Will Henington Tift is the product of a stereotypical American story. His Baby Boomer parents met while cruising State Street in Santa Barbara circa 1969. The young family moved to the Tahoe City area but was separated by divorce a few years later. Will’s father settled in Truckee where he remains today; he is semi-retired from the water district and continues to work on classic cars. Will’s mother became a registered nurse, working primarily in the home health field; she has retired to the Oregon coast where she hopes to sell her paintings to tourists on the sidewalk.
As a child and again as a young adult, Will spent time living with his paternal grandparents, Lewis Tift, Sr. and Nellie Faye Henington, in Carpenteria, CA and Jamestown, CA, respectively. Lewis Sr., a military policeman and then recent WWII veteran (First Infantry Division), and Nellie Faye, a beautiful bachelorette, met at a Victory Parade circa 1945. Both of Will’s paternal great-grandparents had migrated to California during the Great Depression to find agricultural work, one from Texas and the other from Michigan.
Will joined Agency on Aging \ Area 4 in 2003. He served as an outreach specialist, associate planner, program manager and planner before being promoted to the role of Assistant Director by Deanna Lea in 2013. Will oversaw the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Senior Needs Assessment projects. He is also the principle author of The Dual Challenge: Preserving Services for the Oldest Old Today; Planning for the Elderly Baby Boomers of Tomorrow (2009). Alongside Pamela Miller, Will continues to work every day to help better position Area 4 for the unprecedented surge in our 60+ population.
Prior to his time with Area 4, Will worked under Sandra Fitzpatrick at Area 1 Agency on Aging in Eureka, CA, serving as a sometimes Senior Information & Assistance specialist and as a part-time eldercare coordinator, offering personalized guidance to working family caregivers. Will holds a Master’s degree in Sociology with an emphasis on Social Science Research Methods from Humboldt State University. Today, Will lives in Folsom with his amazing and accomplished wife, Jolene, and his smart and spirited daughter, Maya Faye.