Mansfield Nursing Home Honors Lives Lost

By Lisa Massicotte, The Chronicle

June 25, 2021

Golden rays of sun shined on residents and families at the Mansfield Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation Wednesday as they gathered to cherish and celebrate the lives of those lost during the pandemic.

For a hard-hit community, those affiliated with the nursing facility — like many other nursing facilities nationwide — needed a moment like Wednesday.

“I’m just delighted how it turned out. It really turned out beautifully and I hope that it was helpful to everyone to get some closure,” Mansfield Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation Director of Social Services Karen Orzechowski said.

Because families couldn’t visit their loved ones during the height of the pandemic and dozens of residents were lost during that time, staff felt it was important to host a memorial service and celebration of life for all the residents lost from March 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, according to Orzechowski.

“I think the residents have a gamut of emotions. They’re happy to see the families that they’ve come to know so well, but are really saddened for the losses that they’ve had,” Mansfield Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation Director of Nursing Michelle LaVallee said.

Families and residents filled seats lined in front of the facility, reconnecting with those who they haven’t been able to see in over a year.

They sang along to “On Eagle’s Wings” played by the Song-A-Day Music duo Ruth O’Neil and Jim Hammitt and shared the happy memories of their lost loved ones.

“I invite you to believe in the beauty that we can share together in the midst of all that we’ve been through,” the Rev. Robin Blundon, Masonicare spiritual coordinator, said to the audience.

She encouraged families and residents to continue laughing, crying and leaning into all the emotions they feel from the loss they have experienced.

She encouraged them to keep saying the names of the ones they’ve lost, to keep them alive in their hearts, but to also let them go and be free.

“I was thinking this afternoon as I was driving over, looking at this incredible blue sky around us, picture perfect in so many ways. And yet there are these gorgeous clouds, each one different. Each one going in its own way with its own breeze underneath it, just like each person we’re gathered here to remember,” Blundon said.

“So, we also let them go and let them be the beauty like the beauty of these clouds up against this breathtakingly beautiful sky,” she continued.

The names of 54 residents who passed during that time period were read aloud to the audience.

Orzechowski explained that out of the 54 losses the center had from March 1, 2020, to March 30, 2021, about half passed from COVID-19.

She further explained many residents who passed away contracted COVID-19 and recovered to the point where they tested negative.

However, the disease negatively impacted pre-existing ailments and illnesses of those residents, which was ultimately what led to several deaths at the center.

“I think they were still very vulnerable and it didn’t take much to add to their already present illnesses,” she explained.

As each name was read during the service, a family member, friend or staff member would walk up to the beautifully decorated memorial and place a flower in a vase.

One of those family members was Ford Fay of Pomfret, who lost his mother, Mary Fay of Mansfield Center. Mary Fay died at 104 years old.

Ford Fay said his mother was most remembered for her local vegetable garden and crafting, where she customized and sold Raggedy Ann dolls among the other crafts and sewing she loved to do.

Another family member who was celebrating the life of her loved one was Cheryl Law of Vernon, who lost her mother, Gertrude Law, 85, during the height of the pandemic to dementia.

“Mom and I were very tight, very tight. She was a phenomenal woman. She was an RN for 28 years and then she gave up nursing and bought four H&R Block offices. She ran those for 38 years,” Cheryl Law said.

At the end of the service, it was announced that a plaque commemorating the 54 residents who died during the pandemic would be displayed at the center to keep their names and stories alive.

The plaque reads, “In loving memory. Those we love don’t go away. They walk beside us everyday. Unseen, unheard but always near. Still loved, still missed and very dear.”

Follow Lisa Massicotte on Twitter - @LMassicotteTC.

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