Dear Friends,
I have never had to write an email quite like this before in all my years with AmeriCorps but yesterday, we received the sad news that one of our members currently serving has passed away, with a medical complication from a hip replacement.
Muriel Francis was one of our most experienced members, who, at 68, was a retired special-ed teacher from the DC school district and serving full time with us at William Tyler Page Elementary School this year with Valerie Palmer, our amazing Supervisor and former AmeriCorps alum. Muriel went in for surgery before Easter and was recovering well, when she had a setback and the doctors had to go back in to fight an infection. She was at Suburban Hospital. On Easter Saturday, she experienced a fatal blood clot, they say.
Muriel was all set to return to service this week, and attended March 20th, our last big training day of storytelling. Even though she was not totally ambulant, and needed a walker, she had more than a few stories to share. We were so excited to see her back with us. She had even wanted to accelerate her recovery to come back to serve, but we told her to take her time. Over the Easter break, our emails and texts and phone calls were not returned, and so we knew something was not right, but only this week, checking with her sister, we got this news.
Muriel was one amazing, funny, committed and enthusiastic member who wanted to sign back on next year. Every training check in, she would regale us with the stories of the challenging kids she was assigned to, and the tricks they tried to play on her, stealing food, being passive and then aggressive, getting rough and shoving the adults in their attack zone, etc.,. I told her she deserved a purple heart for what she put up with. Yet, Muriel, was someone who knew how to handle these most troubled kids. One training, she taught the rest of us how she de-escalates these tough encounters. And I have to own up, that anyone called ‘Muriel’ is going to win me at Hello, because that was the name of my mother.
It is all so sudden. The team and ourselves are in shock. We will be attending the funeral on Friday and the team will be there to appreciate Muriel and the loss to our AmeriCorps community. Muriel was the eldest of 10 kids in her family so we want to let her family know how much of a blessing she is and was. They don’t make folks like that anymore.
May She rest in peace.
Paul Costello
The Bio she wrote for us:
Muriel Francis
Hi, I’m Muriel Francis. I am recently retired (less than a year) but can’t seem to stay out of a classroom. I recently completed another successful trip around the sun (birthday) and am hoping to add a few more to my journey. Camping has been something I have done and really enjoy since I was a little girl. However, I have upgraded my status to “glamping”. Thirty plus years of pitching a tent is time served! Working with Americorp is in sync with other volunteer work I do. I have been working with people in recovery (alcohol and substance abuse) for the past 7 years. Everyone’s story is different, everyone needs help and social emotional learning is something we all can benefit from. I hope you find your niche in life. Shalom!