Lonny Hoskins

A son, husband, father, and grandfather: this was Lonny Hoskins. To me, he is my dad and was one of the hardest working people I knew. He and my mom owned their own drywall and contracting company for most of my life. His last job was a management position at another drywall and contracting company, working alongside my mom. Always up early and always working. When he wasn’t working, he was living a nice simple life out in the country. That’s the number one goal my dad had been working towards: to be able to retire and sit out on the deck and look at the wildlife.

Sadly, he couldn’t reach his dream of retirement, as he passed away around 2AM on October 12, 2025 after over a week of intensive medical care. On Friday, October 3rd, 2025, my mom messaged me to let me know that they had just gotten home from an out-of-state contracting job but that my dad was not doing well. The next day, that Saturday, they took dad into the local hospital, which transferred him to the larger regional hospital. The next few days ended up being a roller coaster of emotions.

The first big problem the doctors could see was that there was a baseball sized mass found on my dad’s lung. They also diagnosed him with COPD and sclerosis of the lung. On Tuesday, October 7th, they did a biopsy, but we had to wait a few days for the results. We knew it was cancer, but also needed the doctors to confirm and find out if it was the aggressive kind or not. While we were worried about his lungs, his kidneys and liver also began to fail. The doctors put him on dialysis. On Thursday, we got the biopsy results: it was small cell cancer, and it was very aggressive.

On Friday, I went over to my parents’ house to be with my mom and other family members. I found out that my mom and dad don’t have life insurance and a lot of their time, they were close to living paycheck to paycheck. Even after health insurance, my dad’s nine-day medical stay is going to be expensive financially and emotionally for my mom. It was also on that Friday that we had to make the tough decision to put my dad on comfort care - none of the treatments were working to help Lonny recover. On Saturday, just over a week since my dad went into the hospital, I said my last goodbye to the man I call my hero.

These past few days have been hard on me, but I know that they are even harder on my mom. I want to do what I can to help her cover the rest of the expenses (medical, funeral, and all the other expenses after a loved one passes away), without losing the house that she and my dad worked so hard to make a home. My dad wasn't one to ask for help and preferred to help those around him. I’m just as stubborn as he is, so asking for help is difficult.

All proceeds from this fundraiser, aside from fees, will be going to Dawn Hoskins to assist with financial expenses related to my dad’s care. Thank you all again for your time, support, and hearing about my dad’s journey.