness, teaching, church, volunteering, and spending time with her husband Jim and dog Ogelthorpe.
Garith Fulham
Secretary
Garith Fulham is an award-winning nonprofit executive and public policy leader with more than three decades of experience advancing community-focused initiatives, building strategic partnerships, and strengthening mission-driven organizations. He has held executive leadership roles across local, regional, and national nonprofits, leading program development, fundraising, communications, public policy, and coalition-building. Throughout his career, Garith has worked collaboratively with boards, elected officials, community leaders, and volunteers to expand services, secure funding, and improve outcomes for vulnerable populations. Recognized for his strategic leadership, collaborative approach, and commitment to public service, he is dedicated to building stronger, more connected, and more resilient communities.