My name is Mike Maksimik, and I've been the longtime caregiver for my mother, Rita Maksimik, seeing her through illnesses and hospital stays, providing full-time care for her. She was in gradual decline due to dementia for several years and was homebound and confined to a wheelchair for many years. After a long life, Mom took her last breath near age 91, just a handful of days near her birthday.

Mom understood that preparing for funeral and burial expenses was essential (she had worked for an insurance company many decades ago) and invested in what at the time seemed solid financial protection to provide for burial and funeral costs.

Unfortunately, in today's financial environment, those safeguards she put in place (some small whole life policies) will fall short, significantly, of the expenses of funeral and burial. My goal is to raise what will be a shortfall in her final rest expenses. Please prayerfully consider a contribution. My own resources won't cover the necessary expenses, so I'm turning to crowdfunding as a resource. Any funds that remain after family and insurance is taken into account used only to defray funeral and burial costs, will be donated in mom’s name to her two favorite charities: Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) which hosted her treasured daily mass on cable and streaming, and The National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, MA for their beloved work spreading the devotion of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy