Eight nuns living in a nursing home for sisters in the suburbs of Milwaukee died COVID-19 complications in the past week – including four who died on the same day. The deaths were a stark reminder of how quickly the virus can spread in compound living situations, even when precautions are taken.
Notre Dame of Elm Grove had been free of the virus for the past nine months, but the congregation running the house found out on Thanksgiving that one of the approximately 100 sisters living there had tested positive. Despite social distance and other mitigating efforts already made, more positive tests followed, said Sister Debra Marie Sciano, the provincial leader of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province’s School Sisters.
Morry Gash / AP
The first death occurred last week and the obituaries kept coming. Four of the eight nuns died alone on Monday, a difficult situation for other sisters in the home and members of the wider congregation who regard each other as family.
“Even though they are older and most of the sisters who did go to God are in the late 80’s, 90’s… we didn’t expect them to go that soon,” said Sciano. “So it was just really hard for us.”
Sciano said the congregation isolated sisters who tested positive in the same area so that they would not interact with others. They are advised to stay in their room, where meals are brought to them. Funerals and memorial services are broadcast on closed-circuit TV. Sciano declined to say how many other sisters have tested positive, citing the privacy of the residents.
The outbreak comes months after similar homes reported multiple deaths from the coronavirus. In July, 13 nuns died in a convent near Detroit and seven died at a Maryknoll sisters center in New York. At least six nuns also died at Our Lady of the Angels Convent in Greenfield, Wisconsin — a home that provides memory care for nuns from the School Sisters of St. Francis and the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
Earlier this month, church authorities said 76 Catholic nuns tested positive for COVID-19 after an outbreak at a Franciscan monastery in northwestern Germany, forcing health authorities to quarantine the entire monastery.
Sciano said that Our Lady of the Angels in Greenfield has not had positive cases for months and the facility still doesn’t allow visitors.
Deena Swank, communications director for the Felecian Sisters of North America, who lost 13 sisters – about one-fifth of the population in the Livonia, Michigan, convent – said they have had no additional deaths there and would like to have sisters vaccinated if that is possible .
Sciano said she doesn’t know anyone in the Notre Dame or Elm Grove home is on a vaccine priority list, but administrators are contacting local pharmacies to try and get vaccines ready for the future.
Monasteries share some of the same problems as nursing homes, which are the hardest hit industry in the US in terms of COVID-19 deaths. In many cases, their populations are elderly and live close together.
Linda Wickstrom, spokeswoman for the Waukesha County Department of Health & Human Services, said the county’s disease researchers have been working with the facility since School Sisters of Notre Dame contacted them in November.
“Given the extreme contagiousness of this virus, it is extremely important for community institutions to practice basic protocols to stop the spread of the disease,” Wickstrom said. She said the School Sisters of Notre Dame disinfected high-touch surfaces, washed hands frequently, took social distance, and wore appropriate face coverings. Sciano said all residents with the virus are isolated and visitors are not allowed.
The School Sisters of Notre Dame founded the Notre Dame of Elm Grove home in 1859 to provide an orphanage for children in the area. According to the website, it later became a home for elderly and sick sisters.
The facility’s first COVID-19 death occurred on December 9, when sisters Rose M. Feess and Mary Elva Wiesner died. Sister Dorothy MacIntyre died on December 11 and Sister Mary Alexius Portz died on Sunday, according to the congregation website. Sisters Cynthia Borman, Joan Emily Kaul, Lillia Langreck and Michael Marie Laux all passed away on Monday.
Sciano said all women worked as educators. Some were missionaries. Some were musicians. Some worked on peace and justice issues. One of them was a published poet. According to the council website, one of them was a teacher and principal who enjoyed summer working in an Indian reservation in South Dakota. Another taught Catholic elementary schools for over 40 years and worked part-time as a gift shop coordinator at the Elm Grove home.
“We believe that each of these sisters, and all of them, have made a real difference in this world,” said Sciano, adding, “I think it’s just important that people know that, and that they were committed to it. end of their lives. “
She said she hopes others can learn from the lives of the sisters and continue their mission to “make this world maybe just a little bit better thanks to them.”