Label
Council Member Melden
Title
Recognizing Patricia M. Hanusz, a nurse, volunteer and activist for peace and justice.
Summary
WHEREAS, Patricia M. Hanusz, a nurse, volunteer and activist for peace and justice passed on January 3, 2021; and
WHEREAS, Patricia was born on February 20, 1935 in Cleveland to Patrick and Louise Prendergast; after graduation she attended St. Thomas Hospital School of Nursing in Akron, following in the footsteps of her mother as a nurse; working in neurosurgery and intensive care units, where she co-authored a practitioner's guide to post-surgical nursing care; and
WHEREAS, later, she received her bachelor of science degree in nursing from Western Reserve University, at which time she made lifelong friendships with other students in the Newman Club; her work to advance the rights of those who lived in "the other America" became a hallmark of her life and inspired countless others to follow along the same path; and
WHEREAS, Patricia and her husband Richard, married for 53 years, moved as newlyweds to Toledo in 1967 where they were blessed with 4 children, Clare, Paul, Mark and John, and a beloved foster child, Gina; and
WHEREAS, Patricia took absence from her career as a nurse to raise her children, which she often said was the hardest work she ever did but also the most rewarding; at this time, she immersed herself in her community, working on political campaigns (including an effort to elect Toledo's first female mayor), co-founding the Women of the Old West End, advocating for quality public education, and working for a more inclusive, welcoming, and just Catholic Church; and
WHEREAS, providing hospice care to the dying and their grieving families was her passion; she worked initially as a volunteer at Hospice of Northwest Ohio, and then helped, as a staff member, open the organization's first inpatient facility in Perrysburg in 1995 where she served until her retirement ...
Click here for full text