Tacoma memorial honors those who died, often alone, from COVID-19

TACOMA, Wash. — Social distancing has meant social isolation for many families during the year-long COVID-19 pandemic, even when it comes time to memorialize someone lost to the disease that has killed nearly 5,000 Washington residents.

Religious and civic leaders tried to close that gulf, safely, at an outdoor memorial service Monday evening outside the Lemay - America’s Car Museum in Tacoma.

“It’s to show those families who have lost loved ones alone, that we see them and that we feel their pain,” Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards said before the start of the service.

Last week, Woodards proclaimed Monday to be COVID-19 Victims and Survivors Memorial Day in Tacoma. Religious and civic leaders spoke at Monday’s event. Attendees, gathered in about 50 vehicles, listened via their radios.

Woodards noted that people of color have been disproportionately affected by the disease caused by the coronavirus and had more trouble getting access to vaccines.

“When we think about jobs, when we think about housing, we think about people being able to care for themselves and their families, we know that (Black, Indigenous, people of color) communities have been hit hard,” Woodards said.

In a normal year, the Rev. Gregory Christopher of Tacoma’s Shiloh Baptist Church helps families grieve in person at memorials and funerals.

“One of the sacred duties, that just about every race and ethnicity honors, is just being able to hold that person and say, ‘I love you’,” Christopher said. “And ‘It’s OK, you can go.’”

Christopher, president of the Tacoma Ministerial Alliance, said the social isolation and effect COVID-19 has had on his personal and professional lives have been profound. He’s had to perform his duties isolated from people when they need him the most.

“All of a sudden, I’m getting up in the morning, and I’m not opening my shades,” Christopher said. “I have no energy, and I’ve never suffered from depression.”

Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier reminded the audience that COVID-19 has claimed the lives of nearly 500 Pierce County residents and 5,000 Washington state residents.

“Sadly, many of those people died in isolation,” Dammeier said. “They weren’t able to have their family and friends and loved ones around them.”

Michael Doss of Tacoma was one of the attendees who lost a family member. His cousin died from COVID-19 in Mississippi, but he was unable to see her or attend her services in person, he said.

Temple Beth El Rabbi Bruce Kadden said it’s hard to wrap his head around the numbers.

“More than 525,000 deaths in the United States, more than 2.5 million deaths in the world,” he said before reading a poem.

Every Pierce County resident lost to COVID-19 was represented by glow sticks at Monday’s event. Attendees carried the sticks to a nearby field and placed them in a circle. Christopher hopes it will become a temporary memorial to victims.

Woodards said she is looking forward to the end of the pandemic. But, it will be bittersweet.

“I just think we’re going to come out of this pandemic and look up,” Woodards said. “You’re going to see a lot of people that we have lost, that aren’t in a coffee shop, that aren’t in the restaurants we used to go to, or the events we used to go to.”

This story was written by The News Tribune.

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