United in Grief: Chapel Ceremony, Flags, Music, Symposium, Restorative Circles

This year we also lost Jody Power who began working at Duke on January 1, 1998, and served as executive director for the Institutional Review Board before her death on May 11, 2021. Jody was the wife of Steve Power, administrative director, Quality & Outcomes, at Duke Cancer Institute.

*The below article originally appeared in Duke Today

by Jack Frederick, Working at Duke

Duke University Chapel and Duke University Hospital will co-host a service of remembrance on Nov. 17 to provide the friends, colleagues and family members of staff and faculty who have died in the past year an opportunity to remember and celebrate them.

The service in Duke Chapel can be attended in-person or viewed online and will include a reading of the names and affiliations of about 200 Duke staff and faculty. After each name is read, the Chapel bells will ring out in remembrance of the late community members.

"They left a piece of themselves and made Duke what it is,” said Artie Hendricks, a chaplain at Duke University Hospital. “That’s why we want to remember them and let their colleagues and family hear their name. Without these people, Duke wouldn't be a great institution like it is.”

The half-hour service will feature poetry and musical performances from Duke Chapel organist Christopher Jacobson and Duke University Hospital musician in residence William Dawson.

In related but separate events Nov. 15-19, the Duke University Hospital Bereavement Services program will host its “2021 Grief Awareness Week,” which includes an in-person Music on The Green on Nov. 16 and Nov. 18.

During the week, memorial flags will also be placed at the dedication tree on the lawn in front of the Duke Medicine Pavilion in honor of patients, families and healthcare workers who have died. Staff and visitors are invited to share expressions of grief and hope by writing on the flags and placing them around the tree.

The Duke Center for Healthcare Safety and Quality will also host a “Matters of Grief” half-day symposium on Nov. 19 on Zoom as part of the week of events.The symposium will focus on addressing personal and professional grief, with reflections on the grief that healthcare workers and others have faced during COVID-19. The symposium will also discuss grief support, planning for death, caring for each other in grief and will include a special message from men’s basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski .

The event will be followed by restorative circles in the afternoon, which are small discussion groups to discuss grief. The groups include circles for physicians, nurses and other professionals, along with groups to discuss losing a loved one during COVID or the loss of normalcy, connection and/or safety during the pandemic.

Register for the online “Matters of Grief” symposium