Remembering Sister Carol Ann Bonn-Sister of Charity of Nazareth
Carol Ann Bonn, SCN, 75, a native of Columbus, OH, died at Nazareth Home, on, Friday, February 24, 2017. Sister had been a professed Sister of Charity of Nazareth for 53 years.
Sister Carol Ann served in the education ministry, teaching at schools in Payneville, KY and Henderson, KY from 1965-1982. From 1982-1988 Sister taught at the primary and junior high levels at several schools in Ohio. In 1991, she began her pastoral ministry at Good Samaritan Hospital in Zanesville, Ohio. She then served as chaplain and outreach coordinator at CHI St. Vincent Infirmary.
Sister Carol Ann began at CHI St. Vincent Infirmary in 1993 after the new labor and delivery unit was created.
Sister Carol Ann was often called into pastor to parents who were grieving a stillbirth. But she wanted to also reach those who experience a miscarriage.
She said the rate of miscarriages and stillbirths is surprisingly high. Each year in the United States, one in every 3-4 pregnancies end in a loss. It affects one million families.
“When there is a loss it affects so many. Like a pebble in a pond. It ripples to affect the mothers, fathers, siblings, and on and on,” she said.
Sister Carol Ann’s family was one of these families personally affected. She said she learned it was okay to talk about because of her mother whose first child was stillborn. Her mother had a plaque that said “Our Darling.” As a child, Sister Carol Ann had questions about her oldest sibling and she felt it helped her mom to talk about it.
This personal experience helped her to counsel families coping with the sadness and various emotions that follow such a heartbreaking loss. In 2000, she worked with the CHI St. Vincent Center for Women & Children to form the Perinatal Bereavement Program. This program helps the families as they journey through this difficult period, supporting grieving families holistically. The program supports and educates the staff who care for these families, and promotes community awareness about pregnancy and infant loss.
Some of the services include a memory box, education materials and 24-hour availability of trained staff. Sister Carol Ann was instrumental in creating a collective monthly burial service for early pregnancy losses (less than 20 weeks gestation) which includes a casket, flowers, chaplain, music and keepsakes.
She also helped establish a grief group for affected families.
The Perinatal Bereavement Program also includes follow-up care with support groups, cards, phone calls and office visits. Annual Memorial Services are held with candle lighting and naming ceremonies.
Even after Sister Carol Ann returned to the Motherhouse on Nazareth campus, she continued to mentor and support the program, CHI and St. Vincent Health system. We are forever grateful for her service to our ministry.
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