Hartsfield Village Resident Mary Kerekes Knits Hats for Babies Born in Community Healthcare Hospitals

 

CHS-hats-1Toting a bag filled with ruby-red hats, Hartsfield Village resident Mary Kerekes made a special delivery to the Family Birthing Centers at the hospitals of Community Healthcare System on Valentine’s Day. Since she started knitting, she has made more than 850 tiny hats – each stitched with love – and delivered them to the moms and babies at Community Hospital in Munster, St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago, and St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart.

Mary says she knits hats for the babies because she loves babies and she finds great joy in giving.

 “I love babies,” says Mary. “I have seven of my own!”

Mary has a big family that has grown even bigger over the years. She raised seven children (six girls and one boy) in Whiting with her late husband William. She now has five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. During the 80’s, Mary moved to Virginia to be closer to and help out her children and that is when she learned how to knit.

“I was friends with the owner of a yarn shop and she taught me how to knit,” Kerekes recalls. “We were surrounded by yarn. I learned how to make a sweater and other beautiful things. From then on, I was always making something. I would sit in a rocker and knit on the front porch of my daughter’s house. I really enjoy knitting because it’s something that you can do whenever you happen to have time, and it’s very relaxing.”

 Mary says that she loves living at Hartsfield Village with her friends where she continues to knit the soft, handmade caps.

CHS-hats-1“I am blessed to be living in such a beautiful community and have the opportunity to deliver the hats in person to our hospitals,” Kerekes says. “The biggest joy for me is seeing how happy each little baby’s parents are when they’re given a cute hat before they’ve even left the hospital.”

CHS-hats-3Hartsfield Village, 10000 Columbia Avenue in Munster, is part of the Community Healthcare System that includes Community Hospital in Munster, St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago and St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart. Hartsfield Village is a Continuing Care Retirement Community that celebrates every stage of senior life and promotes successful aging by offering Independent Living and Assisted Living arrangements, Memory Support, Rehabilitation and Nursing Care services all located on the same campus. For more information, visit www.hartsfieldvillage.com or call 219-934-0750. 

For more about the personalized care available from the Family Birthing Centers at the hospitals of Community Healthcare System, visit comhs.org.