On September 24th, 1989, Luthercare took another first step with the groundbreaking of St. John’s Herr Estate in Columbia, PA. 300 people gathered to witness this historic moment, which represented another opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the people we served. Speaking at the event was the then president of the LSS-ER Board of Directors, Pastor Dennis L. Trout of Swamp Lutheran Church, Reinholds. In his address he said, “The St. John’s Herr Estate Project is far more than arranging the Earth and planting some bricks. It encompasses another first step, that started a long time ago, to care for one another on many levels.”
In spring of 1990, the first application for residency at St. John’s would be received from Elizabeth and Norman Wintermyer. Both were long term members of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Columbia, which donated the tract of land that would become the community they were applying to live in. An additional connection that Mrs. Wintermyer had was that the church quilting group she was chairperson for provided bed pads and lap robes for residents at Luther Acres, our Lititz campus.
The dedication ceremony for St. John’s Herr Estate was held on Pentecost Sunday, May 19th, 1991. By that time, applications had been received to occupy all of the one-bedroom apartments, most of the two-bedroom apartments, and nearly half of the cottages. From that first day onward, the community would only continue to grow into the thriving place it is today.
