Why We Chose Concordia: Harry and Jane Schwab

Did you know Concordia has multiple senior care locations that offer retirement living? At any given time, we are serving around 1,000 seniors in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and Tampa, Florida in that one service line alone! We hear a lot of great things from our retirement community residents and their families about our services, and we wanted to take the opportunity to share one of their stories with you.

This piece was adapted from an article originally written by Concordia at Sumner resident Barbara Wellemeyer for their resident newsletter. Thanks Barbara!

Harry and Jane Schwab, natives of Akron, OH, moved to Concordia at Sumner, our beautiful retirement community in Copley, in February 2015. They were drawn to the location due to its beautiful, semi-rural setting and the availability of healthcare services.

“One reason we chose Concordia at Sumner is that if we are ever unable to reside in our independent living apartment, there is rehabilitation, assisted living and skilled nursing on site,” Harry said.

Moving somewhere new always comes with a certain level of trepidation, but they knew they were in the right place after their first encounter with other residents at a Sunday Night Pot Luck Dinner social.

“We were greeted by and sat with the then-resident association president and his wife,” Jane said. “The wife looked at me and said ‘Jane, we are one large family here and you could be my cousin.’ At that moment, we felt like we became a member of that family.”

Harry also complimented the friendly demeanor of the staff, which has helped make them confident in their decision to move to Sumner.

“The staff is always very willing to assist us in any way possible,” he said. “This makes Concordia at Sumner a pleasant and enjoyable place to spend our retirement years.”

The couple met when they were teenagers, and it was love at first sight – sort of. Jane has an identical twin, named Jean (who moved to Sumner herself in September 2017!), and it took Harry a while to determine which was the right girl. The sisters were true carbon copies of each other. Harry said even the cat couldn’t tell them apart.

Harry and Jane have four daughters: Susan, Karen, Anne and Lori; 10 grandchildren and seven greats. The couple enjoys traveling, even making it a goal to take two trips each year, and they were fortunate to have accomplished that. A trip to Ireland to meet their Irish cousins in Dublin was one of the highlights of their life together.

Harry served in the Navy during WWII, attended John Carroll University for his undergraduate degree and then married Jane. He attended Akron Law School in the evenings while working full time. He was recently recognized by the Akron Bar Association for 60 years of membership.

They are both avid readers and Jane loves interior decorating. Their apartment is filled with lovely color and is reminiscent of the work of an accomplished decorator. Jane also enjoys gardening – she, along with a few other residents, plants flowers and decorates the Independent Living entrance of the community. She even gives advice to friends on how to liven up their landscaping. Jane also served on various volunteer committees, including Children’s Hospital, Stan Hywet, hospice and church activities.

Jane said she could sum up their experience at Sumner succinctly:

“We so enjoy living at Concordia,” she said. “This is HOME.”

Concordia at Sumner broke ground on a retirement living expansion in summer 2018, with an expected opening of spring 2019. The three-story building will add 65 new independent living apartments and approximately 105,000 square feet. Residents of the new one bedroom, two bedroom and two bedroom corner apartments will have access to all the first-class amenities that are standard at Concordia at Sumner, including the Terrace Room restaurant, fitness center, swimming pool, craft room, game room and more.

Those who commit to an apartment during the building phase will be able to take advantage of the most generous price discounts in Concordia at Sumner history. If you are interested in learning more about Concordia’s new retirement living expansion, please call Director of Marketing Rowena Wilkins at 330-664-1289 or message us through the Contact form on our expansion website, www.SumnerExpansion.org.