Editor’s note: A GoFundMe drive aims to help Roman’s family. Read about it here.
NORWALK, Conn. — Norwalk has a third fatality from COVID-19. Former City Clerk Mary Roman passed away Monday evening, her son said.
Roman was taken off a ventilator at about noon Monday afternoon and passed away about six hours later, Michael Roman said.
Mayor Harry Rilling said Monday evening that there had been two Norwalk deaths due to COVID-19. Roman passed away after that news release, according to her son.
Mary Roman, 83, a renowned senior athlete, had been thought to be improving. She had four sons and a “a whole lot of grandchildren and great grandchildren,” Michael Roman said.
“Mary Roman was the mother of my closest lifetime friend, the late Warren Roman,” Patrick Ferrandino wrote. “She was the matriarch of her family of five sons, with many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, cousins, nieces, nephews and daughter-in laws. Her husband and one son predeceased her.”
Michael and his brother Kenneth have lived with their mother. Although they’ve been exposed to the disease, they can’t get tested because they aren’t showing symptoms.
“I don’t want to go out there and give it to somebody else and have them go through what I went through. But it’s just hard to get a test,” Michael Roman said.
Mary Roman had gone to Costco two days before developing symptoms, he said last week. She had also gone to church, according to her son.
“Who would of thought that going to the grocery store meant risking your life or, in the case of our dear friend Mary Roman, losing your life?” Ferrandino wrote.
“The grocery stores in Norwalk are NOT following safe practices by allowing too many shoppers into their stores at one time and, once inside, not adhering to safe distancing among shoppers at the checkout counters! This lack of safety standards is endangering the lives of our residents, is irresponsible on the part of these establishments and is unacceptable!” he continued, in a Facebook post. “Our daughter, who lives in Austin, Texas, tells us that grocery stores there are only allowing 10 customers at a time to enter and have created one-way aisles in their stores, all while practicing social distancing of six feet, including at checkout.”
He suggested that law enforcement get involved. “Curb-side pickup should not only be an option at restaurants, why not at the grocery stores… especially for our senior citizens!” he wrote.
Several people have offered to bring the two sons food, since NancyOnNorwalk’s Friday story quoted Michael Roman as saying they were running out.
There’s a cooler in the driveway and people have been dropping off food, including chickens, hamburgers and canned goods, he said Monday.
Mary Roman had been planning to attend an athletic event when she became ill, he said.
She holds at least two world records in senior athletics.
“Mary was a wonderful person and an inspiration to us all,” Mayor Harry Rilling wrote. “She had a can-do, never quit attitude. She was kind, caring, and selfless. She brought international recognition to our city through her athletic prowess. My deepest condolences to her family she will be sorely missed. May she rest in peace.”
“Mary Roman was an outstanding citizen of Norwalk, a champion not just in Senior Olympics but in volunteer activities and City government as well,” former Mayor Alex Knopp wrote in a NancyOnNorwalk comment. “Although there is a tradition of partisan turnover in the few positions appointed by a Mayor after an election changes the party in control at City Hall, I asked Mary, who had been a long-term Republican City staff member, to stay on as the Assistant City Clerk after I was elected Mayor in 2001 and I never regretted my appointment. She served the City loyally, regardless of the political party of her colleagues in the Mayor’s office.”
Roman also helped many Norwalk non-profit agencies, such as the Norwalk Senior Center, but never sought special recognition, he said.
“I saw Mary for the last time just last month when she came to the Norwalk Library to help us honor a prominent volunteer, a task she had fulfilled herself for many years,” Knopp continued. “We caught up about our families. She told me about her forthcoming athletic competition. How much crueler does this horrendous virus now seem when it takes from us a person we knew so well, when she was still so full of life and so full of the spirit of giving.”
“Mary only had kind words to say and, when there were no kind words to say, she would just smile” Ferrandino wrote. “She was the first to come to my home when both my mom and dad passed away and was always so gracious and kind. Mary was always willing to step in and help wherever there was a need. A world class athlete, a successful career woman, the matriarch of her family and a friend to all. She will be missed dearly. Norwalk has lost one of its finest residents.”
This story was amended several times after being published, to include more information and the video of Mary Roman. Correction, 2 p.m.: Kenneth Roman.
Mary Roman – Master Shot Putter from GoodSport on Vimeo.
Original story:
NORWALK, Conn. — Norwalk has a third fatality from COVID-19. Former City Clerk Mary Roman passed away Monday evening, her son said.
Roman was taken off a ventilator at about noon Monday afternoon and passed away about six hours later, Michael Roman said.
Mayor Harry Rilling said Monday evening that there had been two Norwalk deaths due to COVID-19. Roman passed away after that news release, according to her son.
Mary Roman, a renowned senior athlete, had been thought to be improving. She had four sons and a “a whole lot of grandchildren and great grandchildren,” Michael Roman said.
Michael and his brother Carl have lived with their mother. Although they’ve been exposed to the disease, they can’t get tested because they aren’t showing symptoms.
“I don’t want to go out there and give it to somebody else and have them go through what I went through. But it’s just hard to get a test,” Michael Roman said.
Several people have offered to bring the Roman sons food, since NancyOnNorwalk’s Friday story quoted him as saying they were running out.
There’s a cooler in the driveway and people have been dropping off food, including chickens, hamburgers and canned goods, he said Monday.
Mary Roman had been planning to attend an athletic event when she became ill, he said.
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