Hospice memorial service will honor Mary Miller
The annual Hospice memorial service, a tribute of remembrance for people who died in the past three years, will have an additional focus this year: Mary Miller.By: Ruth Nerhaugen, The Republican Eagle
- PHOTO: Hospice co-founder
The annual Hospice memorial service, a tribute of remembrance for people who died in the past three years, will have an additional focus this year: Mary Miller, co-founder of the local hospice program. Miller died this year at 97 after a lifetime of volunteer service.
Fairview Red Wing Home Care and Hospice will hold the memorial service at 3 p.m. Sunday at First Lutheran Church, 615 W. Fifth St. Invitations have been sent to families of hospice clients, Director Hedda Levin said, “but anyone can come.”
Carol McClelland, bereavement coordinator for the Home Care and Hospice program, will lead the service, which will include lighting of candles and recitation of the names of people being honored. Each family will get a commemorative rose.
“It’s just a love, lovely service,” said Levin, who has been director of the Red Wing program for two years. The service is respectful but not somber, she added. “It’s a celebration of the life of that loved one.”
In addition, people can reconnect with the people who provided care for the family member being memorialized.
Hospice provides 13 months of bereavement services to the family and caregivers after the client’s death, including visits, phone support and support groups.
Following the service will be an invitation-only light supper. “It’s really to honor Mary Miller,” Levin said.
Miller’s daughter, Margaret “Peg” Clarke of Vancouver, Canada, is expected, along with her children, and also Miller’s son, Phillip, from the Twin Cities. No formal program is planned.
She and her husband, Winston, and their children came to Red Wing in 1948. In the 1970s her husband was diagnosed with cancer. She cared for him at their home. After his death, Miller wanted to help find a way to help other people care for terminally ill people at home.
According to an interview with Sharon Marty — who became Red Wing’s first Hospice director — in the Goodhue County Historical Society files, Miller collaborated with Barb Roth, a nurse, to establish the program.
In 2008, Miller was inducted into the Red Wing Women’s Hall of Fame for her inspiration and leadership in hospice and other community organizations she served for many years, including the League of Women Voters.
In the spirit of Miller, volunteers play an essential role in the Hospice program — and in Sunday’s activities. Levin said they will usher in church then help set up, serve and clear the meal.
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