THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609150079
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 81 lines
Emma James was a 25-year-old Southern belle when the Lydia H. Roper retirement home for elderly women was founded in 1921.
Now, at 100 years of age, she's a resident of the adult-care home on 40th Street that has served South Hampton Roads for 75 years.
On Saturday, Methodists marked the diamond anniversary with a community picnic, the first of several events commemorating the home's long tenure in Norfolk.
But the jubilee also celebrates the Roper family's gifts to the community over the past century. It's a legacy that includes the Norfolk City Union of the King's Daughters - the philanthropic group that founded Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, Norfolk Goodwill Industries and numerous soup kitchen ministries and scholarship funds.
It all began when Union Capt. John L. Roper of Pennsylvania came to live and raise his family in Norfolk, where he had been stationed during the Civil War.
Roper made a fortune in the lumber business. The family later branched into shipbuilding, and is still associated with Norshipco, Norfolk's largest private industry.
Roper gained prominence in the business and civic community, became a leader in Epworth Methodist Church of Norfolk and directed United Charities, the group that would later become United Way of Hampton Roads.
Roper established the Lydia H. Roper Home to honor his wife, who had shown much concern for the elderly. He died one month after the home's founding, but his family carried on his tradition of service.
In 1963, the Roper family gave the home to Virginia United Methodist Homes Inc., which had two retirement homes in Richmond. Over the intervening years, more residences have opened, and state Methodists now serve 750 older residents in six homes. A new retirement community, Cedarfield in Richmond, will, by month's end, provide housing for 500 elderly.
Since its founding, the Roper home has been the residence of about 1,000 elderly women.
As the saying goes, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and this was true in the case of Roper's progeny. Three Roper children were instrumental in founding philanthropic groups locally.
In 1896, the year centenarian James was born, local women's service organizations united to form the Norfolk City Union of the King's Daughters under the leadership of Margaret Roper, John's daughter.
And two of Roper's sons, William and Albert, helped establish a Bible class at Epworth Methodist, out of which grew Norfolk Goodwill and other outreach ministries.
The Roper family gift of the Lydia H. Roper Home to the state church organization continued a tradition of community service that has always been part of Methodism, said Lewis Morgan, vice president of church relations.
Many Methodist hearts were ``strangely warmed'' by the gift, he said, harking back to church founder John Wesley's heart-warming experience at Aldersgate, a district of London, on May 24, 1738. (May 24 is also the date of the founding of the Roper home.)
Wesley listened as a Moravian minister quoted from the Bible, then wrote in his journal that he'd felt his heart strangely warmed. Wesley had met Moravians earlier as he sailed back to England from America and watched as they stood fearless in a storm that threatened to sink the ship.
Methodists ``get their genesis from that experience,'' said Morgan, who was on hand to help celebrate the Roper home Saturday. ``What we're doing here is a continuation of John Roper's philosophy of ministry. He . . . reinvested resources into the community where he made his fortune.''
At Saturday's event, the 25 Roper home residents watched children cavort, then ate hot dogs, hamburgers, beans and potato salad along with 150 or so family members and neighbors.
Entertainment and food service were provided by United Methodists from a number of Norfolk and Portsmouth churches.
James, who has lived at the Roper home since 1975, was born on Jan. 19, 1896, and shares her birthday with Robert E. Lee, a fact she's quick to point out.
``January 19th. Robert E. Lee and I,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
GARY C. KNAPP
David Page, left, a Maury High School student, makes balloon
creations for Mary Battiata, right, and Kelly and Matthew McCarter
at the Roper retirement home's community picnic Saturday. by CNB