McLean Hospice Memorial Quilt Honors 2021 Patients

McLean is privileged to provide care and support to our Hospice patients and their families. This caring continues after a patient’s passing, with bereavement support and services offered for the year after a patient passes. McLean’s tradition is to create a Hospice Memorial Quilt that allows families to honor a loved one with a personalized quilt square.

Families participate by making their own quilt square, or by having one of our talented quilt volunteers create a square. With the family’s input and suggestions, our quilters come up with a beautiful representation of the loved one. Many of the quilt squares include an image of the loved one. Our quilting volunteers sew the individual patches together to create a meaningful and lasting tribute to the lives they represent.

The Quilt is unveiled each year at the Lights of Hope memorial service, which is held for families of McLean Hospice patients who died the previous year. The 2021 Quilt was unveiled on November 10, 2022, at a non-denominational service at Shepherd of the Hills Church in Simsbury. The service included reflections on grief, harp music, a reading of names of the patients who passed away in 2021, and a candle-lighting ceremony. As one family member shared after the service, “I loved seeing the wonderful Hospice nurses again. They truly were lights of hope to my mother, me, and my family during the heartbreaking month when my mom was dying….My family and I are forever grateful to all of the wonderful caring angels at McLean.”

The 2021 Quilt features quilt squares from 39 families who either made a square or worked with a volunteer to create one. The Quilt is proudly displayed throughout the year at McLean’s Hospice offices.

Questions about the Quilt and the Lights of Hope service may be directed to Christine Novak, Hospice Office and Volunteer Coordinator, at 860-658-3708 or Chris.Novak@McLeanCare.org. For more information about McLean’s Hospice services, please contact Tully Meyer, Community Liaison, at 860-658-3954 or Tully.Meyer@McLeanCare.org.