by Jill Harmacinski, Eagle Tribune
Angels arrived outside Lawrence General Hospital on Wednesday to pay tribute to the difficult work health care professionals are doing during the coronavirus pandemic. Veteran firefighter Rene Lavallee and his twin daughters Charlotte and Caroline posted large white cutouts of angels outside the hospital. Lavallee described it as a “tribute of all sorts” to the workers who are helping patients with COVID-19 coronavirus. The Lavallees attached the angels to the fence across from the hospital on General Street. The public was invited to come by and Sharpie pens were provided for anyone who wanted to “write a note of gratitude and support for those in harms way everyday,” he said. Rene and his younger brother, Ronald, have been Lawrence firefighters for the past 26 years. The cutouts were named “Ruthie’s Angels” in memory their late mother, Ruth Lavallee, who would have celebrated her 95th birthday Tuesday. A lifelong Lawrence resident and mother of seven, Ruth Lavallee was deeply involved with Sacred Heart Church as a parishioner, Eucharistic minister, lector and religious educator. Ruth was a grandmother and great grandmother of 36.