Book traces Mennonite Home community's tale of faith, perseverance

BLUFFTON — When Joanne Niswander started researching the history of the Mennonite Home Communities of Ohio, she didn't know what to expect. But the Bluffton woman uncovered a tale of faith and perseverance by early organizers who worked a decade before the first nursing home was established in the 1950s. The community has since grown to include four campuses plus outreach services. "It's an amazing story," said Niswander, who is a resident of Maple Crest Senior Living Village which is a part of the MHCO community. "Some of the plans they sort of made and they would drop, and something else would come up. And it just all came together." The resulting work has been compiled into the first MHCO history book, "How it Came to Be … And to Grow." The 130-page volume includes large print, color photographs and historical documents, and can be preordered through July 20. She and her husband, Dean, moved to Maple Crest in 2002. Dean was a lifelong Bluffton resident, graduating from Bluffton High School and Bluffton College. He was in business for many years with his father who owned a farm implement dealership. Joanne grew up in Illinois, and the two met as students at Bluffton College. They were married in 1950. Niswander wrote her first book in 2012. "An Alzheimer's Primer: Lessons for Living, Dying and Living Again" tells about her 10-year Alzheimer's journey with Dean, who died in 2010. A second book, "Reflections from Maple Crest Pond," followed in 2015. "I don't really know why I did that, but I guess I needed to write something," said Niswander, who is now 91. After the second book was published, Doug Luginbill, who worked as the director of resource development and church relations at MHCO at the time, suggested a history on the agency. The project was one that CEO Laura Voth had talked about for a while. Getting started, Niswander found a wealth of information in old newsletters, called The Homesteader. The community's story started when the Rev. Jesse Smucker, pastor of Bluffton's First Mennonite Church at the time, paid a visit to one of his elderly parishioners. He found she could no longer care for herself in her home, but had no family to help and nowhere to turn. Smucker took the parishioner to the small hospital in town, which reluctantly admitted her since she was not ill. They also suggested that the churches in the town come together and open a nursing home, rather than depending on the hospital to care for individuals in this situation. "That was in 1945, right after the war," said Niswander. "And so Rev. Smucker talked to some of the pastors in town. But the Methodists already had a home someplace in Ohio, and so did the Presbyterians. And so anyway, they weren't really interested." Smucker then turned to the other Mennonite pastors in the area. "They started looking and thinking, taking it seriously that maybe they ought to do something. They kept thinking and so then it started to be a Mennonite project," she said. At the time, people were reluctant to put a lot of money into the idea. But eventually, the men incorporated and bought some land which they started clearing in 1949. An architect was hired to design a sketch of the building. "But the money just didn't," said Niswander. "It came in in dribs and drabs. So for 10 years, they worked on this idea and in 10 years time, they finally had a building." In the beginning, according to the newsletter, each room contained a single bed with springs and a mattress, a chest of drawers, two chairs, a small table or desk, and a small table radio. A woman's group was started to clean the rooms. The building was dedicated in 1955. Although her family lived in Bluffton at the time, Niswander said she doesn't remember the event: "We were having children and I didn't have anything to do with the old folks then." Niswander spent several years reading through old newsletters and interviewing people for the book. Later, she found pictures to accompany the manuscript. "I wrote the story, but it just kept writing itself," she said. "I kept finding all these wonderful things." She later turned everything over to Voth. "And it just sat for a couple of years in the desk. Laura wanted to do it, but there were too many other things that came in," said Niswander. "So then when she resigned … she said there's one thing I want to make sure we get done, even if I'm not here, it needs to be done." That was the completion of the book, according to Niswander. Voth added more recent information and edited the manuscript. The book can be preordered at a cost of $20. Order forms and instructions can be found at mhcoliving.org Books will be available at the Mennonite Memorial Home after Aug. 17. All proceeds benefit the benevolent care/endowment fund which supports the community's care for elders who have outlived their resources. Niswander is also planning to be present at this year's Concert on the Lawn on Aug. 22 for anyone who would like to have their book signed. Wolf: 419-427-8419