Margaret Westbrook. Photo courtesy of the Chicago Tribune.

National Association of Social Workers member Margaret Westbrook, MSW, ACSW, of Chicago was a “bright light” for patients she served for 30 years at DaVita Lincoln Park Dialysis, according to her obituary in the Chicago Tribune.

She provided emotional support, helped patients with insurance, and even stayed by their bedside as they died. “Margaret was not only a social worker, but the person her patients turned to before anyone else,” said Karen Graham, a dietician at the facility. “Some listed her as their next of kin.”

Westbrook also volunteered in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, and planned to return there this year. And she always found time to babysit her grandchildren and attend their school events.

Westbrook, 68, died July 22 of a pulmonary embolism. We offer our sympathies to her two children and five grandchildren.