D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that her older sister, Mercia Bowser, has died from complications linked to COVID-19 on Wednesday morning. “Mercia was loved immensely and will be missed greatly, as she joins the legion of angels who have gone home too soon due to the pandemic,” the mayor said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. Mercia Bowser was treated at Washington Hospital Center and suffered from pneumonia caused by COVID-19. “Mercia was a loving daughter, sister, aunt and friend. She worked tirelessly for children, the elderly, and those with behavioral disorders until her retirement and beyond,” the mayor said.
Mercia Bowser was born on March 7, 1956, and passed away on February 24, 2021. pic.twitter.com/t5focFQx62
— Muriel Bowser (@MurielBowser) February 24, 2021
Earlier in the day, the mayor named Wednesday a “Day of Remembrance for Lives Lost to COVID-19,” which also coincided with the 1,000th death from COVID-19 in D.C. Mercia Bowser died just shy of her 65th birthday; she was born March 7, 1956. The mayor’s statement continued by asking everyone to keep people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in their thoughts and prayers, and for time and space for her and her family to grieve. Mercia Bowser was the mayor’s only sister and the oldest sibling, and is survived by her parents, Joan and Joseph Bowser, as well as the mayor, her brothers, nieces and nephews.
- Sign up for WTOP alerts
- Latest coronavirus test results in DC, Maryland and Virginia
- Coronavirus vaccine FAQ: What you need to know
- Latest vaccination numbers in DC, Maryland and Virginia
- Northam to ease some COVID-19 restrictions in Va., details vaccination efforts
- States pass their own virus aid, not waiting on Washington
- Montgomery Co. leaders urge Asian American community to preregister for coronavirus vaccine
Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | D.C.