Parkview Whitley Hospital groundbreaking was exciting, emotion-laden experience for Zumbrun family
(Talk of the Town photos by Jennifer Zartman Romano) The groundbreaking ceremony for Parkview Whitley Hospital's new facility near US 30 and SR 205, held Thursday afternoon, was a special experience for the Zumbrun family whose homestead was once where the hospital will one day stand. Above, from left, is Brent Zumbrun, Evelyn Zumbrun and Linda Zumbrun at the luncheon which followed the groundbreaking ceremony. Below, Evelyn Zumbrun receives a hug from friend Jeanne White of Parkview Whitley Hospital as she departed from the ceremony Thursday.
By Jennifer Zartman Romano
In a room filled with excitement over the groundbreaking for the new Parkview Whitley Hospital Thursday, seated not far from the architectural renderings of the new facility, was Evelyn Zumbrun.
Flanked by her son, Brent, and daughter, Linda, Zumbrun smiled and listened intently as speakers spoke eloquently of the advances in medicine that will one day be made possible on the property and she smiled proudly thinking of the future. 
Months ago, Zumbrun and her husband, Paul, sold their homestead to Parkview Health for the construction of the new hospital. Thursday, the sweeping white tent erected for the groundbreaking ceremony and luncheon sat approximately where her family’s home once stood – with the speaker’s stand near where her music room once was.
Zumbrun, the pianist for the Columbia City Church of the Brethren, has been a music teacher for many years and continues to teach at hear new home not far away from the site of what will become Whitley County’s new hospital. Paul Zumbrun, unable to attend the groundbreaking ceremony because Parkinson’s disease has made mobility difficult, retired from the Blue Bell factory in Columbia City and later became the house father for nursing students living in English Hall at Parkview Hospital’s Randallia Campus in Fort Wayne.
Understanding the emotional nature of the day, Parkview Whitley Hospital COO John Meister addressed Zumbrun and her family in his speech, saying, “We thank you for your willingness to share your homestead with us.”
When asked about their feelings on the momentous occasion of the groundbreaking for the hospital, her Zumbrun and her family were excited.
“It’s fantastic,” said Brent Zumbrun. “I’d be hard-pressed to find a better use for this land in the community.”
“The Christian emphasis just touches my heart,” said Linda Zumbrun.
“This was not a real easy decision for my mom and dad,” said Linda Zumbrun. “It was very final, but the purpose makes it worthwhile.”
Evelyn says her new home is very comfortable, livable and, she says, “brand new!”
Over the course of the next two years, the Zumbruns will be among the many eagerly watching each phase of construction and looking forward to the advances in Whitley County healthcare that will be happening there – and they’ll have an excellent vantage point from the windows of the home not far away from where the old one once stood.