A unique tribute for a Windsor nurse who is being remembered by her colleagues as "a leader and a friend."
Several dozen current and retired nurses lined the steps leading into St. Angela Merici Church along Erie Street in Windsor to pay tribute to Franca Di Pietro.
She passed away suddenly on Sept. 6 at the age of 49 and was laid to rest Thursday.
Franca Di Pietro. (Photo: Windsor Chapel)
Di Pietro worked as a nurse for 19 years, the majority of her nursing career in the Intensive Care Unit at Windsor Regional Hospital - Met Campus.
Nurses who worked along side her in the ICU wore their hospital scrubs as they lined the steps leading into the church, each holding a white rose as part of a Nightingale tribute.
Nurse Ellie Weese says Franca was salt of the earth.
"The most amazing person you could ever want to be your co-worker and if you ever had her as a nurse, you would be the luckiest patient," she says. "She was a true leader, the mentored new staff, she was a friend and she loved everybody around her."