As an 82-year-old woman who battled emphysema and lung cancer, the Rev. Barbara Jane Herling was fearful of catching coronavirus.
But that is exactly what happened to her last month, and several days after being diagnosed with Covid-19, Herling, a spiritualist minister from Depew, was dead.
Herling’s death brought a sad end to the life of a woman who raised five children and helped many people with meditation and spiritual healing as the founding minister of the Northern Lights Christian Center For Metaphysical Development in West Seneca.
“Barbara was a psychic, a gifted musician, a meditation leader, a mentor and friend to many people, including myself,” said Robin Bean, a minister who served with Herling at Northern Lights. “She taught us to take responsibility for our own actions and to be nonjudgmental of people who were on a different path.”
Her family said Herling tested positive for Covid-19 at Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, after spending about 19 days at the Garden Gate Health Care Facility, a Cheektowaga nursing home. The family said she was sent to Garden Gate for physical therapy in October after treatment for breathing problems at Millard Fillmore.
“Because of her lung issues, she was terrified about catching the virus and terrified about going to a nursing home,” said Herling’s daughter and health care proxy, Nancy Kidder.
According to Kidder, hospital officials advised Herling to go to Garden Gate because she needed physical therapy to get stronger after her stay in Millard Fillmore.
Garden Gate's staff said Herling tested negative for Covid-19 on Nov. 10 at the nursing home, according to Kidder.
Kidder said hospital officials told her that her mother tested positive for the virus on Nov. 12, shortly after arriving from the nursing home.
Where did Herling become infected with the virus? Spokespersons for the hospital and the nursing home both declined to comment on her case, citing federal laws on patient privacy.
Staffers at Millard Fillmore Suburban "work tirelessly" on behalf of all patients, including those suffering from the virus, said Michael P. Hughes, senior vice president for Kaleida Health, which operates the hospital.
"That includes patients transferring into and out of the hospital. In any situation – Covid-19 or not – the clinical leaders, nurses and staff will always do what’s best for patient care. That includes working with the patient and their family to ensure that is accomplished," Hughes added, while declining to comment on Herling's death.
A spokeswoman for Garden Gate said the nursing home is "very aggressive" in efforts to fight Covid-19. But she said she would only discuss Herling's case if the executor of the dead woman's estate sent nursing home owners a letter giving them permission to do so.
Kidder said no executor has been appointed yet because her mother had not completed her will at the time of her death.
Herling was friendly with many psychics and spiritualists at the Lily Dale Assembly, the famous spiritualist community in Chautauqua County, Bean said.
“She would lead members of our church on trips to Lily Dale once a year, and we would provide meditation services and hands-on healing services at their Healing Temple,” Bean said.
As the leader of the small Northern Lights congregation since 1991, Herling also led efforts to raise money for the Salvation Army and to deliver food and clothing to Buffalo’s City Mission, Bean said.
Describing Herling as “an incredible person,” Bean said her friend had been unable to attend church services for about a year because of her health issues.
“She was treated for Stage 1 lung cancer over the summer and had radiation treatment in August,” said Kidder, who works as a nurse.
Kidder said problems with her breathing caused her mother to spend about a week at Millard Fillmore in October.
“During that time, she told us she had an extreme fear of being sent to a nursing home and catching Covid-19. She wasn’t just scared about it, she was terrified,” Kidder said.
Herling’s family gave The Buffalo News a copy of the death certificate issued by the State Health Department. The certificate lists “acute chronic respiratory failure” as the cause of death, with “complications of severe Covid-19 pneumonia.”
Like many nursing homes throughout the nation, Garden Gate has had Covid-19 infections this year.
Through Nov. 22, the Cheektowaga facility had 33 residents die with confirmed Covid-19, 160 residents test positive for Covid-19, and 86 staff members test positive for Covid-19, according to data the nursing home supplied to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Garden Gate is among 10 nursing homes in New York State with the highest number of confirmed Covid cases for residents.
Garden Gate had 135 residents as of Nov. 22. The federal government gives Garden Gate a five-star rating, meaning "much above average."
Dawn M. Harsch, a spokeswoman for the McGuire Group, which runs the facility, confirmed on Nov. 16 that 22 Garden Gate residents had tested positive for coronavirus “over the past several weeks.”
She said McGuire Group has instituted numerous safety measures, following all state and federal guidelines on Covid-19 "to the letter." Despite the 33 Covid-related deaths this year, Garden Gate has had 74 total patient deaths this year, which is nine less than it had during the same period of 2019.
In addition to Kidder, Herling is survived by two sons, Jerry Herling Jr. and Steven Herling; and another daughter, Bonnie Frisbie. A third son, Robert Gonzalez, is deceased.
She is also survived by two brothers, Robert Adams and William Adams.
“My mother was a very unselfish woman who devoted herself to helping other people, not herself,” Kidder said. “She believed in helping the underdogs of this world.”
The Buffalo News is publishing stories about Buffalo area people who have died due to Covid-19. Please contact The News at citydesk@buffnews.com if you know of someone whose story we should tell.
