Coffman's History
A Passion for Community
Andrew Coffman provided funding to build Coffman Home for the Aged, as it was named in the beginning. We were established in 1962 in the northern section of town off of Pennsylvania Avenue in Hagerstown, Maryland. Andrew Coffman was born in 1871, raised on a farm and educated in the local schools. He began his business career with Coffman Lumber Company. Later he decided to pursue a career as a funeral director and became a practicing mortician. Andrew married Gladys Rothenstein, a longtime resident of Hagerstown. Their relationship was characterized by complete mutual understanding, trust and warm generosity. They share many interests in the region.
Bellevue Asylum, which once sat where Coffman Nursing Home is currently.
Both were deeply interested in the community and active in various civic organizations. Mr. Coffman was a charter member of the Hagerstown Rotary Club, served on the boards of the YMCA, Hagerstown Junior college, Historical Society of Washington County and the Washington County Hospital. He has received both a medal for outstanding service to the community and the Distinguished Citizen Award by the Hagerstown Chamber of Commerce.
They provided financing and supervision of the construction of the Coffman Health Center in 1961 after Bellevue Asylum (which later became the Washington County Home for the Poor) closed.
Bellevue residents came from states outside Maryland, such as Louisiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and cities including Brooklyn, N.Y.; Frederick, Md.; and Chambersburg and Greencastle, Pa. Other residents included immigrants from Ireland, Germany or Russia. The asylum was a diverse place, holding people from different social, economic and racial backgrounds, and we are left to wonder about their lives and experiences.
By 1940, Bellevue Asylum adopted the name Washington County Home for the Poor, as county almshouses were replaced by state-operated chronic disease hospitals. In 1956, plans were underway to remove Bellevue Asylum. The Western Maryland Hospital Center was built over the farm by 1957, with the Coffman Nursing Home replacing the actual site of the asylum by 1961.
During their lifetime, the Coffman’s donated more than $ 3 million to educational and civic cause in the Central Maryland region, the equivalent of $ 25 million today.
Their legacy is a lasting one to the Western Maryland region and Coffman Nursing Home. Coffman remains committed to providing rehabilitation and health services to seniors in a home like environment today and in the future.