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BATAVIA – Margot Burgh said she could not imagine living any place else but at The Holmstad retirement community in Batavia.
"This is a place where you really feel at home," said Burgh, who has been living at The Holmstad for 24 years.
Burgh was one of several residents who spoke Thursday about their experiences living at The Holmstad as part of a weeklong celebration of its 40th anniversary.
The Holmstad, at 700 W. Fabyan Parkway in Batavia, is administered by the nonprofit Covenant Retirement Communities.
Burgh is a World War II survivor, having come to the United States in 1947 from Germany.
“I came to the United States as a war bride,” she said.
She has lived at The Holmstad since 1991. For 18 years, Burgh also was a receptionist at The Holmstad.
“It takes a lot of people to make a village,” Burgh said.
Staff members at The Holmstad also spoke as part of a panel discussion, including Renee Sanchez, the administrative services coordinator. She helped organize this week’s anniversary activities.
Sanchez started in 2000 as a receptionist.
“This is my second home,” she said. “I just enjoy the connection with residents and family members. It is just a special place.”
Over the years, The Holmstad has had a number of notable guests including former first lady Barbara Bush, who visited in 1988, Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke told residents. Former Illinois Govs. James Thompson and Jim Edgar also visited, he said.
Schielke noted Batavia has had its fair share of famous visitors, including the author Samuel Clemens, better known by his pen name, Mark Twain. Twain visited Batavia on June 29, 1869, he said.
“He spent the night and wrote a love letter to his future wife,” Schielke said.
For almost four months in 1875, Mary Todd Lincoln – the widow of President Abraham Lincoln – was a patient at Bellevue Place in Batavia, a sanitarium for women, Schielke said, after a trial found her to be insane.
In addition, Bernard J. Cigrand, the “father of Flag Day,” was a resident of Batavia and later, Aurora. He campaigned to establish a day to celebrate the adoption of the stars and stripes as the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777.
“We have had a unique encounter with American history,” Schielke said.