May 21, 2021 SHARE:
President Grandillo made good on his promise to hold in-person commencement when it was safe to do so. The seven ceremonies of the 73rd and 74th Commencements were held May 13-16 on the lawn in front of the Felician Sisters Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Central Convent the first outdoor commencement in 50 years.
The events honored 1,670 Madonna graduates, from 34 countries who earned degrees over the past two years. Degrees were conferred upon eight Doctor of Nursing Practice candidates, nearly 360 master’s and education specialist graduates, and more than 1,240 undergraduate students, including 11 of 47 Haitian graduates who came to Michigan to take part in
Chuck Robertson has never missed one of his daughters swim meets.
“All of us girls would look up to him in the stands and he’d give us a fist pump before a race, his oldest, Sophia Robertson, said. We’d all give him a fist pump back. He’s the best dad.”
Now, Chuck is in the intensive care unit at at St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia following complications with COVID-19. He s been in the hospital for about 40 days, over half of which has been spent on a ventilator that is doing all of his breathing for him.
This obituary is part of “We Will Remember,” a series about those we’ve lost to the coronavirus.
Larry Johnson of Garden City enjoyed teaching people what he knew and loved the look on their faces when they got it right.
Johnson, 64, died Aug. 14 at St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia as a result of complications from COVID-19.
Johnson was born in Flint and moved to Inkster with his family when he was a child. He dropped out of high school during his senior year and joined the Army, where he finished high school and was honorably discharged.
Johnson married his wife, Colleen, of 39 years, in 1981. In 1982, he rejoined the Army and served at Fort Hood and in West Germany. After he was honorably discharged, he and his wife moved back to Michigan and had their son Brandon.
We thought we were going to break. St. Mary Mercy staff on the pandemic year
“It’s been a long year.”
Dr. Patricia Paz-Arabo, the medical director of the emergency department at St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia, said everything changed when the hospital admitted its first COVID-19 patient March 13, 2020.
“We had all been following the news and then it came to Michigan, she recalled. Shortly after that, we had our first patient. That was really when we realized it was here and we really needed to know more. The whole country didn’t know much at that time.”