Lois Ehrler wanted to be a teacher for as long as she can remember.
Growing up in New Britain, she attended New Britain High School and earned her teaching degree at Central Connecticut State University in 1952. She completed her education when she earned a master’s degree in teaching from UConn in 1957.
When she began teaching third grade full time, Ehrler said her passion for serving others carried beyond the classroom. After working a full day, she began volunteering in the evenings.
“I had a good job as a teacher and I had money in the bank for the first time,” Ehrler said. “I felt I had to do something to help someone else. I first went to St. Mary Home and they wanted to pay me for answering the phones. But I wanted to volunteer and not be paid so I called St. Francis Hospital.”
That phone call eventually led to 51 years of volunteer service at St. Francis, over which time Ehrler touched the lives of countless patients, staff and administrators.
Ehrler started out in St. Francis’ men’s surgical unit delivering and collecting dinner trays, bringing evening snacks to patients, answering the operating room phone, organizing operating room sets, bringing blood samples from the operating room to the lab and just about anything asked of her.
Now in her 80’s, Ehrler plays an essential role in the recovery room performing many tasks that nurses may not have time for, including making beds, calling for transports, delivering X-rays and attending to patients with things like warm blankets, pillows, and ice.
“It’s invigorating because every time I go in there’s something different,” said Ehrler. “Getting clothes and ice packs for people is the same, but then something funny will happen and it’s an opportunity to look on the bright side, make a joke. If someone has a broken arm, I will joke around and say, ‘OK now you can’t mow the lawn.’ I joke with nurses too.”
Diane Stadmeyer, a nurse at St. Francis, has known Ehrler for more than 22 years and describes her as dynamic, caring, generous, calming, respectful, courteous, and thoughtful.
“Lois is the kind of person who remembers and cares about things people tell her,” Stadmeyer said. “She remembers staff life events. She is continually caring for the staff. She started volunteering here when she was a full-time teacher and found a way to volunteer one day a week with us. She is here every Thursday and if she can’t be here because she’s volunteering with her church she feels bad. She’s amazingly dependable.”
Tobye Karl, director of volunteer services at St. Francis, echoed those sentiments.
“Lois is extraordinary,” Karl said. “She’s so competent that people used to think she was a nurse because she knew where every piece of equipment was located and how to do everything.”
Ehrler said her volunteerism is about helping people. One time she remembers interacting with a diabetic patient who had lost both his legs.
She recalls talking to him and bringing him dietetic chocolates out of sheer compassion.
“I love helping people and I’m happy to donate my time,” Ehrler said. “I try to anticipate what they need before they need it. Every day is something new. Patients tell me their stories and I love to listen. Once, a woman tried to tip me for helping her get discharged.
“I do things because everybody with whom I work is so nice. I like doing what I’m doing and they appreciate what I do. It’s a good feeling,” Ehrler said.
