“We were never bored. We grew peas, rhubarb, asparagus, beans and more in our garden. Tomatoes and tobacco were our cash crops. I drove the tractor for combining and baling. I helped plant crops. We milked the family cow and on Tursdays we would make butter. Bread was delivered weekly to our house and on Tursdays the grocery truck would come and Mother would occasionally sell him things like the butter we made. In the summer, we’d make ice cream. We also had steers and pigs, and Mother would can the meat after butchering. I will never forget the ornate feed bags. Tey had beautiful prints and patterns and Mother would sew dresses, aprons, swimsuits, and more out of them!”
Mary attended public school in Manheim Township and then finished the remaining two years at Lancaster Mennonite. At one time, 18 of her graduating classmates were living on Landis Homes’ campus.
Her Mennonite upbringing and exposure to her aunt, who was a missionary in East Africa for almost 50 years, influenced her decision to go into Voluntary Service where she taught Bible school to preschool migrant children for three winters in Florida.
When Mary returned from her Voluntary Service in 1966, she remembers Landis Homes Retirement Community had just been built.
A view from Landis Homes of the working farm still owned by Mary’s family.
“Clayton R. Landis, a cousin of my grandfather, was influenced by his cousin Graybill G. Landis to plan for the retirement community. I remember the work being finished and looking across what used to be a dark farm field and seeing lights. It reminded me and my siblings of Christmas lights because we weren’t used to seeing them there!”
After Voluntary Service, Mary worked for 11 years in the overseas department with Eastern Mennonite Missions assisting returning missionaries, many of whom live at Landis Homes today. Mary also married and began a family, having two children and settling in Intercourse, PA. Twice widowed, Mary eventually decided it was time to move from her residence in Intercourse to Landis Homes, returning “home.”
“It was hard to move in during the pandemic, but there was no other decision, than to move back here. My daughter lives a mile away and my son works here and lives at the farmhouse. I can see my nephew tending the cattle on the farm. I just say, ‘thank you Lord.’ I express thanks for the beauty I have outside my window and the trees. I have security knowing I’m cared for anytime I need it.”
“I have security knowing I’m cared for anytime I need it.”
Enriching
Lives, Together
Landis.org | FLOURISH | Summer 2022 • 19
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