In an obituary, I came across references to the Wolf Street Sick Society and another "One Year Sick Society" These groups were invited to attend the funeral.The obituary was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1898 and was for a Catholic ancestor who had died. This suggests to me that the man had a long illness before his death. More information about the purpose of Sick Societies might confirm this theory. Has anyone heard of them?

Sick Societies mentioned in old newspapers seem to have been organizations that helped the sick and unfortunate.
They would dispense money to help the sick, to help with funeral expenses, send flowers when a member passed away etc.