Only a few years ago, Rhodes Buehrer would come to visit his father, Henry Buehrer, at the Good Samaritan Society–Olathe. Henry lived at "Good Sam" from 1999 to 2003.

Rhodes remembers visiting his grandmother, Marie Post, years earlier at the Good Samaritan Center at its former location on Park Street.

And he remembers, as a small child, visiting his great-grandmother Cora Baumgartner when she also lived at Good Samaritan Home on Park Street from 1961 to 1965.

In this one Olathe family, three members have benefitted from the Good Samaritan Society–Olathe, representing three consecutive generations.

"My family has been served well by the Good Samaritan Society and is indebted to the staff who have cared so lovingly for my family members," said Rhodes. "My dad loved it at the Good Samaritan."

Few nonprofit organizations can say they have been serving senior residents of Johnson County for 60 years, affecting the lives of three generations. But The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, out of Sioux Falls, S.D., is one that can. It has for six decades been serving its Christian mission, "To share God's love in word and deed by providing shelter and supportive services to older persons and others in need, believing that in Christ's love everyone is someone."

In 1951, the Rev. "Dad" Hoeger, founder of the Good Samaritan Society, came to Olathe to visit his son, who was pastor of a local church. He saw a need for a facility to provide high-quality care for senior adults. With the help of Olathe forefathers, he purchased an old building and opened a nursing facility for seniors in Olathe. Now the Good Samaritan Society–Olathe has moved to its third location, on the Olathe Medical Center Campus, and serves 140 residents.

Since 1951, the Good Samaritan Society has added three more facilities and increased the services it provides to seniors in Olathe. 2011 marks an anniversary year for each of the four Good Samaritan Society facilities, and they are celebrating a cumulative total of 105 years of service.

In 1981, 30 years ago, the society opened Olathe Towers and College Way Village, which offers 150 apartments and 22 garden homes of HUD-subsidized independent housing for seniors and people with a disability.

In 2001, in partnership with the Olathe Medical Center, the society opened Cedar Lake Village, with 102 independent living apartments, 36 assisted living apartments, and villas.
Most recently, in 2006, Cedar Lake Village, Inc., added a residential short-term rehabilitation facility on the Olathe Medical Center campus. Hoeger House is named for the society's founder.

Today the Good Samaritan Society–Communities of Olathe serves more than 500 seniors and continues to provide the high-quality Christian care that residents have been receiving for more than three generations.

The society is now in 23 states and 240 locations across the United States. It is the largest not-for-profit provider of senior services in America.

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