Herald & Lantern 12 September '84 53

Sea Isle ' Hospital ' (From Page 1) Stella Maris, Avalon, asked the Mercy's superior general to delay the closing in - June 1968 and June 1969 and a group of resort residents and officials traveled to Merion to plead that the hospital remain \ open. 1 THEY'RE STILL SAYING they miss / it," Sister Mary Agnes sighed. "They wish we had it" Every year, the resort's Friends of Mercy held fund drives for the hospital "so they could buy first-class equipment," recalled Police Lt. Pat La Rosa, 57, a Sea Isle native whose wife, Florence, delivered five of their six children in the hospital. Hie lawman's father and mother died there. La Rosa and other resort residents are still bitter about the decision to convert the hospital into the nuns' summer borne. When he worked as an electrician. Mayor Dominic C. Raffa and others donated time and talent to the hospital upkeep. Those donations, and the contributed hospital equipment went out the door when the hospital closed, La Rosa complained Land for expansion was offered to the Sisters of Mercy who "refused to sell" the building and equipment to those who wanted to continue operations as a community hospital, be said. "IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL HOSPITAL." be reflected last week. "That hospital was excellent. We saved hundreds of lives with that hospital. "People used to come here because we had a hospital," La Rosa added, noting that Sea Isle grfew as a vacation haven for families, and tourists in poor health, who wanted the assurance that health care was nearby. When it opened in 1945, it was the only hospital between Somers Point and Wildwood. Just a block from the beach, the Mercy complex (that included several cottages, among them the home of author Granville Clark, writer-illustrator of the Cathedral Readers which featured those memorable characters: Dick, Jane and Spot) was ravaged during the nor'easter, March 6-7, 1962. During the height of the storm, La Rosa and five other police rowed to the hospital to answer a fire alarm. It turned out to be minor but the lieutenant suspected the storm was a major reason the Sisters of Mercy decided to convert the hospital. "THAT UPSET THE WHOLE ORDER," be said, remembering the nuns and patients were evacuated by helicopter. The nuns probably felt too many lives were at stake in a hospital so close to sea, La Rosa reasoned. "I think that really made up their minds to move out of here," he conceded. One of his sons is the namesake of Dr. William A. Steel, a Philadelphia surgeon who vacationed at Beesley's Point and' operated on La Rosa and his wife when the " institution was still called Surf Hospital by its founder, Francis A. Dealy, D.O. Hie "little Irishman" had opened the 12bed Dealy Hospital in his home on 49th Street before building his dream nine blocks south, according to Rose A. Babl, a retired registered nurse who worked for Dealy. "He was a great guy," she said. "He * wouldn't charge a religious person, a service man or his family." In the midst of World War II, the physician purchased the Surf House hotel on the Boardwalk around 39th Street. He planned to transform it into a hospital. Lumber had been delivered to the site when a hurricane struck in September 1944 and destroyed the structure. V He then bought the block of land, between Pleasure and Landis avenues, 58th and 59th streets, for Surf Hospital, originally a 45-room, 25-bed facility, Babl added. "I OPENED IT FOR HIM AND I closed it for the nuns," she recalled. "Mo6t of our young people were born there — many, many, many." - The names and number of those bom there are filed in records transferred to a Pennsylvania hospital after Mercy Hospital closed. One hundred and twenty patients were

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FINAL DAYS — Sister Florentine, above, left, and Sister Mary Agnes Donnelly take a last look at Mercy Hospital, due to be demolished next week. Other photos show the hospital today, the news account of it when it was under construction as Serf Hospital, and Dr. Frank A. Dealy. the hospital's founder. The sisters worked at the hospital in the late l*60s.

