Harold,
There definitely was an Irene Byron Sanitarium at Fort Wayne, IN about
1930; my father, Ernest D. Uhrick, was a patient there in his early twenties
for almost a year about 1931. I believe it was primarily (or exclusively?)
for tuberculosis patients, which was his condition at the time. Since I was
not born until 1937, I am grateful that he survived both the disease and his
stay there. A lot of such patients did not survive in those days before
sulfa drugs or penicillin; many of the other patients my father met during
his stay there suffered that fate, unfortunately, although I have no personal
record of any specific names.
I can remember driving by the complex (retaining the same name,
although its medical focus had probably broadened) -- it was actually a
multi-building complex of several small cottages, doctor's office buildings
and possibly administrative staff residences, even in the 1930's I believe --
along a major highway (IN Rt. 3?) just north of Ft. Wayne at least as
recently as the 1970's.
David Uhrick
(Adams Co. native)
Columbus, Ohio