Cecilia Ratke Homan, 65, nurse
Cecilia Ratke Homan, 65, of Garnet Valley, a hospice nurse, died of peritoneal cancer Thursday at home. A native of Williamsport, Pa., Mrs. Homan earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from St. Joseph College in Maryland. She came to Philadelphia to work at Children's Hospital and later was a public health nurse in North Philadelphia.
Cecilia Ratke Homan, 65, of Garnet Valley, a hospice nurse, died of peritoneal cancer Thursday at home.
A native of Williamsport, Pa., Mrs. Homan earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from St. Joseph College in Maryland. She came to Philadelphia to work at Children's Hospital and later was a public health nurse in North Philadelphia.
In 1967 she married Paul Homan, whom she had met on a blind date. While raising a family, she was a hospice volunteer at Pennsylvania Hospital and became interested in the concept of compassionate care for the dying, her husband said.
When her children were in school, she worked for the Visiting Nurse Association of Delaware County. In the early 1980s she helped initiate the hospice program at Delaware County Memorial Hospital. She was a hospice nurse at the hospital until 2004 when she became ill. Her disease went into remission after she had surgery, chemotherapy and stem cell therapy, her husband said. The cancer returned in August.
One of the hospice nurses Mrs. Homan had trained cared for her in her final days and considered it an honor, her husband said.
Mrs. Homan had been an active member of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Springfield, Delaware County, since 1969. In the early 1980s she and her husband were founders of the parish pre-Cana program for couples planning to be married. She was also a Eucharistic minister.
She had been helping recently to organize a volunteer nursing program in the parish to assist neighbors with health problems and to run preventive-medicine health fairs.
In addition to her husband, Mrs. Homan is survived by sons Christopher and Mark; a daughter, Marcie Heil; four sisters; three brothers; and eight grandchildren.
Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m. today and from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. tomorrow at Frank C. Videon Funeral Home, 2001 Sproul Rd., Broomall. A Funeral Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 136 Saxer Ave., Springfield. Burial will be in SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Marple Township.