78 Photo Essay: Tara Branstetter

Administrator at Ridgeview Health Services

Words by Justin Hunter | Image by Blakeney Clouse

 Tara Branstetter is slowly losing her Northern accent and her Midwestern family gives her heck for it. 

“When I go home, I am constantly made fun of because I have a Southern twang I didn’t have before,” she says with a thick Southern charm. “They’re like ‘Y’all, who is that?’”

Originally from Middletown, Indiana, a small farming town, Tara was an All-State volleyball player at Shenandoah High School and received an athletic scholarship to Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida. When she graduated with a ministry degree in 2013, a relationship was blossoming with her future husband, Stuart Branstetter. 

Stuart later accepted a job as Jasper First United Methodist Church’s youth pastor and the couple found themselves solidly in Walker County. Eventually, the two were married in 2014. 

“I’ve been here eight years now,” Tara says. “My faith has given me a platform to lead and to develop deep relationships with the residents and employees.”

Tara, who initially was a pre-med student before her call into the ministry, was recently promoted to administrator of Ridgeview Health Services, a skilled nursing facility that provides both short- and long-term care.

“I had no idea I would be working at a nursing home,” she says, “but I had an offer to be an executive assistant and wanted to try it. I just gradually worked my way up from there. 

In addition to her work at Ridgeview, Tara also has proven to be a successful coach. Six years ago, she transformed the Meek High School Lady Tigers into a force to reckoned with on the volleyball court. On a chilly Thursday in 2015, two days before Halloween, she led her girls to their first AHSAA Class 1A championship in a grueling battle over juggernaut Donoho High School. It was only her second year to helm the program. 

“I had an amazing group of girls each year who were such a joy to coach,” Tara says. “We shared so many memories together. We put a lot of hours in and worked hard to get to our end goal.”

Over a four-year stretch, Tara’s teams posted a state championship and two runner-ups before she hung up her whistle in 2017. “I stepped away from coaching because I was well into pregnancy with my first child, Rylan,” she says.

The Branstetters are expecting their second daughter in July. Tara is excited about what the future holds for her family and looks forward to her new role as administrator. “I care a lot about the facility, the residents, and the employees,” she says. 78