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A treasured piece of history of
Lincoln has found a permanent home at St. Clara’s Rehab and Senior
Care facility.
[July 23, 2025]
A treasured piece of history of
Lincoln has found a permanent home at St. Clara’s Rehab and Senior
Care facility.
Through the efforts of the Catholic Hospital Sisters of St. Francis,
in 1884 a hospital was built in Lincoln and named St. Clara’s
Hospital! When health regulations threatened the closure, funds for
a new hospital were begun, however when a hospital in central east
Illinois had a fire those funds were directed to that hospital. In
the meantime, St. John Evangelical Church in Lincoln built a
non-denominational hospital for the community’s needs in 1900,
staffed by the Deaconess order of the Evangelical Church out of St.
Louis. In 1954 a new hospital, Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital was
built and the old Deaconess Hospital became a nursing home for women
in 1958.
Health regulations caused the closing of St. Clara Hospital in May
of 1962 and in 1968 a community planning committee began looking at
building a Nursing Home facility on the old hospital property. It
was completed and dedicated in 1971 with George Davis becoming the
administrator until 2002, followed by Frank Shepke. On the
maintenance staff at that time was Mike Eads who took the stained
glass window from over the entrance to St. Clara’s Hospital and
encased it in a frame with lights for safety and relocated it in the
office-dining area of the Nursing Home. In the ensuing years, Mike
Eads became administrator, who on February 14, 2022, led the move
from the 5th Street location to the new facility on west side of
Lincoln on Castle Manor Drive. Mr. Eads secured safe storage at
Castle Manor for the large window until it could be refurbished to
meet building standards, while the other windows were incorporated
into the building of the Chapel.
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The day was
finally here, Mike Eads had rebuilt the framing to meet
government standards and with help from some of the St Clara
staff and current administrator Keary Anderson, moved the window
and base from Castle Manor to a cove inside the Rehab entryway
of St. Clara’s Rehab and Senior Care facility on July 14, 2025,
adding new lighting, exactly 3 years and 5 months after being
moved from the 5th Street facility noting a history of tradition
of making a difference, “caring for those you love”.
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