Golden Life building in Pincher Creek

Cranbrook-based Golden Life Management and its associated building company, Pace Setter Construction are constructing a new senior care home in the Southern Alberta town of Pincher Creek.

The formula is modeled after the company's other successful operations, like Garden View Village in Kimberley and Joseph Creek Village in Cranbrook. Golden Life also has built and operates similiar "golden age" independent living facilities in Fernie, Invermere, Creston, Trail, Castlegar and Nelson.

The care facility is slated to open in the spring of 2011 and will be called the Whispering Winds Village. It is believed that this is first time the company has ventured into the Alberta seniors care market.

Golden Life Management is a family-owned business that evolved in response to a personal challenge. In the 1990s the founder and CEO, Endre Lillejord, began exploring housing options for his mother. At that time, institutionalized seniors care was the norm. Choices, services and environments that supported independence and dignity were not commonly available. Working with Pace Setter Construction, Endre Lillejord built the type of home he wanted for his mother and created Golden Life Management to operate it; Joseph Creek Village in Cranbrook, B.C., the company's first facility, welcomed its first residents in 1998.