History

The first meeting for the purposes of forming a society to establish a retirement complex in Whitinsville was on January 30, 1975, in the Fairlawn Christian Church. An interim committee of six people out of the sixty-five present was elected. This committee made an offer on the nine-acre Mason property on Chestnut Street in Whitinsville, which was for sale at that time. The interim committee decided to incorporate on February 13, 1975 and did so a week later on February 21. The corporation became known as the “Whitinsville Retirement Society, Inc.”

On March 6, 1975, the members of the corporation were notified that the Whitinsville Retirement Society’s bid for the purchase of the Mason property had been accepted, and proposed by-laws were also adopted.

During the next several months, funds were solicited from members and friends for a down payment on the property. On July 1, 1975, the title of the same was taken in the name of the corporation. By July 31, 1975, the first director/coordinator of the retirement home had been hired and renovations on the existing twenty-room home were beginning to be undertaken.

On October 21, 1975, our first resident moved in, two more joined in November, and another two came in early 1976. The retirement home was off and running!

On February 22, 1977, the Board of the Society authorized a loan application from Farmers Home Administration to construct twenty-four units of independent housing for the elderly. Then the society could construct the second of three complexes on its “campus for the elderly”.

The original director resigned in this year, to be followed by many other competent successors.

By July of 1980, the “independent housing” complex and occupied. The retirement home had enough rooms for nine residents, with construction underway to make rooms for an additional ten to fifteen residents, including a small apartment for a director’s residence.

In 2000, another change in directors prompted more renovations. The upstairs area of the original building became the director’s apartment, and the former director’s quarters were made into rooms for elderly residents. A new enlarged kitchen was designed and equipped with a walk-in freezer, a two-door upright refrigerator, an improved cook stove, and a speedy dishwasher. We now have seventeen resident rooms, three of which could accommodate a couple.

Today, the Retirement Society is served by a six member Board of Directors that oversees the Retirement Home, as well as the Elderly Housing Apartments located across the yard. Each year, two members of the Board “retire” and two new members are elected at the annual meeting of the Society.