OBITUARY
Franciscan Sister Francine Gries was hospice pioneer, visionary
By Patrick Downes | Hawaii Catholic Herald
The woman whose quarter century of pioneering hospice work helped thousands of island residents slip from this life in a peaceful, compassionate and pain-free setting, died on Jan. 24. Sister Francine Gries, the cheery Franciscan who ran the Sister Maureen Keleher Hospice Center in Nuuanu from its founding in 1978 to 2004, died there at age 85. She was a religious sister for 70 years.
“Sister Francine was tireless in her personal commitment to giving care, comfort and dignity to Hawaii’s terminally ill patients and families,” said Sister Agnelle Ching, chief executive officer of St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii. “She truly put St. Francis Hospice on the map. She was feisty and had a heart of gold. She will be dearly missed by all.”
Sister Francine’s funeral Mass was Feb. 11, at St. Francis Convent Chapel in Manoa. She was buried on Feb. 12 at Diamond Head Memorial Park.
Sister Francine grew up in Lorain, Ohio. Her first association with the Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse, New York, came in 1934 when she was a boarding student under their care. She entered the novitiate in 1937.
She later received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Boston College, a master’s degree in nursing service administration from Syracuse University and completed special hospice training at the Hospice of Marin in California.
Sister Francine first came to the islands in 1955 as a nurse at St. Joseph High School in Hilo.
She was assigned to Kalaupapa General Hospital on Molokai in 1957, staying seven years as registered nurse supervisor responsible for overseeing the health program for the settlement’s Hansen’s disease patients. She later said that assignment was one of the highlights of her years as a religious sister.
“I learned so many things from them [the patients]. I learned about death and dying, even though I didn’t know that was going to be my work in the future,” she said.
After Kalaupapa, Sister Francine returned to the mainland to work at Mercy Hospital in Auburn, N.Y. In 1978, her fellow Franciscan Sister Maureen Keleher, who was then the chief executive officer of St. Francis Hospital, asked her to return to Hawaii to start the state’s first hospice program.
At the time hospice was not only new to Hawaii, it was barely known anywhere else. As part of her research, Sister Francine sought out and visited mainland programs.
Under her leadership, St. Francis grew to become Hawaii’s largest hospice program and the only one in the islands accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).
Knowing that patients prefer to die at home, she made sure that St. Francis’ two hospice inpatient facilities developed during her tenure, the Sister Maureen Keleher Hospice Center in Nuuanu and the Maurice J. Sullivan Family Center in Ewa, were as homelike as possible. At the time of her death, she was honorary co-chair for the campaign to build a third hospice facility in east Honolulu.
Sister Francine personally trained thousands of individuals to become hospice volunteers and her volunteer training curriculum continues to be used worldwide. She also traveled to various countries, including Japan and Korea, to educate others about the hospice concept.
She received the St. Francis Medical Center Achievement Award in 1985 and Award of Excellence in 1992 for “her unselfish contributions, sustained performance, loyalty, and dedication.” St. Francis Healthcare Foundation, at its “Art —and All That Jazz” special event this past October, paid tribute to Sister Francine for her contributions in making St. Francis Hospice one of the premier hospice programs in the United States and the Pacific.
Sister Francine contributed significantly to the development of other Hawaii programs through the Hawaii State Hospice Network and by organizing numerous statewide and national conferences. She received the statewide hospice organization’s achievement award in 1993 and was also recognized as one of the YWCA of Oahu’s 2000 Leader Luncheon honorees.
When Sister Francine retired in 2004 she reflected on her work in an interview with the Hawaii Catholic Herald.
She said that hospice succeeds because it takes the time necessary to answer the questions of both the patient and family.
Fear of dying is “fear of the unknown,” she said. “We answer their questions honestly and openly. People avoid that — they don’t even want to use the term death or dying. We don’t push it. We talk to them and listen to them and try to walk them through the process.”
“The most important thing is to listen to where they are coming from,” she said. “This is their death, not ours.”
Sister Francine’s approach to dying gained meaning from her attitude on living: “I love each day. Every day is a gift from God. I have tried to make our patients see that. At the beginning of another day, you give thanks and live it to the very best of your ability, giving to others. Sometimes the days are not long enough. You move on to the next day and you pick it up to the next day.”
Donations may be made in her name to St. Francis Hospice or the Sisters of St. Francis Retirement Fund, c/o St. Francis Healthcare Foundation, 2228 Liliha Street, Suite 205, Honolulu, HI 96817.