Events will honor A.A.'s Sister Ignatia

Cleveland open house, street renaming today; chapel to be restored

Four decades after her death, Sister Ignatia will be remembered in ceremonies in Cleveland today.

The Irish-born member of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, who worked with alcoholics at Akron's St. Thomas Hospital in the early days of Alcoholics Anonymous, died 40 years ago today.

Her work with alcoholics will be honored with the secondary renaming of a portion of East 22nd Street between Orange and Superior avenues in the vicinity of Rosary Hall at St. Vincent Charity Hospital.

That section of the street will continue to be called East 22nd, but a secondary sign will be displayed, designating the street as ``Sister Ignatia Way.''

Sister Ignatia went to work at St. Vincent in 1952 after working for nearly two decades at Akron's St. Thomas.

At St. Vincent, she opened Rosary Hall Solarium, an inpatient alcohol treatment program. An estimated 53,000 people have been treated at Rosary Hall since 1952.

``Sister Ignatia demonstrated the humility that alcoholics and addicts need if they are to obtain recovery,'' said Don Davies, executive director of Rosary Hall.

The world's first inpatient alcohol treatment program was opened at St. Thomas in 1939 by Sister Ignatia, who had come to Akron in 1934.

She worked closely with both of A.A.'s founders -- Dr. Robert Smith and stockbroker Bill Wilson, both of Akron.

``We are still observing the 40th anniversary of her death because people still revere Sister Ignatia and they remember her through her work and through the help they have received and passed on to others,'' said Fairlawn resident Mary C. Darrah, who wrote the biography Sister Ignatia -- The Angel of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Dani McCann, a spokeswoman for Summa Health System, of which St. Thomas is part, said work is expected to get under way this spring to restore the hospital's chapel to the way it looked when Sister Ignatia served there.

The goal is to have the chapel restored by Founders Day weekend (June 9-11), McCann said. A Sister Ignatia Heritage Center will be established in the chapel area.

Founders Day marks the founding of A.A. in Akron on June 10, 1935, by Smith and Wilson. Events are held at the University of Akron.

Beacon Journal