Help Tony's Loved Ones Through This Difficult Time

Hello there. My name is Cassie Krebs and I am honored to have grown and married into the Krebs family. This family has shown me love, passions and unending generosity- as they have similarly impacted many. Recently, we have lost one of the most passionate and generous members of our family, my step-father in-law, Tony. Tony has spent the majority of life from 23 years old working his magic in the hospitality industry then into retirement grew to love rescuing and fostering cats. Heavily, his passing was abrupt from internal bleeding but stayed with us for three strong weeks after initially being given a few days to live upon entering the hospital. We are beyond grateful to have had the opportunity to enjoy his last day prior to passing fairly conscious and responsive and hopefully ease him into the transition as well.

Since July 2nd when Tony fully made his transition in “graduating to Heaven” as my mother-in-law has been describing this event with strength through her struggles, the emotional burden is quite difficult and feel as if none of us has properly had time to mourn as we have been focusing on the aftermath and discussing resources, solutions and opportunities to help this now household of two being my mother in-law, Beverly, and brother in-law, Shawn. Beverly has been focusing her time and attention into taking care of Shawn, who has high functioning Autism as well as the rescue kitties- which is a full time job in itself. She is in need of extra financial assistance at this time while she transitions back into the workforce to help pay for groceries, a couple monthly bills and saving up for a proper funeral as Tony brought in his Social Security check that covered their monthly set needs. With such a sudden passing, my husband Mark and I have been doing our best to keep their household afloat with twin girls on the way that are due in October. His brother, Shane, follows a similar situation as his baby is due within a day of ours! The future will be brighter- We just have to get there first and would greatly appreciate any generosity that may present itself.

Tony set a foundation and standard for me in the hospitality industry. I was so lucky to have picked up his skill set when he got me a job at 16 shortly after I met my husband (boyfriend at the time) Mark and we worked together at Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers. I was always impressed by his knowledge of the field, how he dealt with conflict resolution but mostly how easy going he made the work environment feel even in the craziest of rush hours. He was not afraid to jump in to help and problem solve. Then I learned why- Tony spent 45 years in the industry. He started out as crew in a Mcdonalds at 18, quickly moved up in rank, became a district manager for Burger King at 23 and went on to co-operate over 30 restaurants in the mid south. His passion to serve was far greater than anyone I have met and inspired many throughout the years.

After a fulfilling life of service, Tony continued to do so into retirement with rescue kitties. Even as his health was falling after spending 45 years of 8-15 hour work days doing the physical labor that is required in restaurants, he still managed to bend, squat and lift in funky spaces to rescue fur babies. One of Tony and Beverly’s most fond rescue moments took place in Oxford, Mississippi. A friend reached out about a kitty under their shed. When Tony and Beverly arrived on a Wednesday, they found out this kitty was very pregnant. By Friday, mama kitty popped and delivered six healthy kittens. Beverly was so in love with Tony’s love for that little fuzzy family. He would go into the room they had separated just to sit, play and enjoy their presence. The mother had taken quite a liking to Tony as well so they ended up keeping her and he named her Genie Grace. All six babies found their fur-ever homes.

To anyone who may consider contributing to Beverly and Shawn in the midst of Tony’s passing, we would be so humbly open to your generosity to help keep their household at bay while we get things sorted in the very near future. Thank you all. God bless you and your loved ones.