Families reclaim memorial bricks from former Delaware County Memorial Hospital

After months of waiting, families are finally getting back personal mementos from the former Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.

Hundreds of engraved bricks line the walls of the hospital lobby, each purchased in memory of a loved one. Ceramic tiles also commemorate babies born there.

Now, as the Upper Darby School District prepares to demolish the building and construct a new career and technical education center on the site, the district is fulfilling its promise to return the requested bricks before demolition begins.

"My fear was that they were just going to tear down the hospital and not care about the people who put these bricks up to memorialize their loved ones," Melissa Harris from Drexel Hill said.

Harris's family ordered a brick in honor of her grandfather, Charles Milligan, who died at Delaware County Memorial Hospital from complications of a heart attack in 1986. Harris said Milligan became a father figure to her after her parents divorced.

"He used to take me to the orthodontist appointments," Harris said. "And when I graduated ninth grade, he was the one sitting right there in the audience."

After more than a year of waiting, Harris finally got her grandfather's brick back last week.

"I am so happy to have this back," Harris said. "I set up a little place in my apartment for him with his photos, and it means everything to have it back and that it just didn't get destroyed."

The district is also preserving other pieces of the hospital. Some are now on display at the Upper Darby Historical Society, including the staff directory, hospital charter, meeting minutes and photos of nurses.

"We have scrapbooks from like 1940s, all the way through the 1980s, '90s," Barbara Marinelli, vice president of the Upper Darby Historical Society, said.

One scrapbook is filled with newspaper clippings documenting the hospital's role in the community over the decades. Marinelli said those memories still resonate with people who stop by the historical society.

"I've had so many people that come up to me and say, 'Oh, I had my children there,' so it's a heartfelt feeling that even though the hospital won't be there, at least we have pictures and reminders of things that they could reminisce about in the future and for generations to come," Marinelli said.

Former Delaware County Memorial Hospital maintenance worker Keith Buchanan helped the historical society decide which artifacts were saved.

"It was important because it's our history," Buchanan said. "I just loved working there. It was a great place to work. A lot of great people — doctors, nurses, administration — who really, really cared."

The historical society plans to preserve any unclaimed tiles or bricks.

"We can certainly work something out, I think, with the township to maybe do some sort of display using the tiles," Marinelli said.

As for Harris, her grandfather's brick now has a place of honor at home. She eventually plans to take it to his gravesite.

"I'm going to keep it for a while, but eventually I'm going to take it out to the cemetery and probably dig a spot," Harris said. "He has a flat headstone and I'm going to put it in there eventually. So it will always be with him."