LACON — Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, will join the residents, staff and Daughters of St. Francis of Assisi on Saturday, June 21, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of St. Joseph’s Nursing Home.

The bishop will be the principal celebrant for the Mass, which will begin at 10:30 a.m. and be held under a tent on the front lawn of the home at 401 Ninth St. Concelebrants include Father Harold Schmitt, former chaplain, and Abbot Philip Davey, OSB, as well as Father W. Arthur Ryan, Msgr. John Prendergast, Msgr. Charles Beebe, and Father Tom Mizeur.

A birthday party will follow, complete with heavy appetizers and birthday cake.

Bishop John B. Franz granted permission for the Daughters of St. Francis of Assisi in Lacon to build a nursing home in 1962 and the State of Illinois approved their application on July 19. A week later the Sisters announced plans to build a 54-bed nursing home on the convent grounds.

Ground was broken for the project on Jan. 28, 1964. The first resident was admitted on May 17, 1965, and St. Joseph’s Nursing Home was dedicated on June 26, 1965.

A new wing added 49 beds in 1969.

While it is still owned and operated by the Daughters of St. Francis of Assisi, the community entered into an agreement with Provena (now Presence) Health to manage the facility in 2007.

St. Joseph’s Nursing Home currently serves 76 men and women.