Careage Leadership Team

Evelyn graduated from the University of Washington, and was recruited by her former high school principal to teach English. Following her teaching career she received a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Puget Sound, and a second Master’s Degree in Family Therapy from Pacific Lutheran University. Her success as a professional therapist, and the founder of Lakewood Professional Counseling Center with nine associates required her to become familiar with real estate, leasing and management. While serving the community for 18 years as a clinician, she began developing office buildings. The past 25 years she has worked alongside her late husband, Gene Lynn, in the healthcare industry. Together they developed, constructed and operated Healthcare facilities under the name “Careage” which stands for “Care for the aged”. They both shared the passion for helping people, and believed that to enhance another person’s life was the most gratifying of all rewards. It has been their calling and mission!

John Hogan has 25 years of leadership experience in institutional grade real estate construction, development, finance and operations. Mr. Hogan utilizes his expertise with Careage’s senior leadership team to develop and execute various strategies across their asset portfolio to optimize Careage’s array of business models within the senior living industry. John’s most noted areas of expertise can be found in project feasibility analyses, financial analyses, partnership/investor structures, master planning, permitting, legal issues and all forms of corporate financing.

Mr. Hogan is a Seattle area native earning his BA from Boston College in 1990 and has been previously employed by the St. Elizabeth’s Hospital Cardiovascular Research Department in Boston from 1989 to 1993 under famed researcher Dr. Jeffrey Isner, MD before embarking on his career in construction and finance in 1994. Mr. Hogan has been a director on Kitsap Bank’s board since 2013 overseeing approximately $1.3B in bank assets.

Mr. John Hogan serves as mentor for the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business’ Entrepreneurial Program and recently completed his ten-year mentorship for Seattle University’s Albers School of Business.

Dr. Ken Farmer was the Chief Executive Officer for Careage from late 2016 to early 2019 and remains on the Careage Board. Before becoming CEO, he had been a consultant for Careage.

Dr. Farmer served on active duty in the US Army for almost 32 years in a variety of clinical, operational and leadership positions, retiring as a Major General in 2006. His final assignments were Deputy Surgeon General followed by Commanding General, Walter Reed Army Medical Center and North Atlantic Regional Medical Command.

He was Executive Vice-President/Chief Operating Officer for TriWest Healthcare Alliance from 2006-2013 when TriWest managed the private sector care for the Military Health System’s 21-state West Region of 2.7 million TRICARE beneficiaries.

In May 2020 Dr. Farmer was asked to become Director of the Office of Disaster Recovery for Pierce County Washington to advise and assist the County Executive in COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.

A graduate of Auburn University and the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham, Ken completed his family practice residency at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, WA.

An active volunteer in community and non-profit organizations, he currently serves on the board of Tacoma’s Museum of Glass and the Executive Committee of Cru Military, is former board chair of Bellevue, WA based Stronger Families and is past president of the Kiwanis Club of Steilacoom, WA. Among many hobbies and interests, Ken has run 39 marathons and is an avid skier.

Melinda Deitz joined Careage in April of 2014 as its Director of Tax. In April of 2016 she took the role as Vice President of Finance/Director of Tax, which is a position she held until June 2020, when she was appointed as the CFO.

Prior to joining Careage, Melinda spent over ten years in public accounting, During this time, she specialized in federal income tax, working on a variety of clients and entity structures, and building a strong foundation in tax, accounting and client engagement management. In addition, to public accounting, Melinda also spent three years in a corporate accounting environment. It was during this time she realized that that she enjoys work cultures that not only allows her to utilize her financial strengths in tax and accounting, but also provides her an opportunity that allows her to interact with people and be intimately involved in the day to day operations of the company.

Melinda has used her extensive professional experience to guide Careage on complex tax and estate matters. She has also used her skills to become an integral part of the senior management team, managing the day to day function of the financial team, as well as participating in the process of defining the short, medium and longer vision of Careage. She has built strong relationships with both internal and external stakeholders and has a demonstrated the ability to connect with people in many different areas besides finance.

Though Melinda spent her younger years moving around due to her father’s military career, she has spent most of her adult life in Washington State. She graduated from Western Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting, with a minor in business administration and Japanese. Melinda has been a licensed Washington State CPA since March of 2005.

Outside of work, Melinda enjoys paddle boarding, kayaking and anything that involves being out on the water. She also loves to relax and spend time with her family, which includes her husband, two kids and their two dogs.

Mike Campeau joined Careage in 1997. Mike has been active in the construction and real estate development industry for over 20 years and became President of Construction in 2016. Mike’s extensive and diverse construction experience includes; project management, preconstruction services, design-build, estimating, and construction management. He provides executive-level oversight and leadership of our construction and real estate development teams.