Sunset Remembrance Ceremony Set for Sept. 7

To honor the memory of people who have died this past year, Brookings Health System Hospice will hold a Sunset Remembrance Ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 7 at 6 p.m. The event will be held outdoors on the east side of Brookings Hospital.

“Our sunset remembrance ceremony provides a ritual for the living to celebrate their loved one’s life,” said Social Worker Donna Bumann. “The sun setting for the evening creates a symbolic transition of life. For those of us who remain after death, life continues as the sun rises the next morning and we hold our loved one’s memory in our hearts.”

The ceremony will include a brief welcome, reading, spiritual dedication and music. In addition, the names of loved ones who have passed away this last year will be read. Attendees will also be invited to take a small memorial garden stone.

“The garden stones represent the permanence our loved ones have in our hearts even when they are no longer with us,” said Bumann.

Everyone in the public is invited to attend. To register a loved one’s name to be read, please call (605) 696-8089. In case of rain, the ceremony will be held inside Brookings Hospital’s Conference Room A.

Brookings Health System Hospice guides patients and their families through end-of-life. Local, familiar faces deliver compassionate care, provide comfort, and focus on quality of life with the time remaining to give patients a peaceful and dignified death. For more information on hospice care, including how to volunteer for or donate to hospice, please visit brookingshealth.org/Hospice.

About Brookings Health System

Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home, Brookhaven Estates senior living apartments, Yorkshire Eye Clinic & Optical, and medical clinics in Arlington, White and Volga, South Dakota. It is a non-profit, city-owned facility that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, emergency and extended care services. Brookings Hospital provides local access to doctors in Brookings and offers robotic da Vinci surgery and Mako robotic-arm assisted procedures, making it one of the premier rural community hospitals in South Dakota. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.