Financial gift will help create campus center

GRINNELL —— A multiyear gift will help Mayflower Community create a campus center at its independent living apartments.

Mayflower announced this week that residents Lyle and Carolyn Roudabush committed to a multiyear gift that will support current and future Mayflower initiatives, beginning with the creation of a campus center in the heart of Mayflower’s Independent Living apartments and Beebe Assisted Living facility.

The Roudabush campus center project will significantly renovate Mayflower’s Buckley Dining Room, Anchor Room and J & B Bistro, said Mayflower in a press release.

Functional furniture, flooring, sound reducing materials, window treatments and artwork will grace each of these rooms. Outdoors, the project will replace the concrete for Mayflower Lane, create a courtyard around the Beebe Circle and improve signage and lighting for campus navigation.

Lyle and Carolyn Roudabush are natives of Brooklyn and have lived in Grinnell since 1973 when Lyle joined Peter Boeke in practice. They later opened Family Dentistry together.

The Roudabushes credit community support with helping grow and sustain their practice, said Mayflower. They are committed to remain in Grinnell during their retirement years, intent on giving back to a community that has been so good to them.

Lyle and Carolyn became Mayflower residents in 2016 and volunteered as gardeners, transportation drivers and parade float builders. They served on the MRA nominating committee and helped with other Mayflower endeavors.

The Roudabushes feel “compelled to give in a way that supports many others choosing to make Mayflower their home, with attractive gathering spaces that serve one and all,” according to Mayflower.

Mayflower Executive Director and Administrator Kellie McGriff said in the press release, “We are beyond grateful to work with Lyle and Carolyn for the ongoing improvement of our campus and sustainability of our mission. Their commitment gives us the opportunity to explore unique projects like the campus center and others that will follow.”

Located in Grinnell, the Mayflower Community began in 1950 as a ministry of the United Church of Christ and has evolved to a life plan community offering independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing care for adults over the age of 55.

More than 250 people live in the Mayflower Community’s patio homes, independent living apartments, assisted living, and health center. More information is available at mayflowerhomes.com, or by calling 641-236-6151.