Rich History & Philanthropy
John E. Andrus began his life under modest conditions on February 16, 1841 as the son of an impoverished Methodist minister.
However, by the time of his death at the age of ninety-three in 1934, he held office as both Mayor of Yonkers and U.S. Congressman, and gained a reputation as an industrialist and as one of New York’s
most caring philanthropists.
Dedication
Mr. Andrus dedicated his life to the following mission: “To give opportunity to youth and rest to the aged.” That mission was realized in 1917 with the founding of the Surdna Foundation (Andrus spelled backwards), a charitable organization, and the opening of the Julia Dyckman Andrus Memorial Home for Children in 1928, an orphanage in honor of his late wife.
After his death, much of Mr. Andrus’ fortune went to the preservation of the Surdna Foundation. In 1953, his youngest daughter, Helen Andrus Benedict, continued his legacy establishing the John E. Andrus Memorial, Inc., just north of the Children’s Home in Hastings-on-Hudson. Today, Andrus on Hudson as a skilled nursing facility provides post-hospital care, long-term care and memory care. We continue the legacy set by John E. Andrus.
Andrus on Hudson is nestled within 26 wooded acres, located high on a hill overlooking the scenic Hudson River in Hastings-on-Hudson. It will continue to be a community founded upon friendship and principles set by John E. Andrus himself.
John Emory Andrus
John Andrus was born in 1841 in Pleasantville, New York, graduated from Wesleyan University and soon moved from teaching school to pursuing his talents as a an investor and a businessman. His primary business, the Arlington Chemical Company, manufactured and distributed typical medicines of the day, and his business interests included large land holdings as far away as Alaska.
The son of a Methodist minister, Mr. Andrus was a lay leader of the Methodist Church. In his 60s, he was elected mayor of Yonkers, New York, and then served four terms in the U.S. Congress. A devoted family man, he founded the Julia Dyckman Andrus Memorial in 1923, an orphanage that was a tribute to his beloved wife, an orphan herself, at the site of her adoptive family’s farm in Westchester County, New York. In 1953, the orphanage was joined by an adjacent retirement home, the John E. Andrus Memorial. This completed Andrus’ expressed wish that his legacy provide communities with “opportunity for youth and rest for old age.”