46 Erie County Medical Center 1978-Present Marie Engel, Lois Peterson, and the legacy of the hospital’s volunteers Throughout the history of ECMC and its predecessor hospitals, our volun- teers have provided an invaluable service to our patients and staff. Whether working as greeters, clerical assistants, messengers, transporters, or serving coffee, tea, and hot chocolate from hospitality carts, ECMC volunteers have long been an essential part of the fabric of the hospital and a welcome pres- ence to patients, their families, and our medical and administrative staff. One such welcome volunteer was Marie Engel, who began volunteering at the hospital in 1934 and continued brightening the lives of patients, families, and staff members for 60 years until her retirement in 1994. Mrs. Engel, a former president of the Volunteer Board and former volunteer hospital coffee shop manager, had an illustrious career as a lyric soprano before she came to the hospital. She began her professional career in 1925 singing in plays and operas such as Madam Butterfly and La Boheme and playing lead roles in summer stock presentations. Yet even during the years of her successful career, she found time to entertain patients in hospitals in the cities where she performed. “God gave me a beautiful voice on loan,” said Mrs. Engel. “So, to show my appreciation, I wanted to volunteer. All I really wanted to do was help people, to show them someone cares.” As a tribute to her lifelong commitment to the hospital, Marie Engel’s portrait now hangs at ECMC, a visible reminder of the dedication and critical importance of our exceptional volunteers. Another longtime volunteer is Lois Peterson, the current manager of the ECMC gift shop and a volunteer at ECMC for over 47 years. She began her volunteering career when ECMC was still called Meyer Memorial and was introduced to the hospital by attending the Harlequin Ball, a dance that was held each fall. “I do get paid for the days that I’m working in the gift shop but I do all the bookwork as a volunteer and I do the shopping and a lot of other extra things for the gift shop,” says Ms. Peterson. “I do about 400 hours a year as a volunteer besides being in the gift shop 4 days a week. “I was president of the volunteers for two years and I’ve been the member- ship chairman and treasurer since 1978. I’ve also worked in registration for our fashion show, run flower sales, and whatever other kinds of sales we have I’m always part of it. Every year we raise money for projects through- out the hospital and whatever is not in the major budget, the volunteers try to get enough money together to finance it. We average between a hundred and fifty and two hundred thousand dollars that we give back to the hospital every year in projects. We run book sales and flower sales three times a year. Wherever we can make money we do it. And whatever we get, we dole it back to the hospital.” Ms. Peterson also travels to other cities to buy items for the gift shop and although the hospital pays her expenses, her time is all volunteered. But she’s not the only ECMC volunteer with a long track record. “If I’m 47 years here, Carol Molnar has been here at least 45 years. And there are a lot of girls who have been here for 20 and 30 years. It’s just kind of like an infection. I just don’t know how to get it out of me. Because I think that I know everything. But I don’t. I’m not indispensable. I don’t know what keeps me going. I think it’s just in my blood. But I enjoy it. It’s like a whole family of people that I know here and I just feel very comfortable with them.” Volunteer Marie Engel. Volunteer Lois Peterson. Photo courtesy Wagoner Photography. ECMC’s invaluable voluteers. Photo courtesy Wagoner Photography.