1 Yr Later, Family Fights To Bury BK Social Worker Taken By COVID

BROOKLYN, NY — Nearly two years ago, Elizabeth Ndubisi-Ukandu traveled all the way from her native Nigeria with plans to retire with her sister Peggy Ndubisi, a former New York City social worker who'd fallen on hard times.

She visited Peggy in her Brooklyn nursing home and her sister, despite not being able to speak well anymore, managed to relay that her wish was to retire in Atlanta, Georgia — the warm, welcoming city the sisters had enjoyed when visiting for a wedding long ago.

"We felt comfortable there," Elizabeth said.

Elizabeth left New York late 2019 with plans to come back for Peggy and settle in Georgia once her husband, at home in Texas, recovered from a recent surgery.

But, then the coronavirus pandemic hit. Peggy died April 24, 2020.

Nearly a year later, ravaged by obstacle after obstacle brought on by the pandemic, Elizabeth is still trying to fulfill her sister's last wish — to bring her to Atlanta.

"I wanted to lay her to rest where she wanted," Elizabeth told Patch. "But 10 months later, we're still in Texas. We don't even have the money to lay her down."

Now, Elizabeth, despite a self-described "stand on your own feet" upbringing, has turned to GoFundMe, hoping the generosity of strangers can finally bring the closure her family needs.

The fundraiser comes months after a small amount of money raised in the wake of Peggy's death, plus the little Elizabeth and her husband had in savings, was drained by the logistical nightmare of bringing Peggy's remains to Texas at the height of the pandemic.

Told she wouldn't be allowed in the hospital even if she made it to New York, Elizabeth had spent weeks on the phone arranging for her sister's body to be cremated so it could be flown to Texas.

Cremation was against her culture, Elizabeth said, but New York was so overwhelmed with bodies, the coroner told her it was either that or Peggy would be sent to the mass grave on Hart Island. She hoped instead to salvage some of her culture's tradition by burying the ashes.

Yet another hurdle, New York was so full that Peggy was sent to a facility in Philadelphia for the cremation.

"By the time they got her from New York, to Philadelphia, and back to New York, and then to us, the money was gone," Elizabeth said.

Peggy's ashes now sit in an urn next to Elizabeth's wardrobe, a painful reminder of the sort of limbo her family has been in since her sister's death.

"For us there's no closure — I go to take my clothes every day and I see it," Elizabeth said.

The pain is especially tough given the difficult last few years of Peggy's full, accomplished life.

Peggy, a naturalized citizen, arrived in the U.S as a foreign exchange student in 1980. She soon made it her life's work to help others, spending 30 years as a social worker in New York City.

But when she lost everything after a fire in her Fort Greene apartment of 27 years, Peggy was rendered homeless.

She miraculously survived on the streets of New York City and even through Hurricane Sandy, sheltered only by the overhang of the Fort Greene Park women's bathroom, before ending up in the nursing home.

"I was horrified," said Elizabeth, who was stuck in Nigeria caring for family at the time. "She gave 30 years of her life doing everything she could [for others], the least I can do is lay Peggy down properly."

The money from the GoFundMe will pay for a proper service for Peggy, assist Elizabeth and her husband's move from Texas to be close to the grave and hopefully help bring the sisters' niece, the family's only remaining relative, from Nigeria for the burial.

And of course, finally, bring Peggy to Atlanta.

"My niece is stuck in Nigeria, Peggy is stuck in my house and we are stuck here in Texas," Elizabeth said. "I don't know what else to do. I need to bury her so I can have some peace in my heart."