Service of Remembrance will return at Orleans Community Health

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Randi Ingersoll, social worker at Orleans Community Health, and Scott Robinson, director of marketing, communication and outreach at Community Partners, discuss plans to bring back a Service of Remembrance, after an absence of seven years.

MEDINA – A service honoring loved ones who died at Orleans Community Health or had been dialysis patients at one of the hospital’s two dialysis units, is being reinstated, after an absence of seven years.

A Service of Remembrance had been a tradition at the hospital for 18 years, during which time it was organized by Debbie Cook. When Cook retired seven years ago, the service kind of retired with her, said Scott Robinson, director of marketing, communication and outreach at Community Partners.

A year ago, Randi Ingersoll was hired as social worker, and while going though files and records, she found information on the services of remembrance.

“I found minutes on the planning committees and news articles that had been written about the services, and it was intriguing to me,” Ingersoll said.

The information told about the services, held annually at a local church, with a keynote speaker and a memorial reading by Cook. Each family member who attended was given a candle which they could light as their loved one’s name was read. Then the family members were invited to stay for a reception after the service.

The service honored every person who had died at Medina Memorial Hospital or who had been a dialysis patient of Orleans Community Health.

“A couple of months ago, I reached out to Deb and asked if she minded if I brought the tradition back, and asked if she would help me,” Ingersoll said. “She said she would be happy to help.”

Ingersoll set up a committee, consisting of two members from the hospital, staff of Orleans Community Health and a private duty nurse. Cook will help when she’s available or by phone.

“A lot of community members remember when we had the service or had a relative who was remembered,” Ingersoll said

The service is scheduled for 3 p.m. May 7, 2023 at Oak Orchard Assembly of God on Ridge Road. Although it’s nine months away, Ingersoll wants to get the word out.

“I want the service to be just like it was before, to show the community we remember their loved ones who passed away,” she said. “Deb was amazed I even knew what the service was and that I wanted to bring it back. I think Day of Remembrance is Deb’s legacy. She spent 18 years of her life honoring patients of the hospital who were lost.”