‘Dying by themselves.’ Kennewick great-grandfather one of 292 Tri-Cities COVID victims

Silvestre Ursua was well-regarded for his decades-long work ethic.

Every day, the Kennewick man would put in 10- to 12-hour shifts in the onion fields, apple orchards or whatever seasonal crop was ready for harvest.

The 74-year-old had been an agricultural laborer since moving 11 years ago to the United States to join his family. Before that, he owned a cattle ranch in his native Michoacán, Mexico.

“It was something we all admired him for,” said Isidro Vargas, whose wife was Ursua’s granddaughter. “That was just who he was, someone who loved to be moving and working.”

Then last spring, Ursua was forced to stop working when he developed shingles. He had the desire to get back to work once he recovered, but dealt with lingering pain from the rash.

So as the coronavirus pandemic raged on through summer into the fall, Ursua stayed home with his wife, Ramona, and their adult son. They wore masks while out running essential errands, and tried to keep their distance from family and friends.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Ursua had what he thought was a migraine. His condition then worsened, he was admitted to the hospital the following week for treatment of COVID-19 and died Dec. 16 after developing pneumonia during his 2 1/2-week battle.

He left behind wife Ramona, five children, 22 grandkids and 12 great-grandchildren.

Video calls with family

Ursua had been a “very healthy guy,” said Briseida Lopez Chavez, one of his granddaughters.

Aside from the shingles diagnosis earlier in the year, he had no health issues, did not take medications and was clear of the typical “underlying conditions” that health officials often cite in vulnerable COVID patients, said Lopez Chavez, a registered nurse.

Once Ursua was hospitalized at Kadlec Regional Medical Center, Zoom video calls — like hundreds of thousands of people around the country have found over the past year — became his lifeline with loved ones.

Ursua was given a hospital computer tablet for the allotted 40-minute Zoom sessions, and family scheduled as many as they could at different hours of the day.

His wife, who also became infected with the virus, was in quarantine at home and not able to be at his bedside.

“We were grateful to spend those moments with him, but it just made you wish more that you were there in person,” Vargas told the Tri-City Herald shortly after Ursua’s death.

Vargas said he understood the dangers of the coronavirus and had even watched the “big spikes” in people dying, but it still was a shock and unexpected when it hit so close to home.

Ursua’s condition yo-yoed over the two weeks he spent at Kadlec, and Vargas said it was tough to hear the doctors being “highly optimistic” about his recovery one minute and then turn suddenly.

He described it as feeling like “a bad dream” when Ursua died since he was alone without family by his side. “It just doesn’t feel real, is all I can describe,” said Vargas.

‘Always had a smile’

Ursua was dedicated to his family, his work and, later in life, to God.

The money he made working in the fields often was given to help his older grandkids or to his church and charities.

Both Vargas and Lopez Chavez remember him as being happy, caring and pleasant to be around, talkative — including with the nurses during his hospitalization, and appreciative of those who helped him in return.

“He was someone that always had a smile on his face,” said Vargas. “You know how everybody has a resting face, his was just this sweet smile that he always had, from the moment that I met him pretty much up until the day that he passed away.”

“He was someone that was just very, very gentle, very open, and he loved talking about pretty much anything,” he added.

Lopez Chavez said she visited her grandfather in Mexico once when she was 18, but didn’t really get to know him until he moved to the U.S.

A registered nurse in the emergency room at the Richland hospital and at Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco, she had to stay away from her loved ones starting in early 2020 because of COVID.

The extended family, including her grandparents, continued to gather for birthdays or other special occasions, but they met up outside and tried to keep socially distanced.

Good days, bad days

The family is not completely sure how Ramona and Silvestre Ursua contracted the virus, but believe it happened when out-of-town relatives visited around Thanksgiving.

When Silvestre Ursua’s migraine got worse the weekend after the holiday, he was taken to Kadlec’s emergency department and soon admitted to the 8th floor along with other COVID patients, said Lopez Chavez.

He was moved to different floors based on his treatment needs, and ultimately developed pneumonia.

“He had his good days and he had his bad days,” she said.

Lopez Chavez told the Herald that her grandfather’s biggest fear was being abandoned at the hospital, so it gave him some comfort knowing she was in the same building and could check on him during her work shift.

She was not allowed inside his room to protect both herself and her grandfather, but got to wave at him from the door, talk to him over the phone and keep him updated on his condition while helping translate any questions he had for doctors.

Lopez Chavez said it was only on Ursua’s last day that she was able to visit with him in person. She was working the night shift and got the call at 4 a.m. that he was not expected to make it.

Final in-person visit

Lopez Chavez spoke with her supervisor and was given permission to go into his room while wearing her personal air-purifying respirator.

She recognizes it was a privilege that not many other people have had during the pandemic, and is grateful for that time with him. They listened to Christian music, and she held his hand while singing to him and providing him support for about an hour.

“He was praying. He was praising the Lord. He was asking to heal him, to give him strength, to send his angels,” recalls Lopez Chavez, who would put a water sponge in her grandfather’s mouth to help quench his thirst.

“I felt that I was very blessed to be there,” she added. “Obviously it was very hard because, when your family is dying and you really can’t be next to their side, I feel like that is the hardest part. ... I just feel like they’re dying being by themselves.”

Ramona Ursua was offered to visit with her husband once they stopped treatment, but she didn’t have the strength to go since she was still recovering from her own COVID battle.

The family held one last Zoom session a few hours later to say their last words and goodbyes to Silvestre Ursua.

He died the afternoon of Dec. 16, one month shy of celebrating his 53rd anniversary with Ramona. They held a private funeral service Dec. 28.

Vargas organized a GoFundMe campaign to help raise money for medical and funeral expenses, since Ursua did not have insurance. The fundraiser brought in $2,000.

“It’s sad that he fell victim to this pandemic, but as him being a faithful Christian, I know that he believed in the sovereignty of God and he was ready whenever he was going to take his last breath,” said Vargas.

“I hope that he’s remembered as not just a victim to COVID, but as being a great grandfather, father and brother to so many.”