The Power of Music: How Gilchrist’s Music Therapy Program Brought Joy to Anna Manko
At 100 years old, Anna Manko still had rhythm in her soul and a twinkle in her eye—especially when music filled the room. A lifelong lover of dance and a proud Polish-American matriarch, Anna’s final years were made brighter through the compassionate care of Gilchrist and the healing power of music therapy.
A Life Rooted in Family, Culture, and Resilience
Anna’s mother immigrated from Poland at the age of 16 with her brother, stepping off the boat at Locust Point and eventually hearing familiar Polish hymns at St. Stanislaus Church. It was at that moment that Baltimore became home. Years later, Anna was born in 1925 on Bond Street, in the very spot where H&S Bakery now stands.
Her life was rich in heritage and community. She married Joseph Manko, the love of her life, after meeting him in a bar on Thames Street. Though Joseph wasn’t Polish, he became part of the vibrant Polish traditions Anna loved so much—especially the annual Polish festivals, where the couple was often photographed dancing together with joyful abandon. “Everybody knew my mom and dad from the festivals,” Anna’s daughter, Bonnie Thompson, shares. “You’d always see them dancing in the news or in the paper.”
Anna worked for nearly 30 years as an assembler at Western Electric. She and Joseph raised their only child, Bonnie, in Highlandtown, where Anna lived for over five decades. Even after Joseph passed away in 2015, Anna stayed in the home they had built together. She never wanted to leave her city, her neighborhood, or the memories within her walls.
Finding Joy Through Music Therapy
When Anna’s health began to decline around the age of 98, she started receiving hospice care from Gilchrist on and off until her passing shortly after her 100th birthday. Throughout this time, Gilchrist’s music therapy program played a significant role in her care and comfort.
Gilchrist’s board-certified music therapists are trained to use music to address the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of patients. Whether it’s helping with pain management, reducing anxiety, or simply offering joy and connection, music therapy supports the whole person—something Anna’s family experienced firsthand.
Bonnie vividly recalls the profound impact music had on her mother in her final years—especially during visits from Gilchrist music therapist, Lacey Kidwell. “My mom so looked forward to Lacey coming,” Bonnie shares. “She’d ask me, ‘Is the music lady coming today?’ And when she did, my mom would light up.”
Though Anna had never played an instrument and Bonnie had never heard her mother sing before, that changed with music therapy. “Lacey had my mother singing. I couldn’t believe it,” Bonnie recalls. “I had never heard my mother sing before. But she’d sing the words to songs with Lacey—Andrews Sisters, Johnny Cash, even polkas. She’d tap her feet. Shake bells. She was a one-woman band!”
Despite having limited vision and never having touched a piano before, Anna would pretend to play one during their sessions. It was as if music had unlocked something deep within her, bringing joy and animation to her spirit. Even when days were hard, those 45 minutes with Lacey were transformative. “No matter what kind of day my mom was having, she always seemed to enjoy music therapy,” Bonnie remembers. “It lifted all of our spirits—not just hers. We all looked forward to it.”
A Final Celebration
Anna’s 100th birthday was celebrated in true Polish style—with 80 people in attendance, all wearing her favorite color, red. To her, red was vibrant, joyful, and symbolic of her Polish roots. Even at her funeral, guests wore red in her honor. “She didn’t understand why people wore black,” Bonnie says. “She thought it was too depressing. Red was more her style.”
Anna passed just weeks after her 100th birthday, but her legacy of joy, resilience, and song lives on in the memories she left behind—and in the hearts of those who witnessed her transformation through music.
To learn more about Gilchrist’s Music Therapy Program and the many ways we support patients and families at the end of life, visit gilchristcares.org