Nursing home serves Marengo residents for 61 years.

MARENGO — Prior to the opening of a nursing home on Franklyn Avenue, elderly patients and patients needing specialized care in Marengo were either accommodated by family members in private homes or placed in facilities to tend their needs.

The Marengo Convalescent and Nursing Home was built in 1963 to accommodate patients in Marengo. It purchased by Wallace Smith in 1970 and named Rose Haven Nursing Home.

From 1939 through 1956, Dr. Clyde F. Watts operated the Watts Hospital on West Washington Street. That building, at the corner of Franklyn and Washington Streets, is now an apartment complex.

In 1948, Carl and Lydia Seckel purchased a home at 500 Court Ave. and offered nursing home care for as many as 12 patients in their residence. In 1955, the William Pesheks opened their home at 805 Short Ave. to care for those needing nursing home assistance.

Following the opening of the Marengo Memorial Hospital (now Compass Memorial Healthcare) in the spring of 1956, to which the Wattses had donated land, the Watts Hospital became a nursing home and doctor’s office complex.

Realizing the need for a facility that was handicapped accessible, a group of citizens banded together to purchase stock and construct the Marengo Convalescent and Nursing Home on Franklyn Avenue.

Construction began in 1962 for the complex with the late Gordon Hinrichs as contractor. This facility opened in July 1963 with Dr. C. F. Watts, Dorothy L. Zuber and James Matthes as directors.

Dorothy Zuber, a nurse for Dr. Watts, became the manager. The brick, one-story building had two wings and 39 beds.

In August of 1970, Wallace Smith, then of Cedar Rapids, purchased the Convalescent and Nursing Home. He and his family moved to Marengo and the center was renamed the Rose Haven Nursing Home.

David Yearian, of Williamsburg, became Administrator of the Rose Haven Nursing Home in 1984. In 1985, David and his wife, Coleen, purchased the Nursing Home from Wallace Smith and were committed to providing long-term care for the elderly or disabled.

Dr. Watts died in 1972. Wallace Smith died in 1989, and Dorothy L. Zuber died in 1993.

Sometime in the years between 1963 and 2009, a third wing was added to the Nursing Home which provided more housing and care.

In 2009, the Rose Haven Nursing Home had 27 semi-private rooms and six private rooms with a maximum capacity of 60 residents. The facility included two dining areas, a private dining area, a beauty/barbershop, a screened-in patio and enclosed sun porches at the ends of each hall.

Therapy services and a variety of activities were offered to the residents of Rose Haven

Adjacent to Rose Haven, the Yearians constructed the Lodge which opened in 2000. The Lodge has 10 apartments for residents who require only minimal assistance.

Rose Haven Nursing Home and The Lodge were sold to Shane and Susan Sissel in January of 2016 prior to the passing of David Yearian later that year. The Sissels currently own both that complex and Brooklyn Community Estate in Brooklyn.

Rose Haven Nursing Home and The Lodge look forward to future service as the need continues for such care.