Joan Crowe

Volunteering at Hospice for the last three years is a very special Joan Crowe. Joan never is afraid to go the extra mile. She has been known to come in daily to organize and mark seasonal items in the Thrift Shop. 

What Joan likes best about Eaton Community Hospice is the care and the kindness that is given to everyone. She states, “I don’t think it could get any better than it is now.” She also enjoys working with the other volunteers and staff.

Joan has been married for 41 years and has a son, daughter and granddaughter in AZ. She also has 2 stepdaughters, 2 step-grandsons and 2 step-granddaughters in Battle Creek as well as 2 great-grandsons. 

Her mother-in-law passed away 1 year ago at the Hospice House. She states, “the care Eaton Community Hospice gave her and the family, you just couldn’t get any where else. It was so great.” Joan’s hobbies and interests include sewing, gardening and her granddaughter in AZ. 

Thanks Joan for all you do for Hospice. You are the greatest. 

Anne Cantine

Without Anne Cantine, our Hospice would not be where it is today. We can all be grateful for the hundreds of thousands of hours she has put in to make our Hospice the “one of a kind” that we are today. 

We first met Doug when his wife of 23 years was a patient at our Hospice House. He was so impressed with the kindness and compassion shown to him and their family, he immediately wanted to give back. 

Doug was single until he was 45 years old at which time he married Eileen. With this marriage came 3 children, Jeff, Kristy and Tim who each have 2 children. Doug also has 3 rescue pets which he adores, an English Springer Spaniel and 2 cats. 

After Eileen’s passing, Doug lost interest in almost everything they had shared together such as maintaining a large vegetable garden and growing and propagating many indoor plants along with feeding birds. He has since found the interactions and camaraderie with all the Hospice staff and volunteers to be a comfort. He appreciates the fact that we are helping other people who in all cases are much less fortunate then we. 

Doug’s greatest joy is working with computers and being able to use a computer as another tool in his lifelong quest for wisdom and knowledge. He is developing a new and exciting Hospice fundraiser through an internet on-­‐line auction site. We look forward to the path this may lead to. 

Doug states the Eaton Community Hospice program overwhelms him. In Doug’s own words, “all the staff and volunteers who provide patient care impress me the most with their compassion and tender care, even though their personal lives may be in stress at times.” He has trouble isolating any one impressionable experience with Hospice, but witnessing the death of young patients has made the strongest impression. “At least Eileen and I led a long and loving life together. The young patients are robbed of those life experiences” said Doug. Even though Doug hasn’t worked directly with patients but his interactions with family members of patients has helped him better understand and cope with his personal loss. 

Doug is truly a valuable asset to our Hospice. He’s comes in daily to check on what we may need. He never hesitates to answer his phone and he has a heart of gold. Thanks Doug for your many hours of volunteering. 

State Representative Rick Jones

Lansing Community College Alumni Association Awards
State Representative Rick Jones 
With The 2009 Distinguished
Alumni Award

Congratulations to Rick Jones! On Monday, April 27, 2009, State Representative Rick Jones was presented the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award. Rick has been a Hospice volunteer for many years. I can’t think of anything we have ever asked him to help with that he turned down. He has cared for the dying during the daytime and even throughout the night; he is always there for our fundraisers; he has been a very active board member, and he serves on the Executive Committee for Hospice.

Prior to being elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2004, Rick worked for 33 years in law enforcement. He served over 30 years with the Eaton County Sheriff Department. Rick started as a deputy and worked his way up
through the ranks as sergeant, lieutenant, and captain before being elected sheriff in 2000.

Rick not only volunteers for Eaton Community Hospice but also delivers Meals-On-Wheels to shut-ins, volunteers with Special Olympics, is a 17 gallon blood donor, volunteers for Woldumar Nature Center, just to name a few.

Rick Jones is a fine, outstanding and trustworthy individual. He is married to a wonderful lady, Charlene, and we thank her for sharing Rick with us. We are truly fortunate that he and his lovely family are part of this community. Thank you,
Rick, for all you do in support of Hospice. You are the greatest!

Bill Turner

"...payback time"...That's' how Bill Turner described why he first wanted to do something for Eaton Community Hospice. Bill took "ownership" of the Thursday night meal at the Hospice House over a year ago, but it's not like he hadn't done important things for Hospice already.

