82-year-old volunteer cheers up hospital patients

82-year-old volunteer cheers up hospital patients


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BOUNTIFUL — During the Thanksgiving Holiday, doctors, nurses and especially the patients at Bountiful's Lakeview Hospital are thankful for a volunteer who brings joy to her job everyday.

Eloise Weir is an 82-year-old volunteer who has been making people smile for the past 27 years.

"When our children were raised, I told my husband, 'I'm going to work,' and he said, 'No, you're not,' so I said, 'Ok, I'm going to volunteer.'" Weir said.

She volunteers at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful and has been racking up thousands of hours since 1985. The hours have been filled with giving her trademark Eloise squeeze, and just making the patients and their families feel better.

"You find somebody crying, then do something to make them laugh or at least smile," Weir said. "Don't add to their woes."

The nurses and staff certainly have appreciated Weir's sense of humor and giving heart over the years.

"Eloise tells the best jokes in the world and keeps up laughing," said nurse, Cheryl Burton.

"When she can tell it's a stressful day, she'll tell a joke or break out in dance in front of everybody," said Medical Floor Director, Katie Flores.

But, aside from the joking, and the dancing, Eloise takes her job seriously.

"Just being able to visit with the patients and serve them in any way I possibly can, cheer them up," she said.

Everyone notices the positivity and big difference that Weir makes at the hospital, even though she recently has cut back her schedule to two days a week.

"They ask me when I'm going to retire and I tell them, 'When I can't crawl anymore,'" Weir said.

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Kathy Aiken

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