Zoila Weddborn, who worked as a nurse at Boston Medical Center before her retirement, died last Thursday on the same Intensive Care Unit floor where she had lovingly cared for her neighbors for four decades. She was 79 years old and had been diagnosed with coronavirus.
Like so many other great Bostonians of her generation, Zoila was born outside the United States. She emigrated from Honduras as a young woman and raised her family here in Dorchester. Short in stature, she radiated warmth and was blessed with a sweet smile.
Zoila absorbed more than her share of tragedy. The fact that she is best known in our community not as a healer but as the grandmother of the late Louis D. Brown and the mother of Tina Chéry, founder of the Peace Institute named for her son, says a lot. When she wasn’t helping her fellow Bostonians battle illness, she was helping neighbors wounded badly by the trauma of violence to find healing. That has been the life’s work of Zoila, Tina, and Louis’s sister Alexandra, who also works with survivors.
On Friday, an emotional Mayor Walsh paid tribute to Zoila in his press briefing. He recalled that up until March, she had been a daily fixture in the lobby of City Hall, where she took on work as a greeter after retiring from BMC.
“A couple of days before City Hall shut down, she gave me a big hug and told me she loved me,” recalled the mayor. “She never stopped caring for our community. She was a healer in our city and her passing is a tremendous loss. Tina and her family need us to wrap our arms around them right now.”
Last Sunday, Tina carried on with the annual Mother’s Day Walk for Peace, which her mother never missed in 23 years. The event was held online this year, but still managed to raise a very strong $350,000 in donations for the work of the Peace Institute. A good portion of those funds were dedicated to Zoila.
In sharing the news about her mom’s death, Tina wrote that working on the ICU for 40 years had “taught our mother to plan and prepare.
“She always said, ‘Anyone who loves their family will write down their wishes before they die so their family does not have the burden of disagreeing while making final decisions.’ Our mother was always clear with us and her grandchildren that if she ever gets sick, she does not want to live on a machine.”
“After two weeks of her being on the ventilator, after the team at BMC had done all they could do, we knew what we had to do. On Thurs., May 7, 2020, at 2 p.m., we honored our mother’s wishes by removing her from the ventilator and transferring her to comfort care.”
Zoila, she said, died just minutes later surrounded by her three daughters, while her grandchildren were present via an online link.
“We want to offer our heartfelt gratitude, respect, and admiration for all healthcare workers, especially our dear friend Odessa Boykins and the SICU team at BMC for their exceptional love and care. They are more than a healthcare team, they are our family. We thank them for their compassion while caring for our Mom and their compassion while preparing our family to say our final goodbyes to her flesh. Zoila’s spirit lives on through us and through each of you in your love and prayers.”
– Bill Forry
