Andrew Johnson was 86, then the oldest resident at the Lutheran Home for the Aged, when he turned over a shovel full of dirt in October 1950. Johnson helped lead the ceremonial ground-breaking as part of a $200,000 expansion project in Jamestown.

When the new wing opened in February 1952, it marked the culmination of several years of planning and work by the New York Conference, which embraced 110 congregations in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

In newspaper accounts, the new wing to adjoin the original Lutheran Home for the Aged was to “provide ample evidence of the care and planning to create a truly home-like atmosphere.”

On Wednesday, Lutheran Social Services announced that its nursing home and rehabilitation program will be closed by early next year. It will bring to an end a service nearing 100 years old in southern Chautauqua County.

As noted on its website, Lutheran was founded in 1886 as the Gustavus Adolphus Orphan’s Home to serve the children of Swedish immigrants who lost their lives in the trek to America.

Lutheran opened its first elderly residential facility in July 1930 at the corner of Falconer Street and Aldren Avenue. Five Lutheran churches in the Jamestown and Falconer areas agreed to support the new facility.

In February 1960, the Lutheran Home for the Aged officially changed its name to the Lutheran Retirement Home. The switch was suggested by Ruth Lindstrom, superintendent of the facility.

“It has been difficult to select a name that would satisfy,” Lindstrom told the newspaper at the time. “We are happy that through the years it has been named ‘Lutheran’ and most satisfied with the beautiful designation of ‘home’ but the descriptive word has been elusive. Now we have found it. The word ‘retirement’ will tell all the world as it hustles by that we have left the problems of this present world with this generation.”

In recognition of 30 years caring for the elderly, Lutheran held an open house. A photo that appeared in The Post-Journal included two of the facility’s oldest residents, Minnie Westrom, a longtime Jamestown music teacher, and John Ostrom.

Ground was broken in August 1965 for an infirmary to be built next to the retirement home that, at the time, had 45 residents and 18 full- and part-time workers. About 250 people attended the summer ceremony, which also marked the facility’s 35th anniversary.

Care centers were added to the home in 1974 and 1986.

In a 1997 news release, Lutheran stated, “Through a coordinated team approach, every effort is made to maintain a high standard of care and to offer rehabilitation in an attempt to enable each resident to achieve and maintain the highest degree of independence possible.”

At that time, Lutheran had 254 residents in full-time nursing care and 67 youth participating in its specialized treatment program.