Help Maureen After Chris's Tough Journey

It's a sad day when a clown passes away. My baby brother passed recently. He had been sick for over a year. Since April of 2024, his journey has been hospitalization, intubation, ICU, 3 rehab facilities, multiple blood transfusions, and kidney dialysis 3x weekly. He finally made his journey home to his wife, Maureen, and his pup, Chloe. Since then, he has made incredible strides in removing the obstacles the illness left him with. His walker was gone in weeks, and he was doing stairs like a champ. He was pretty much back to living his life. He still needed 3x a week dialysis. His kidneys took a hard hit with the sepsis on his second hospitalization. They still worked, but not fully, so the need for dialysis. Thursday was a great day for him. Out with Dad, walking through the hardware story, getting things ready for the impending fair season. He felt ill on and off Friday & Saturday. Long story short, Saturday night hit him hard. He became septic again. He beat this before the previous year, only to succumb to this horrible infection. He fought it hard. Apparently God decided He needed a joker/jester angel in Heaven. We find comfort in believing his loving Mother welcomed him with a hug that only a mother can give.

Through all of this, his incredibly amazing wife, Maureen,my sister-in-law, but really the sister I never had, stood by his side. She advocated for the best care for him. When she felt they weren't giving him their best, she made sure things changed. She researched meds, procedures, doctors, etc. She deserves an honorary degree in nursing if not a doctor. We are forever grateful for her. We love her and so thankful Chris brought her into our lives.

As most of you know, Maureen and Chris were self-employed. Chris took over the family fair concession business at Dad's retirement a few years back. Maureen is the owner and head chocolatier at Maureen's Sweet Shoppe. Maureen, Dad, and Chris worked the shop almost exclusively. They have a couple of special employees that help when needed. Chris was not able to help during hospitalizations and rehab stays. At one time, his rehab facility was over an hour away. Maureen had no choice but to close the store for many, many days. Being a small business owner, she lost a good chunk of their income. The family business is seasonal and weather dependent.

I'm asking for donations to help defer the burial costs and help Maureen get back on her feet. As you can imagine, his medical bills for the last 14 months are not counted in hundreds, or even hundreds of thousands. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Every little bit helps.. Please feel free to share this with everyone you know who knows Chris & Maureen.