By Jonathan Farrell

For more than 120 years, the Little Sisters of the Poor have been serving the elderly of San Francisco by providing essential care at St. Anne’s Home for the Elderly on Lake Street at Fourth Avenue.

According to Dr. Greg Zielinski, a consultant who is authorized to comment on behalf of the Little Sisters of the Poor, the state of California approved the closure plan effective 60 days after the Jan. 8 announcement date. The organization applied for and received an additional 30-day extension, making April 8 the target date for official closure.

No price has been established yet for the property. The buyer needs “to not be counter to the mission of the sisters,” Zielinski said.

The organization is helping residents find new homes.

The news of the Sisters closing the long-standing institution was a shock to many, especially to San Francisco native Marie Bellas.

Bellas, until just a few months ago, was a longtime resident of St. Anne’s Home.

“I was there for 18 years,” she said. “It was heavenly and wonderful!”

Like many people, she asks, “Why? What happened?”

“Many factors have obliged us to move forward with this decision. It has only come after a lengthy period of prayer, much consultation and much study,” said Sisters of The Poor provincial superior, Mother Julie Horseman, in a press release.

“The Little Sisters have recognized the need to withdraw from a certain number of our facility-homes in the United States, while at the same time dedicating our resources to much needed upgrades and reconstruction projects in others,” she said.

Other facilities in other locations operated by the Sisters also must close, Horseman noted.

For Bellas especially, the closing of St. Anne’s Home is poignant.

“As a child from the age of 4 to about 7 years old, my family (parents and two younger sisters) lived with our grandparents in a large three-story Victorian house on Fourth Avenue near Lake Street in the Inner Richmond, a very short walking distance from St. Anne’s Home.”

Bellas, now 87 years old, remembers the original stately, red brick building that had been built in 1904, shortly after the Little Sisters of the Poor first arrived in San Francisco in 1900.

“My closeness to the order and St. Anne’s Home also stems from the years during WWII when I became acquainted with two of the nuns, Sister Angela and Sister Michelle.”

“I remember them visiting with my mother. They provided a sense of reassurance and comfort to my mother and us during those dark times of uncertainty during WWII.”

Even as Bellas’ family eventually moved elsewhere in San Francisco, she always took time every so often to visit the Little Sisters and the residents who lived there.

“I felt very much at home there,” she noted.

One time while visiting, Bellas remembers vividly how the Sisters asked her to help entertain the residents by singing.

“I wholeheartedly accepted,” Bellas said. “There I was in the middle of the dining room on the second floor, singing loudly all the songs I knew. I was by no means shy or bashful.”

With so many happy memories, Bellas was eager to apply for residency and in October of 2006 she was accepted.

The newer building that replaced the old red brick one was completed in 1979.

It was set further back from Lake Street, allowing for a sprawling lawn and garden.

Bella said she appreciated the newer building’s bright, light-filled design with lots of windows, glass doors and a more airy interior.

“I marveled as I looked around getting accustomed my new home,” she said. “I was surprised to see so few nuns and many employees.”

Yet, what she remembered as a child and teenager about St. Anne’s Home and the life there had changed considerably.

“Even so, there was always a feeling of being part of one big happy family at St. Anne’s Home,” Bellas said. “And I was fortunate to be a part of it for 18 years.”

As the facility shuts down, the priority at St. Anne’s Home now is to help the residents, such as Bella’s and others, relocate safely.