Hospital Dedicates Non-Denominational Space and Illuminated Garden for Reflection
Surrounded by approximately 125 guests, hospital staff, and community leaders, Norwood Hospital formally dedicated its newly completed meditation room and adjoining garden during ceremonies yesterday at noon.
Designed to serve as a quiet sanctuary for prayer and reflection rather than a formal chapel, the meditation room is decorated in subdued tones of dusky rose and gray and features wall-to-wall carpeting. A massive plate glass window forms one entire wall, offering visitors a serene view of the newly landscaped garden.
The garden itself was donated and partially designed and planted by Jean Michaels of Attleboro in loving memory of her late husband, Ernest.
Dedication Highlights & Project Background
Design & Purpose
- Non-Denominational Sanctuary: Hospital spokesman **Robert A. Johnson** noted that while clergy have served the hospital for years, the facility never had a dedicated chapel space. Organizers deliberately chose a meditation room over a traditional chapel since regular religious services will not be held there.
- Location & Funding: Carved out of a portion of the Draper lobby in the hospital’s old wing, construction and furnishing funds were raised entirely through community donations. The space also houses an office for hospital clergy.
- Year-Round Appeal: **Betty Anne Wissman** of Walpole, Chapel Committee chairman and former trustee, remarked: “The garden will be lighted at night and I can imagine it will be very pleasant to go there during the winter and look out on the snow.”
Ceremony & Committee Leadership
- Invocation & Prayers: The Rev. **Daniel Crowley** of St. Peter’s Church delivered the invocation, while Rabbi **Jonathan Case** of Temple Shaare Tefilah offered the opening prayer.
- Chapel Committee: Led by Betty Anne Wissman, the committee included Kay H. Collins, the Rev. Carole Baker, the Rev. Theodore Fritsch, Barbara Tillinghast, Kay Youngdahl, Donald G. Weir, Dr. James E. O’Neil, Robert A. Johnson, RNs Roberta Trahan, Gail Douglas, and Ida Kerwin, Bruce K. Komiske, Conrad Girard, Robert Simpson, and Marion Sprague. (Photo captured by staff photographer **Greg Derr**).
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
More Norwood Hospital Stories
-
Norwood Hospital Honors Their ‘Candy Stripers’-June 17, 1964
Discover how 33 dedicated young local women stepped in to assist a major local healthcare facility, logging over a thousand hours of vital service.
-
Talk Of The Town-May 11, 1964
Norwood High School Junior Prom Six couples paused for a “Time Out” photo at the Norwood High School Junior Prom: (Photo by Kenneth F. McLean) Norwood begins the week with a mix of civic frustration and community celebration. While litigation stalls long‑awaited school construction, classrooms remain lively with workshops, proms, and spring traditions. Around town,…
-
Jaycees’ “Operation Saturation”-April 22, 1964
Jaycees’ “Operation Saturation” Aims to Broaden Community Immunity On this day in 1964, the Norwood Junior Chamber of Commerce (the Jaycees), in a powerful display of community engagement and public service, made a final plea to residents: protect yourself and the town by attending the upcoming “Operation Saturation” immunization clinic. This local push was part…
-
New Deep Therapy X-ray Now At Norwood Hospital-This Day in Norwood History-April 22, 1964
Norwood Hospital’s new 280,000-volt deep therapy X-Ray machine (called the Vanguard) has been in operation for approximately five weeks. This deep therapy unit is a treatment machine, as opposed to the conventional X-Ray, which is purely diagnostic. It produces gamma radiation which is used in the treatment of tumors in any part of the body;…
-
Norwood Looks Forward-March 29, 1964
Norwood, until 1872 a part of Dedham, today appears a town that was built-and divided-by a railroad. But unlike many New England towns that boomed early in the Industrial Revolution and then declined, Norwood has continued to prosper as an industrial center. While only four trains a day now stop at the depot at the…
-
“Rumble” Erupts Here; One Youth Cut On Face-This Day in Norwood History-January 23, 1964
A “rumble” that police said was started by an argument between a group of Stoughton youths and several youths from Norwood at a dance held in Stoughton last Friday erupted in a Washington Street retail establishment in which one youth suffered a cut face last Saturday afternoon. The manager of the establishment called Norwood police…
-
Hometown News Of The Day at Norwood HospitalAugust 6, 1963
This Day In Norwood History-August 1, 1963-Hometown News Of The Day at Norwood Hospital
-
Newborn Babies Co-Star In Norwood Hospital TV Show-This Day in Norwood History-June 27, 1963
This Day in Norwood History-June 27, 1963-Newborn Babies Co-Star In Norwood Hospital TV Show
-
Predictions For The Future of Norwood Hospital-May 8, 1963
Rising 14 stories from the ground and housing 300 beds, Norwood Hospital will be the medical center for Norfolk County in the year 1988. So predicts Charles A. Richardson, administrator. Except for the new building, which would then be 26 years old and remodeled for research laboratories, the Hospital building as they appear now will…
-
New Hospital Maternity Unit Scores Hit With Mothers-This Day in Norwood History-April 4, 1963
“The Norwood Hospital’s modern maternity department has proven to be an overwhelming success,” so states Charles A. Richardson, administrator. This fact is based on hundreds of comments received from mothers in the Hospital’s service area. “Beginning shortly after the new maternity floor was opened last autumn, both verbal and written compliments have been flowing in,”…
Discover more from Norwood Historical Society
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.