Statue commissioned by Effingham Retired Volunteer Firefighters Association commemorates 75th anniversary of St. Anthony Hospital fire
EFFINGHAM, Ill. — On Sunday, April 14, community members are invited to attend a brief ceremony and statue unveiling at HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the St. Anthony Hospital fire. The event will be held at 2 p.m. near the hospital’s healing garden by the Prairie Heart Institute entrance on Maple Street. Please bring a lawn chair for seating. In the case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be moved to the hospital’s Auditorium.
The statue of a nurse holding a baby was commissioned by the Effingham Retired Volunteer Firefighters Association (ERVFA) to memorialize the victims of the fire, and honor those who bravely responded to fight the fire as well as those who helped raise funds to rebuild the hospital afterwards.
The brief ceremony will include remarks from HSHS St. Anthony’s President and CEO Chad Markham; Effingham Mayor Mike Schutzbach; and Nick Althoff and Jim Wolters from the Effingham Retired Volunteer Firefighters Association. Father Adam Prichard, hospital chaplain, will also offer a blessing of the statue.
The not-for-profit ERVFA has raised the funds for the statue through private donations and a $15,000 donation from the City of Effingham. Donations to help cover the cost of the statue are still being accepted. Contributions can be mailed to the ERVFA at P.O. Box 1183, Effingham, IL 62401 or send donations to a special savings account at Dieterich Bank.
For more information about HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital, visit stanthonyshospital.org.
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Photo attached: Rendering of the statue from Jamie Stang Ellis of Stang Arts.
About Hospital Sisters Health System
Hospital Sisters Health System’s (HSHS) mission is to reveal and embody Christ’s healing love for all people through our high-quality Franciscan health care ministry. HSHS provides state-of-the-art health care to our patients and is dedicated to serving all people, especially the most vulnerable, at each of our physician practices and 15 local hospitals in two states – Illinois (Breese, Decatur, Effingham, Greenville, Highland, Litchfield, O’Fallon, Shelbyville and Springfield) and Wisconsin (Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Oconto Falls, Sheboygan and two in Green Bay). HSHS is sponsored by Hospital Sisters Ministries, and Hospital Sisters of St. Francis is the founding institute. For more information about HSHS, visit hshs.org. For more information about Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, visit hospitalsisters.org.