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Windsor House cares for ‘the least of these’
By Kalea Hall
CANFIELD
It was passages from the Bible that struck the late John Masternick Sr. to the point he felt he had to do something to change the care offered to the sick and elderly.
“For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’”
Those passages from Matthew Chapter 25 led the attorney and his wife, Dorothy, a former nurse, to form Windsor House, a family-owned and operated nursing home and assisted-living center company, in 1959.
Fifty-eight years later and their son, John Masternick Jr., runs the business that has 17 locations. Today, Windsor House at Canfield will have a grand-opening celebration. The event to show off the newest skilled-nursing community in Windsor’s portfolio takes place from noon to 4 p.m.
“We are grateful to be able to serve the community and want to continue in that regard,” said John Masternick Jr. “I don’t take it lightly that people entrust their loved ones’ care to me and our staff.”
John Sr. and Dorothy opened their first location on Youngstown’s North Side in what is now the Beatitude House, which serves women and children of Mahoning and Trumbull counties affected by poverty and homelessness.
Before being struck by the need to serve the sick and elderly with quality care in nice places, he saw what kind of care was out there and thought there needed to be better options. The sick and elderly, John Sr. thought, deserved to have a nice place to live during their time of need.
“He went on and bought this mansion and converted it to a nursing home,” John Jr. said.
Dorothy helped to lay out the rooms and the care provided.
“My parents, they are both very unique and hardworking and set very high standards,” John Jr. added. “They ran the homes with the same approach to law: dot every I and cross every T. [My mom] demanded the facilities be as clean as the house.”
Their son was a part of keeping Windsor House facilities clean. At 14, he was behind a broomstick. He didn’t think he would stay with the business. After law school, he told his father he’d work with him for five years.
“That was almost 30 years ago,” John Jr. said.
What kept him with Windsor, he says, was the love of the little perks that come with working in the family business.
“I got to go to work with my father every day,” he said. “A lot of people didn’t have the opportunity to work in their hometown.”
John Sr. died in 2009.
“The last thing he did was cut the ribbon at the New Middletown location,” John Jr. said. “He worked until the day he died. He worked Friday and died Monday.”
Dorothy, now 92, lives in a Windsor House facility.
“She’s benefiting now from what she built,” he said.
John Jr. gravitated to working with the employees of Windsor House in a human-resources role, and he also got interested in development of new locations.
The newest development for Windsor is the first nursing home in Canfield. In order to build the 72-bed facility, Mahoning County commissioners had to sign off on the county’s first joint economic-development district, or JEDD, between Canfield Township and Canfield city.
Under the JEDD, the city provides water and sewer lines to the 72-bed Windsor House facility. The township will collect real-estate taxes, while the city will collect income tax from the owner and employees. That would be at the city’s current income-tax rate of 1 percent.
Windsor House at Canfield is set up like a resort of lodges. The three lodges each have 24 private rooms with a shower. The rooms open up to the high-ceiling dining/social area, one for each lodge, with a fire place in the middle to divide dining time with relaxing time. Each lodge has its own kitchen where food is served.
“We are trying to facilitate mingling more with other residents,” John said. “We are trying a new food-service program here. People can eat whatever they want. If we can make it for them, we will.”
Inside, there’s intricate woodwork, fireplaces and natural hues to play up the lodge feel. A gym has a Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cruze in it to help residents practice getting in and out of the car, a kitchen so they can practice preparing a meal, stairs, treadmills and bikes. Across from the gym is a cafe.
“It’s a place to hang out,” John said.
A salon features a whirlpool and a massage table. The library inside Windsor House at Canfield is filled with Reader’s Digest books. The library’s doors can open into the chapel to make for a larger meeting space. Windows are everywhere to bring in the natural light.
Outside, copper awnings and cupolas catch the eye. Courtyards have flowers and artificial turf to prevent residents from falling.
George W. Spencer, 83, of Youngstown is one of the first residents in Windsor House at Canfield.
“It’s like a place out in Las Vegas,” he said.