Miss-Delectable
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http://www.4hearingloss.com/archives/2005/10/a_loving_hand_a.html
Vivian Sizer sat with intensive- care patients at University Hospitals, held their hands and, if their cash count was low, slipped them a couple of bucks.
The retired medical social worker, who died Sept. 29 at age 84, also coordinated home health services and provided emotional support for homeward-bound patients and their families.
"What she did was so healing, so nurturing, so compassionate," said the Rev. Harry Werner, UH chaplain. "On many occasions, I saw a little tear in her eye when somebody wasn't doing very well."
She worked in the intensive-care unit from its inception in 1976 until she retired in 1986.
"That had to be groundbreaking work," Werner said. "We tend to take intensive-care units for granted. The image of her sitting and holding a hand. Listening. It looks so calm and so ordinary, but it's so important."
After retiring, Sizer returned to UH as a volunteer. She taught pastoral-care volunteers how to talk to patients about having visits from the chaplain "without stepping on toes or proselytizing," said her husband, Fred.
She graduated from Union College, a United Methodist-affiliated liberal arts school in Barbourville, Ky. She joined the staff at UH in Cleveland after earning a master's degree from the Boston University School of Social Work in 1952.
Sizer went beyond her prescribed duties to better serve her patients. She stayed after hours or visited clients' homes to accommodate their work schedules. She once helped a widower cut through red tape to have his late wife's body transported home to Nigeria for burial.
She studied sign language so she could communicate with deaf patients. She understood the problems of the hearing-impaired, for her two younger brothers were born deaf. She conversed with them through lip reading before sign language became commonplace.
Sizer, whose maiden name was Blundell, was born in Lynn, Mass. Her parents were natives of Newfoundland, Canada.
Vivian, the eldest of four siblings, was 10 minutes older than her identical twin, Evelyn Hooper.
"We were always buddies," her sister said. "Way back in the dark ages, we were always dressed alike. We were referred to as 'the twins.' We didn't like it. We wanted to be individuals."
Although they both got secretarial posts after graduating, their paths soon diverged. Evelyn saw no reason to leave her well-paying job for higher education. Viv, on the other hand, saved the money she earned as secretary to a bank president so she could pay her college tuition.
On her own, she studied gardening and cooking. She had two indoor gardens at her home in Lyndhurst before moving to Willoughby four years ago.
She collected and shared recipes with family and friends. Her sister's favorite is a recipe for pecan pie that Viv picked up during her college years in Kentucky.
"She could whip up a meal really quick," her sister said. "In style, too. She liked to entertain."
Sizer made turkey soup, baked strawberry pies and flavored ham with peppermint sticks.
"She kept a little file of what people liked or couldn't tolerate, so she'd be sure not to serve them something that would cause them gastric distress," said Dorothy James, social-working colleague and friend of nearly 50 years.
The Sizers and their friends, Dick and Evelyn Ward, liked to hold sunrise picnics at Mentor Headlands on Sundays.
"As the sun would come up, we would cook breakfast," Dick Ward said. "Ham and eggs. We even made pancakes. We all pitched in."
Sizer also recruited friends to do some direct-to-the-needy charitable work.
"She would wangle some way to get someone clothing or find a place for someone to stay," Ward said. "You weren't getting a tax write-off, but it was really going where it was needed.
"She did so much in a quiet, effective way. She didn't think about herself. She thought about others. She worked out solutions for other people."
Vivian Sizer sat with intensive- care patients at University Hospitals, held their hands and, if their cash count was low, slipped them a couple of bucks.
The retired medical social worker, who died Sept. 29 at age 84, also coordinated home health services and provided emotional support for homeward-bound patients and their families.
"What she did was so healing, so nurturing, so compassionate," said the Rev. Harry Werner, UH chaplain. "On many occasions, I saw a little tear in her eye when somebody wasn't doing very well."
She worked in the intensive-care unit from its inception in 1976 until she retired in 1986.
"That had to be groundbreaking work," Werner said. "We tend to take intensive-care units for granted. The image of her sitting and holding a hand. Listening. It looks so calm and so ordinary, but it's so important."
After retiring, Sizer returned to UH as a volunteer. She taught pastoral-care volunteers how to talk to patients about having visits from the chaplain "without stepping on toes or proselytizing," said her husband, Fred.
She graduated from Union College, a United Methodist-affiliated liberal arts school in Barbourville, Ky. She joined the staff at UH in Cleveland after earning a master's degree from the Boston University School of Social Work in 1952.
Sizer went beyond her prescribed duties to better serve her patients. She stayed after hours or visited clients' homes to accommodate their work schedules. She once helped a widower cut through red tape to have his late wife's body transported home to Nigeria for burial.
She studied sign language so she could communicate with deaf patients. She understood the problems of the hearing-impaired, for her two younger brothers were born deaf. She conversed with them through lip reading before sign language became commonplace.
Sizer, whose maiden name was Blundell, was born in Lynn, Mass. Her parents were natives of Newfoundland, Canada.
Vivian, the eldest of four siblings, was 10 minutes older than her identical twin, Evelyn Hooper.
"We were always buddies," her sister said. "Way back in the dark ages, we were always dressed alike. We were referred to as 'the twins.' We didn't like it. We wanted to be individuals."
Although they both got secretarial posts after graduating, their paths soon diverged. Evelyn saw no reason to leave her well-paying job for higher education. Viv, on the other hand, saved the money she earned as secretary to a bank president so she could pay her college tuition.
On her own, she studied gardening and cooking. She had two indoor gardens at her home in Lyndhurst before moving to Willoughby four years ago.
She collected and shared recipes with family and friends. Her sister's favorite is a recipe for pecan pie that Viv picked up during her college years in Kentucky.
"She could whip up a meal really quick," her sister said. "In style, too. She liked to entertain."
Sizer made turkey soup, baked strawberry pies and flavored ham with peppermint sticks.
"She kept a little file of what people liked or couldn't tolerate, so she'd be sure not to serve them something that would cause them gastric distress," said Dorothy James, social-working colleague and friend of nearly 50 years.
The Sizers and their friends, Dick and Evelyn Ward, liked to hold sunrise picnics at Mentor Headlands on Sundays.
"As the sun would come up, we would cook breakfast," Dick Ward said. "Ham and eggs. We even made pancakes. We all pitched in."
Sizer also recruited friends to do some direct-to-the-needy charitable work.
"She would wangle some way to get someone clothing or find a place for someone to stay," Ward said. "You weren't getting a tax write-off, but it was really going where it was needed.
"She did so much in a quiet, effective way. She didn't think about herself. She thought about others. She worked out solutions for other people."
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