Even before a visitor enters the front door, they pass the flagpole that Bill installed. The flagpole wasn't Bill's first project, but more about that later. His volunteer work at the Hospice House, started with an idea his wife suggested.

When his wife Agatha became ill, Bill and their daughter did their best to care for her, but it eventually began to overwhelm them all. "I brought my wife (to the Hospice House) for the last week before she passed away," said Bill, "Because my daughter and I were working around the clock taking care of her, and it just got too much for us"

"My wife said, 'You should take me to the hospice, because it's getting too much for you and me.' So we brought her over here. It was on a Monday and she died that Sunday night. And before she passed away she was looking out the windows, and she said, 'You know what would be nice? If they had flowers out along the back here for patients to look at." And I said, 'Yes, that sounds like a good idea'"

When the weather broke in the spring, Bill built planters and planted flowers where the patients in the north three rooms could see them. Several months later, when the two south rooms were finished for patients, Bill added planters and flowers for them to look out on. For Bill, it was not time to stop.

As a former Marine who served in Korea, Bill realized better than most how veterans feel about symbols. "Some of the older guys coming in here are veterans, and I thought I'd put up a flagpole," he said. Soon after he had that idea, there was a flag proudly flying in front of the house for patients and visitors.

Bill seems to have a hard time stopping. He now has responsibility for the Thursday night meal at the Hospice House. Asked where he found the skills to take on that job, he gave credit to his wife. "We were married almost 45 years. She taught me how to cook, I guess."

Like many volunteers, Bill is modest about his contributions. He points to the work done by patient care volunteers. "I said if they put angels on earth, they're put right here at hospice, the people who work with the patients. I think my wife felt more comfortable here in her last few days with the people taking care of her. It made her feel more at ease."

In Special Remembrance
of our Volunteer
Bill Turner
March 19, 1935 – February 7, 2009

Bill Turner was a friend to many, many people. He was a dear caring and loving man that we are proud to call a Hospice volunteer. We first became acquainted with Bill when his wife, Agatha, was a Hospice patient. She only spent a short time at the Hospice House, but long enough to tell Bill he needed to plant some flowers in our yard for patients to see from their rooms. That spring, Bill asked to put barrels with flowers across the back yard. He also noticed we lacked a flagpole and flag. So one day, Bill and his friend Henry Puffenberger showed up with flagpole, flag, bags of readymix and shovels. They set our flagpole and Billhas given us a new flag yearly to replace the worn-out one ever since. But mostly we will remember Bill for his wonderful Thursday night dinners. For two years following Agatha’s death, Bill would show up at our door every Thursday afternoon with our dinner for the evening. He taught us many new recipes, but hard as we tried, we never could compete with his meatloaf, cherry brownies, mixed vegetable casserole or many other dishes that arrived on Thursday afternoons.

Our sincere and heartfelt sympathy goes out to his family Tom & Kelly Turner, Tim Turner and Tammie & Mike Newhouse along with his grandchildren. We loved you Bill and will miss you.

Mary Durham

Volunteers who care for the dying are truly angels here on earth. We are blessed with some of the kindest and most caring angels at the Hospice House. Mary Durham is one of those angels first coming to us as a family member when her
mother was dying at our house.

I received this call from a doctor at the U of M Hospital asking for a bed for their patient. It happened we had just had a bed open up. We brought in this lady and with her came a daughter that has brought smiles to all our faces ever since. She never could sit still. She always had to keep busy. She was a retired nurse and wanted to help wherever she could. 

After the passing of her mother, she came back to us as a volunteer. She is one of those people who makes your head spin because she moves so fast. She is wonderful with patients and their families and is the life of a party outside of work.

She never shirks her duty and is the greatest of team players. I’ve called her to work on the weekends, I’ve called her to work evening and if she is home, she never tells me no. She is truly an angel when it comes to caring for the dying. 

Thank you Mary for your generous gift of time.

Mike Raby

“Behind the Scenes”
Volunteer

Mike has been a Hospice volunteer since before we built the Hospice House. He started helping after his father died of cancer even though he himself was faced with kidney failure and was on dialysis three days a week. 

He began by helping with mailings and delivering medical supplies and equipment. When we began building the Hospice House, he because more involved and his duties were growing. 

