This past Monday, my brother Mark lost his battle with prostate cancer. While our family is devastated beyond words by this loss, we take comfort in knowing that he is no longer suffering and has found his eternal resting place in heaven.

For those of you that knew my brother, you know that he was the most generous, selfless, and loving soul and our family was truly blessed by his kind spirit, concern for others, and committment to his faith and his family. My sister-in-law, Terry, his wife of 48 years, was a fierce advocate for his care and a fearless prayer warrior for Mark every day that he battled his disease, and she never gave up hope for his recovery.

While Mark made sure that Terry would be financially secure after his passing, there are some transitional financial needs that Terry will face in the next few months. As you can certainly understand, it takes some time to navigate through the complex world of Social Security, pensions and retirement benefits so I'm asking for your help in the short term so she can feel peace about her immediate financial future and can focus on grieving the loss that she so deeply feels.

In addition to being a loving husband and father, he was a dear brother to me and my other two brothers, Dave and Jim, as well as our sister Karen, who passed before him. Mark will be remembered in so many ways...a generous and kind uncle, brother-in-law, son-in-law, father-in-law, cousin, loyal friend, and his most proud title was as a grandfather to his four grandchildren, who lovingly called him "Dude".

On behalf of my entire family, but most especially my sister-in-law Terry, and their three children, Heather, Brandon and Cody, we thank you for the outpouring of prayers, love and support they have received and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for any financial gift you can provide during this incredibly difficult time.