David Barnes

My career began with Fountains Retirement Communities in 1988 when I served as an operational troubleshooter. What does that mean? Basically, I traveled to senior communities across the United States. I lived at these communities to experience what worked well and what could be improved. Getting that knowledge firsthand was invaluable.

I worked with the executive directors implementing our policies, procedures and systems. It was so important to maintain the same high standards at every Fountains community.

In this role I had the best primer in healthy aging. I met a resident who worked with Harry S. Truman and still spoke of him with fond enthusiasm. Another who, never having learned to swim, picked a date to swim with bottle-nosed dolphins in Biscay Bay for her 98th birthday celebration. Another resident went skydiving as a remedy for a seriously debilitating muscular disease. Talk about expressing yourself!

In October 2006, we changed our name from Fountains Retirement Communities of Arizona to Watermark Retirement Communities. As president, I ensure that we have the right people, in the right place, doing the right thing: serving our associates, residents, and clients. Over the years, we’ve developed state-of-the-art systems, and we’re proud of them. But it’s really our amazingly committed associates and residents that make Watermark communities such uncommon places. I continue to find inspiration in that every day.