Lorraine Messier

Nurse Age: 83

The last time Roger Messier saw his wife of more than 60 years, Lorraine Messier, he kissed her and said, as he always did, “I’ll be back.”

Lorraine, a retired nurse who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, was living in an assisted care center. Roger, an Army veteran of Korea, visited daily, even when she no longer recognized him. But Roger never made it back.

The center closed to visitors at the start of the pandemic as Rhode Island went into lockdown. Roger’s connection to his wife and the mother of their five children was reduced to his cellphone, making it hard for Lorraine to recognize Roger.

Lorraine contracted COVID-19 at a rehabilitation center in Pawtucket. She died on May 7, 2020. She was 83.

Her husband visits her grave regularly, leaving flowers and saying a prayer for the woman he met when they were schoolchildren.