Marine with Days to Live Needs Help with Funeral
Donation protected
My father died last night 8/23/2022
On July 27th I took my 86 yr old father to the ER to get his shoulder checked out because after multiple falls over the previous days he was in a great deal of pain. 6 days later we left the hospital with a diagnosis of a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder and... stage 4 cancer in his pancreas, liver and lungs. Just 8 weeks prior to July 27th he was driving, working, going to softball games, grocery shopping etc.. Today he is homebound in a 2nd hand recliner (that broke last night (8/12) because his legs are unable to support his body. Yesterday afternoon at around 2:45pm we had my fathers first and last appointment with his oncologist. He shared with a good bit of certainty that my fathers time on earth would only be about 4 more weeks. My father is not only the best father our family could have ever asked for but he is also the most proud Marine I've ever had the privilege to know. Everyday he wears a Marine shirt, many of which were gifts, and a Marine hat. His bedroom walls are covered with memorabilia and his van is adorned with stickers. Anyone who knows my father knows that his service to people didn't stop after war time. He is the first person who people call when they are moving. Just 2 years ago at the age of 84 he was loading furniture into his van to move me 45 mins from one home to another. He made 6 trips that took 45 mins 1 way and refused a dime of gas money. I can speak for our entire family that when he is called upon for any reason he responds with no questions asked and arrives with a smile on his face. My father is generous and truly selfless to a fault.
My father has requested to have the Marine Corps Funeral Honors which includes but is not limited to the folding and presentation of the American Flag and the sounding of Taps by a detail of 2 uniformed members. My family and countless friends of his have expressed a sincere desire to have the time and space to honor his life with one another by sharing stories (and tears) while saying their final goodbyes. Unfortunately, our ever shrinking immediate family, like so many others in day to day life, not to mention with the events of the past couple years, find ourselves without the means to cover the costs of a proper funeral. A casket (as opposed to cremation) the funeral home for viewings, flowers, transportation to his final resting place and the various other charges that will certainly come up. So I am appealing to you. To those with whom he played fast pitch softball for more than 40 years. Military brothers and sisters some of which he has built such a strong bond with that he ended up traveling or visa versa to meet the service member and their family in person. Previous co- workers. Extended family to include but not limited to the families of the girls softball team, The Heartbreakers. They adopted my father as the team grandfather because he would travel EVERYWHERE to cheer them on to victory. Those games brought him so much joy!
I am asking for help from anyone whose heart he touched. Any remaining funds will be given to his wife, my mother, Christine Lescalleet to help cover medical bills and if we're lucky possibly help ease the abrupt change from 2 social security checks to 1 within a 4 week window while also suffering the loss of her husband. If we are able to have the funeral service we so desperately want for him I will update this campaign and reach out to everyone that I have a phone number for or a FB page I can locate. Thank you in advance and please keep my father in your prayers as we travel down this painful road.
On behalf of my family thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
EDIT: DAD has been transferred to The Dove House Hospice in Westminster. He can have visitors 24/7/365. My father continues to decline. Every day is worse than the one before it. I'm praying that if you read this you are planning to donate even $5 because we are a long way away from our goal of giving him a viewing and a proper Marine send off.
Thank you to everyone who has already donated and shared this campaign. Thank you to those who have visited and called him, we greatly appreciate it.
Organizer
Carolyn Lescalleet-Garrity
Organizer
Westminster, MD