By the summer of 2003, he was in charge of moving the Hospice office to the new building. He worked daily recruiting other volunteers to help as needed. Once the move was completed and the Hospice House was open, he took on responsibilities of shopping for groceries and supplies, which means 2 and 3 times a week at stores.

 He continues to help with delivering medical supplies and equipment, working on mailings, cleaning medical equipment, answering phones, watering the outdoor plants in the summer, shoveling snow in the winter and helping with the Thrift Shop. Another area he helps in is fundraising. He’s always involved with every project Hospice has to raise money. 

Since 2003, his volunteer> hours for Hospice have averaged over 1,350 a year. He drives over 8,700 miles per year doing his volunteer work. He is a very dedicated volunteer.

“Thank you Mike for your endless hours of help!”

Yvonne Seavolt, 
Shelly Rasmussen,
and
Jennifer Dunavant

Eaton Community Hospice has been in existence for over 25 years, built on the selfless, dedicated service of its many volunteers. Our spotlight offers a glimpse at some of those very special people. In this spotlight, we are pleased to acknowledge a remarkable 3-generation team.

Yvonne is the matriarch of this trio of volunteers. She has been volunteering for ECH for over 20 years. Her daughter, Shelly, has been volunteering for roughly 20 years. Finally, granddaughter, Jennifer, has been volunteering for about 12 years. Both Yvonne and Shelly became involved when Shelly’s brother, Von, was serving on the ECH Board. Years later, Jennifer became involved because her mother and grandmother were volunteering.

Yvonne remembers listening to Von talk about the things that Hospice was doing for families. “I just said to myself, this is something I want to help with.” Shelly captured the driving force that is so true for so many volunteers in one simple statement: “Just knowing I’m helping others”. She went on to say: “If you teach your kids to volunteer at a young age like I did, they will also enjoy volunteering when they get older.” Now, even Yvonne’s great grandchildren are becoming involved. What a testament they are to commitment and family values.

Working on fundraisers for ECH gives our trio the satisfaction of knowing that they’re helping to bring in funds to help others. Shelly recalled one experience while acquiring donations for the auction: “So many people that we had asked for donations were so impressed with hospice and what they did for their family, they couldn’t give us enough money or products”. Jennifer enjoys helping with the pizza breakfast. She says that she has a lot of fun meeting new people. Plus, it gave her a valuable lesson on doing dishes. Yvonne recalls trying to acquire items last year for the auction. In spite of the economy being so bad, businesses gave more things. “We have wonderful businesses in Charlotte.” The best part of working on fundraisers is that it gives them the opportunity to work together. “It’s turned into a family thing”, Yvonne says. Even Yvonne’s husband, Ron, has begun helping with the auction.

Our trio, like so many of our volunteers, has experienced the unfortunate deaths of loved ones, both sudden and illness-related. Yvonne remembers the losses of three grandchildren – lost “but they are always in our hearts”. “Hospice is wonderful”, Shelly says. “They offer comfort to families, grief programs, home care and much more.” She recognizes that ECH volunteers have all experienced the death of a loved one. That gives them the insight and understanding to know what the families we serve go through. As Shelly puts it: “If nothing more, just having someone sit quietly with you, I couldn’t ask for better people or programs.” She believes that just walking through the front door of our Hospice House and seeing the people and the atmosphere there is one of the most impressionable experiences. Yvonne echoes Shelly’s sentiments: “I think our Hospice is wonderful.” Yvonne goes on to explain that she has spent time in the Hospice House with friends who have had family members there. “It just amazes me how not only do they take care of the patients but their families too. And don’t charge them for their care or other programs.”

Yes, that is the essence of Eaton Community Hospice. It is because of dedicated volunteers, like this trio, that ECH is able to provide all that it does to our community. We sincerely thank Yvonne, Shelly and Jennifer for all their years ofand continued service to Eaton Community Hospice. Their commitment to family and a life of service are admirable. “Well done, good and faithful servant.” [Matthew 25:21]

Of course, we would be remiss if we did not mention the rest of the family that supports the work of our trio and ECH: Jennifer’s husband Dillon, her daughters Makala & Markelle, and her son Daimen; Shelly’s husband Rob; Yvonne’s husband Ron, her other 2 children Jeffrey and Von, and her other grandchildren Savanna, Silena and Breanna.