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 in 2010; there Patricia touched countless families with her gentle guidance during the most difficult times of their lives; and
WHEREAS, Patricia was an active member of the Toledo Area Committee on Central America, a group dedicated to shining a light on poverty and human-rights abuses in that troubled region. She made many trips to Columbus, Georgia to raise her voice - and fist - in opposition to American support of torturous Latin American regimes. She “crossed the line” at the School of the Americas, risking arrest in a show of civil disobedience. She worked hard to change the institution she loved so much: the Church. She strongly opposed the Church’s unequal treatment of women and its protection of the powerful; NOW, THEREFORE,
Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Toledo:
SECTION 1. That the Council hereby recognizes Patricia M. Hanusz.
SECTION 2. That this Resolution shall take effect and be in force from and after the earliest period allowed by law.
Adopted: _________________: yeas ______, nays ______.
Attest: _________________________ __________________________________
Clerk of Council President of Council
Approved: ______________________ _________________________________
Mayor
I hereby certify that the above is a true and correct copy of a Resolution adopted by Council ________________________.
Attest: _________________________
Clerk of Council