A Legacy of Love

For Abe Martens, love has always meant showing up. 

He and his wife Eva shared 47 years of marriage, raised 10 children and delighted in the laughter of 37 grandchildren. Eva had a quiet way of serving others: driving neighbours to appointments, organizing meals for grieving families and offering every act of kindness with a faith rooted in her friendship with Jesus. 

In 2021, Eva became ill. A year later, she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. After months of treatments and hospital visits, she spent the final three months of her life at Covenant’s St. Joseph’s General Hospital in Vegreville. 

Care that Became Sacred 

Those months were heartbreaking, but they were also deeply holy. 

The St. Joseph staff cared for Eva like family. They eased her pain, soothed her restless nights and never left her feeling alone. When she was too weak to leave her room, they wheeled her bed to the chapel so she and Abe could sing together. And one Easter, when Eva could not come home, they made it possible for the whole family to gather in the chapel so the grandchildren could sing for her. This was a moment Abe says he will carry in his heart forever. 

When Eva passed away peacefully on June 23, 2025, her family surrounded her in song. In the stillness of that moment, Abe knew the care she had received was more than just medical. It was compassionate. It was personal. And it was sacred. 

A Legacy that Lives On 

In the months since her passing, Abe has found strength in carrying forward the spirit that defined Eva’s life: a spirit of generosity, faith and quiet service to others. 

In one remarkable act of gratitude, Abe donated a brand-new trailer from his family’s business to Covenant Foundation. The gift became the centrepiece of a special raffle at St. Joseph’s General Hospital in Vegreville, with proceeds dedicated to supporting the hospital’s Echocardiogram Program, helping ensure timely access to heart ultrasound services for patients in the community. 

The response was extraordinary. The raffle sold out in just one week, raising $20,000 in a matter of days. 

What began as one family’s gift became a powerful act of collective compassion. A community came together around Abe’s generosity, transforming it into life-saving technology that will serve countless patients for years to come — a living tribute to Eva’s legacy of love in action. 

For Abe, supporting Covenant Foundation is a way of honouring Eva’s life and faith, and of helping ensure that other families experience the same tenderness and dignity during life’s most vulnerable moments. Through the generosity of donors, Covenant Foundation strengthens palliative care, supports comfort-focused equipment and helps create spaces where families can gather, pray and simply be together when it matters most. 

Abe’s story is one of many. 
But it reflects something deeper — the heart of Catholic health care. 

This is Our Sacred Legacy. 
And it lives on every time faith is put into action. 

The Power of Colour in Senior Care 

“Why don’t we make the doors more inviting?” 

It was a simple question, but one rooted in a lifetime of faith, service and love. 

For Ivan and and his late wife, Mary Agnes Radostits, devoted parishioners of St. Thomas More Parish in Edmonton, caring for others was a way of living out their faith. And it was Mary Agnes’ vision – carried forward by Ivan after her passing – that would quietly transform life for seniors at Covenant’s St. Joseph’s Auxiliary Hospital in Edmonton. 

Mary Agnes, a longtime volunteer and patient at St. Joseph’s, noticed that the hallways of the memory care unit felt cold and colourless. She imagined something different: spaces that felt warmer, more welcoming, more like home. It was her idea, born of compassion, to bring colour and life into those corridors. 

From One Idea to Lasting Impact 

After Mary Agnes passed away, Ivan chose to honour her vision in a powerful way. Through a gift to Covenant Foundation, he funded the project she had dreamed of, transforming the once-grey doors of the unit into a garden of colour. Today, each door is adorned with cheerful hues, floral designs and gentle patterns that greet residents with beauty and light. What began as Mary Agnes’ simple question became a lasting expression of compassion in action. 

Aside from visual appeal, these door wraps offer medical benefits. The bold, high-contrast colours help aging eyes better recognize doorways, reduce confusion and create a stronger sense of familiarity for residents living with dementia. The nature-inspired designs bring a sense of the outdoors inside — a quiet comfort during Alberta’s long winters when fresh air and green spaces are harder to come by. 

For residents, the impact has been deeply personal. Doors have become points of connection, conversation and even joy. One resident proudly shared, “I’m in the room with the yellow door!”. It was a simple statement that speaks volumes about dignity and recognition. 

A Sacred Legacy in Action 

For Ivan, this project is a living tribute to Mary Agnes’ heart for service and a way to carry forward her legacy of faith in action. And for us at Covenant Foundation, it stands as a beautiful example of how generosity, rooted in Catholic values, can transform everyday spaces into places of grace. 

What began as one woman’s idea and her husband’s act of love have become a daily source of comfort, beauty and belonging for seniors and care teams at St. Joseph’s. 

This is how faith becomes visible. 
This is how love takes shape. 
This is Our Sacred Legacy carried forward, one idea and one generous act at a time.