Angel's Aid Grieving Parents

By Gloria Aleff
Courier
January 29, 2004

WAVERLY --- Shopping for children's Easter outfits or for trendy back-to-school clothes are tasks many parents understand, endure or --- perhaps --- enjoy.

But looking for burial clothes for a stillborn baby is an unimaginable heartache beyond comprehension for most.

Not for Diana and Jon Ward of Cedar Rapids.

The couple were expecting triplets when Diana went into labor in her fifth month of pregnancy. The doctors couldn't stop the labor and the babies --- two boys and a girl --- died at birth.

Diana wanted to bury the babies dressed in something beautiful. But baby clothes don't typically come in sizes for 2- and 3-pound infants.

They wound up at a toy store, forcing themselves into a store where shoppers were laughing and playing games.

The Wards' sad story reached Patricia Farr, a nurse in Waverly. Her daughter, Laurie, is Diana's sister-in-law.

Farr and other women in her Bible study group at St. John's Lutheran Church decided something must be done to reach out to other families suffering in the same situation.

And Diana's Angels took wing.

The volunteer seamstresses create burial outfits for premature infants and newborn babies. Their work is supported by Cal Corson, president of Kaiser-Corson Funeral Home.

Corson suggested garments with long sleeves and high necklines and caps. He now keeps a supply of Diana's Angels clothing, which he offers parents at no cost.

"Most parents want their child presented to the public, not in denial of the tragedy, but in a time to share and a chance to say hello and goodbye at the same time," Corson said.

His motivation for getting involved came from his father, Jim, who was also a funeral director.

"'We would never bury a baby again who was never seen,'" Corson remembers his father saying. "'There have been too many times when the baby goes from the hospital right to the grave.'"

Becky McBurney of Plainfield, one of the original volunteers, put her degree in vocational home economics and tailoring to work. She started with doll clothes patterns, later designing her own.

Diana's Angels now offers garments in four sizes for babies as small as 1 pound. Receiving blankets and hand-crocheted booties match each outfit.

The group has gotten help from many different quarters. Farr's husband, Marvin, and his friend, Larry Graening, solved the problem of duplicating and delivering patterns to volunteers. The Diana's Angels logo was designed by artist Suzie Heino. Gift boxes for garments sent to Waverly and Waterloo Hospitals are donated by Westcott's Clothing of Waverly.

And last summer, the Lutheran Women's Missionary League agreed to take over printing and distribution of the patterns. The patterns are made by McCall's Pattern Company, which charges just $10 to cover printing and shipping costs of not only the pattern but an instructional CD.

Word spread quickly and now Diana's Angels volunteers are at work in 23 states, Sri Lanka, several nations in Africa and England.

Theresa Pagel of Sumner, head nurse in the Allen Hospital obstetrics department, has seen the Angels organization from both sides.

In a letter to the group, Pagel wrote, "I have appreciated giving your baby outfits to parents who have experienced a baby's death. Never did I think that I would have to use it for my own baby son, who was 6 pounds, 8 ounces and a stillbirth.

"He was buried in your jumpsuit. He looked absolutely precious."

Diana and Jon Ward's story also continued.

The couple now have five children. Two healthy twins were born last month.

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