Chaplain Father Richard Jeske chats with Lester Swan in the coffee shop at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy. QUINCY - If it were not for the sign over the entrance gate, a giant cannon just inside the gate and a few other smaller signs, travelers who happened to turn into the Illinois Veterans Home at the northern edge of Quincy might think they were on a beautiful college campus. The largest and oldest of the four veterans' homes in Illinois, and one of the larger and older veterans' homes in the country, the Illinois Veterans Home at Quincy is home to more than 450 residents.
The home offers Illinois veterans and spouses all levels of health care - independent living, intermediate care, skilled nursing care and two Alzheimer's units. Fees are based on income.
In 1885 the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation to establish a soldiers' and sailors' home for disabled Illinois veterans of the Mexican War and Civil War. Gov. Richard Oglesby chose Quincy as the site of the new home, and on Oct. 19, 1886, the Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Home was formally dedicated. In June, 1973, its name was changed to the Illinois Veterans Home at Quincy.
The 210-acre grounds, with almost five miles of streets, several bridges and 25 large buildings, is sometimes described as a "city within a city." Much like many college campuses, its buildings are a mix of architectural styles, reflecting when they were built and what purpose they serve. The home has its own post office, bank, assembly hall, guest house, mini-post exchange, chapel, cemetery, library, lake, animal park, military museum and war memorials. The home also has its own news publication and a closed circuit television station.
Four doctors are on staff, including dentists, hearing and eye doctors. Patients needing more intense care are sent out into the community. Over 300 nurses, LPNs and others in the medical field are on staff. A state-of-the-art multi-therapy center was built during Gov. Jim Edgar's administration.
Military uniforms hang in a display case in the coffee shop at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy. "We're considered the motherhouse of the Illinois veteran's homes," said Father Richard Jeske, a Franciscan friar who is in his 20th year as the home's Catholic chaplain. Father Jeske is the 11th Catholic chaplain to serve at the home. Photos of the previous Catholic chaplains hang on a wall in the chaplain's office, which is located in the All Faiths Chapel. Father John Locher, the first chaplain at the home, was there from 1890 to 1895. Another chaplain, Msgr. Martin Joseph "M.J." Foley, was editor of the Western Catholic (the original name of Catholic Times) when he served at the home.
A Protestant chapel and a Jewish synagogue are also in the All Faiths Chapel, as is a room for funeral visitation. "Only about 25 to 30 percent of the veteran residents are Catholics," said Father Jeske.
In order to accommodate the number of wheelchair-bound residents, Father Jeske celebrates two Masses on Sunday. The first, at 8:30 a.m., is celebrated in the St. Lawrence Catholic Chapel in the All Faiths Chapel. Then at 10 a.m. Father Jeske celebrates Mass on a portable altar, set up in the Kent Building dining hall.
A Boy Scout project begun 52 years ago and continued to this day is one of the great examples of how people in the community volunteer to help the home's residents, said Father Jeske. Scouts from each of the Catholic parishes in Quincy take turns on Sunday coming out to wheel residents in wheelchairs from their buildings to Mass. As an Eagle Scout project a few years ago, one Scout designed parkas to put over the wheelchair bound veterans when it was raining or snowing.
"The Eagle Scout raised money for the material and found someone to sew the parkas," said Father Jeske. "A couple of years ago the son of Roy Bordewick, the man who founded the Scout project, was back here to visit with his little son. He pointed to the plaque commemorating the Scouts that hangs outside the St. Lawrence Chapel, and said, ‘See what your grandpa started?' As far as we know, it is the longest project a Scout group has had in this country, every Sunday for 52 years. I'm indebted to them for that."
The home has 140 deaths a year, many of whom are buried back home. There are 7,000 graves in the veterans' home cemetery, some of which date back to the Civil War.
"We have a lot of widows here now, who have stayed on after their spouses are deceased. They form close friendships, it is really good to see. So many people from the community, families, regular volunteers, entertainment groups, come here to visit and help the residents. It is wonderful to see," Father Jeske said.