History & local legend
Good Shepherd's South Allentown campus grew from the work of Estella and John Raker. After their infant daughter Viola died in 1907, they received a letter asking whether they could care for a child with a disability who was also named Viola. They welcomed Viola Hunt into their home in 1908, beginning the institution that became Good Shepherd.
Estella was remembered as Mama Raker. In a local account recorded in 2008, she was said to appear in the halls when a resident was nearing death, returning to accompany that person to heaven.
