William (1880–1959), Kate (1878–1964), Emil (1883–1976)

It All Began With the Stoll Family

Kate, William and Emil Stoll were the children of first generation immigrants from Bitz, Germany. Born and raised in the Hungry Hollow area, the family farmed wheat and almonds near Oat Creek. The three siblings moved to Woodland in 1941. In the late 1950s, they bequeathed their estates to St. John’s Evangelical Church, with a directive to build and maintain a nursing home for the aged. Their instruction was to “create a home where older people could live in dignity and comfort.”

Kate and Will died before construction began, but Emil lived to participate in the ground-breaking of the facility and then moved into one of the three cottages. (Florence & Grace Hershey, and Meta Heard lived in the other two cottages.)