admitted and 850 people treated during the first year the Sisters of Mercy took over the building from Dealy, according to Sister Mary Agnes' figures. • Q*-- Her order has had a convene in Sea Isle "since the turn of the century," she said. Hie Sisters' gray Victorian mansion, with a wrap-around porch and four-story tower, was gutted by fire in 1958 but the nuns had acquired another convent, adjacent to the hospital, a month after they opened the latter on May 13, 1953. Four additions were built to the hospital in the first five years the nuns operated it, including the lobby, pharmacy, medical laboratory and dining room. "WE NEEDED IT TOO," observed Babl, "we really did need it." Lots of people who visited (during the closing sale) were relieved to hear the Sisters are not leaving," exclaimed Sister Mary Agnes. 4 , Contrary to rumors, the nuns are not selling the block-wide property. The old hospital will be demolished, she said, but a new center for the nuns will be built in its place. Builder Michael Plitnii^. Jr. of Dias Creek is doing both jobs. Demolition is tentatively scheduled to continue a week, beginning next Tuesday, but no date has been set yet for construction of its replacement, he explained. Facing the beach on Pleasure Avenue instead of Landis, the new building will be called Manor House, Plitnik added. He's built one condominium for the nuns of the eight-lot property and plans another but Manor House will be the main building, he continued. It's designed as a gray, wooden-framed two-story building with a Victorian flavor of gingerbread, mansard roof, scalloping and half-circle windows. The new building will house 24 beds, dining room seating for 60 and an elevator, the builder said. N^till busy with the chores of emptying the former hospital in the late August twilight, Sister Mary Agnes paused to ponder the tearing down of the old and the building of the new. She saw a spiritual parallel in the change. She called it a "rebirth."

News : — Digest i From Page 1 ) that the borough or its residents are responsible for water line repairs and not the City of Cape May which supplies the water. Businesswoman Charged SEA ISLE CITY — Resort police arrested Elizabeth Fox, 35, owner of Hie Munchkins at 35th Street and the Boardwalk, in her 46th Place home last week oo drug charges. The arrest followed a two-month investigation. Fax was charged with possession of more than 25 grams of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute, distribution of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of narcotics' paraphernalia, according to police. She was released on her own recognizance. Bumpy Road COURT HOUSE - Despite opposition from Grassy Sound residents of North Wildwood Boulevard, Middle Township Committee adopted a resolution last week, favoring state improvements to .that roadway that would claim 108 homes and U businesses. Grassy Sound homeowners favor an alternative route north along a railroad bed through wetlands. But Committeeman James Alexis said that alternative might delay the $58 million project since environmentalists are likely to oppose it

Prime for Ducks SEA ISLE CITY - The city government, told by the county government to curtail buidling in floodprone areas if it expects financial aid for beach renourishment. has asked the county Planning Board to approve a subdivision between 22nd and 26th streets The land elevation is 5 to 6 feet. Federal flood insurance requires 12 feet. That would be solved by building on pilings, city officials said. City Commission William VanArtsdalen called the area "a prime piece of real estate." Houseboat Ban ? . J AVALON MANOR - Middle Township officials are reviewing the latest federal court ruling Friday that upholds Burlington County township's right to impose.reasonable zoning regulations for its waterfront. Bass River Township officials adopted an ordinance in January 1983, banning floating homes from its waters. A proposed Middle Township ordinance, imposing a similar here, awaited the outcome of the case through the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Murder • Suicide ^ nnunun nriru _ c-nn^. i DIAMOND BEACH - J

July: Bad Business — ( From Page l > "many members reported business off anywhere from 10 to 30 percent." This was echoed from other resort areas along the Atlantic Coast, the chamber said. N The reason, it said, was "Weather, weather, weather." XriC ( The chamber said a "str ong September"

/ * / • • . ■ could help make up "much of the July At Herald-Lantern deadline time Monday afternoon, Hurricane Diana was reported building in the Atlantic 110 miles k southeast of Savannah, Ga., and the U.S ^Weather Bureau was predicting it would Tnove slowly north or northeast, parallel to tfie coast, for the next 48 hours.

Apartments Burn J ■ - _iL WILDWOOD — Nearly 50 firefighters battled a blaze Saturday morning that damaged a three-story frame apartment building at 237 E. Bennett Avenue. The fire, reported at 9:48 azc., was declared under control at 10:35 azn. One fireman was slightly injured and treated at the scene.

Gervasi, 66, owner of Enrico's Restaurant here until it went bankrupt this year, killed his ex-fiancee Joan Giannattas>o, 47, of Sunrise, Fla.,then turned s 3$odiber revolver on himself Sept. 3, Florida police reported last weak. Both were found deed in Giaanattasio's home. Gervasi, who operated Enrico's far 14 years. Is survived by his wife, two daughters and grandchildren in Wildwood Creet.