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Grace
Thompson was born on February 24, 1917 in Mount Pleasant,
Michigan. When she was three years old, she lost her
mother and only sister during childbirth. Her father,
distraught over the death, left Grace to be raised by
Grandmother and Grandfather Grubb. She lived with her
grandparents and five aunts and uncles.
In 1934, Walt Sprenger, an oilman and
partner in the Sprenger Brothers Oil Company asked permission
from her Grandparents to drill on their land. During
this time Grace was introduced to Walt. Shortly thereafter,
Grandfather Grubb arranged for her and Walt to be married.
Grace was 17 and Walt was 35.
Grace and Walt moved to Allegan, Michigan
where Walt worked for the largest drilling company in
Michigan. During this time, Grace gave birth to five
children Walt, Ethel, Tony, Donel, and Dan. Tragically,
in 1942 Ethel was killed in a car crash.
 Although
she never graduated from high school and had children
to raise, she entered nursing school and received her
LPN license in 1943. Grace worked in the Allegan Hospital
until 1945 (when the family moved to Wellington, Ohio
because of an oil find). While in Wellington, Grace
worked as a private duty nurse at Oberlin and Amherst
Hospitals. In 1956, Grace and Walt were divorced. Grace,
now raising four kids alone, decided to pursue a career
in nursing home administration.
In 1957, Grace became the Administrator
of the Halks Nursing Home in Oberlin. Using this experience,
Grace received a small business loan and built a 26-bed
nursing home in Amherst. The Amherst Manor Nursing Home
filled in six weeks.
Grace and her staff of three ran the home
24 hours a day. Grace was a nurse, housekeeper, cook
and took care of the maintenance of the home.
As the years went by, Amherst Manor began
to grow in size and staff. In 1961, Grace needed credit
to expand her business; she took on a partner who arranged
financing. The partnership arrangement was supposed
to be set up with Grace owning 45%, her partner 45%,
and the final 10% in a trust, in case there was a problem.
However, her partner stole the other 10% leaving Grace
a minority ownership in her own nursing home.
Left with no ability to obtain financing,
Grace was faced with losing her business. Her generous
and loving staff gave their own personal savings to
provide the money Grace needed to buy out her partner
and save Amherst Manor.
Amherst Manor continued to grow and eventually
became a 102-bed nursing facility. In 1973, Grace sold
Amherst Manor to her sons Tony and Donel. With the formation
of Sprenger Enterprises, Inc. and the help and leadership
of third generation Sprenger family, the business continues
to strive to provide the highest quality health care
options for seniors.
Sprenger Retirement Centers has grown
to become a family of eight long-term care communities
located throughout Ohio employing a staff of over 1,000
employees, who maintain the same philosophy of care
and dedication that was established so long ago by Grace
Sprenger. Over the years, her original dreams and ambitions
have made it possible for Sprenger Retirement Centers
to provide independent living, assisted living, skilled
nursing care and rehabilitation therapy for thousands
of seniors. Family, friends, staff,residents and community
have all benefited from her wisdom and determination.
This progressive businesswoman of the
50’s was definitely ahead of her time.
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