SISTER OF STATE’S 1ST CORONAVIRUS VICTIM ALSO DIES
Just over a week after her sister became Illinois’ first coronavirus fatality, Wanda Bailey also succumbed to the disease.
Bailey, 63, of Crete, died Wednesday morning of pneumonia due to COVID-19 infection, with hypertension, heart disease and COPD serving as contributing factors, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. She was pronounced dead at St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields.
Bailey was the sister of Patricia Frieson, 61, a retired nurse who died March 16 after testing positive for COVID-19 just a day earlier. Their brother, Anthony Frieson, posted on social media Wednesday evening that his family had lost “another beautiful soul.”
“Pat and Wanda loved their family and more importantly loved their Lord,” he wrote. “In a blink of an eye, life can change. Please continue to pray for our family.”
By Thursday, the coronavirus had claimed 19 lives in Illinois.
In the past week, as testing for COVID-19 has expanded, the number of fatalities and cases has climbed exponentially. On Thursday, Bailey was among the six people whose deaths were reported.
While Patricia Frieson was raised in Arkansas by her grandmother, Bailey grew up with her seven other siblings on Chicago’s South Side. They first lived in Bronzeville before relocating to a four-flat in AuburnGresham in the mid-’70s.
Prior to Patricia Frieson’s passing, Bailey was also hospitalized in critical condition, as members of the family self-quarantined while some awaited COVID-19 test results.
Survivors include her husband and at least one son, according to a family friend.