By Michael Motes

Miss Gerry Ramey, a member of Atlanta's St. Jude's Parish, is one of six Atlantans among the 51 residents of the Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged in Savannah who will be relocated early next year when the home closes.

"I am very sad over the closing of the home," Miss Ramey said in a telephone interview with The Georgia Bulletin. "I have been very happily situated here for six years."

Asked about her future plans, Miss Ramey said that she will stay with the Little Sisters wherever they send her. Of the 48 homes operated by the Little Sisters of the Poor, the nearest ones to this area are in Mobile, New Orleans, and Louisville.

Sister Mary Joseph, one of the administrators of the Home for the Aged, stated that the chief reason the home is closing after housing the elderly for 80 years is a shortage of sisters.

At present, there are only eight sisters to care for the 51 residents.

"The need for renovation is another problem. However, the main reason we are closing is the shortage of staff members.

"The residents will be moved according to the desire of each one," said Sister Mary Joseph.

Some of the residents will move to other homes maintained by the Little Sisters of the Poor, and others will move into the homes of relatives or friends.

During the past year, the Archdiocese of Atlanta contributed $9,717.40 to the home. Each year the archdiocese has taken up a special collection of the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Upon hearing from the provincial headquarters of the Little Sisters in Baltimore that it would be impossible for the order to reconsider the closing of the home, Bishop Gerard L. Frey of Savannah issued a statement of appreciation and regret.

Bishop Frey stated that the Home for the Aged has been "a powerful testimonial to the truly Christ-like commitment of the scores of Little Sisters who have cared for the elderly poor by providing them with a real home and warm solicitude."

The closing of the home in Savannah is perhaps the first step in a long-range policy that will affect at least three other homes operated by the Little Sisters. All are older institutions with comparatively small numbers of residents.