News about my Dad

Mom, Mary Lou, and I wanted to pass on this information to all of you, our friends and family.

Dad, Tom, had a bad fall at their apartment in Cottage Grove in the early morning of December 27, 2009. Dad had been stumbling and falling more and more each day, but this one was the worst. Mom and I took him to the emergency room at the VA hospital in Madison. (Steve helped, but did not go with us because he had such a bad cold and cough, we knew they wouldn't want him there!) Dad was banged up pretty bad and cut his lip and hand, but thankfully nothing was broken. They did a CT scan he did not had a concussion and his head wasn't hurt at all.

Dad's Alzheimer’s has advanced so fast in the past 6 months that Mom had made the decision in early December to place Dad into a memory care facility sometime after the first of the year. This fall made things move a lot faster than we had planned.

Dad stayed in the VA hospital for 3 nights and yesterday, December 30, 2009, we moved Dad into the St Mary's Memory Care Center on the far west side of Madison. Mom fell in love with the place when we took the tour. If you wish to know more about the facilty, here is the website.
http://www.stmaryscarecenter.net/internet/home/stmaryscarecenter.nsf

Mom, Mary Lou, is doing well and feels at peace with the decision that she has made. As many people that have helped us over the last few crazy days have said, now Mom can stop being a caretaker and return to being a wife.

I will document Dad's journey in this new web photo album that I created today.
http://family.webshots.com/album/576127370KkvTju?vhost=family

I will take more photos when Steve and I go on Saturday to visit Dad and take him his recliner. We will be hanging up some of his favorite photos and putting out a few more things to make his room feel like home. We plan on getting a bulletin board to post photos and any cards he receives.

Dad's new address is;
Tom Querin
St. Mary’s Care Center
3401 Maple Grove Drive
Memory Care, University Road Neighborhood
Madison, WI 53719

Please feel free to pass on this message.
If there are any new major developments, Mom and I will keep you posted.
Martha

Steve's Sister, Suey Passed Away

Starczynski, Susan "Suey" M. MCFARLAND After a thirteen-year battle with cancer, Suey left us at 2:30 p.m., on Friday, Dec.11, 2009, surrounded by her friends and family. Suey Schultz was born Sept. 6, 1959, and grew up in Cottage Grove, graduating from Monona Grove High School, in 1977. Her Sept. 1, 1984 marriage to Robert J. Starczynski resulted in two beautiful daughters, Taylor-Ann Dale Starczynski, age 17, and McKenna Rose Starczynski, age 14. Suey worked at Douglas Stewart Company, for many years. Most recently, she was assistant to Tom Rutlin at Exerstrider Fitness Walking Poles. She touched many lives through her love of crafts, sewing, alterations, flowers, and bead jewelry. She was an exuberant Packers, Badgers, and Brewers fan, and loved to cheer for McKenna's basketball team. She took pride in helping plan and decorate Taylor-Ann's Homecoming and Prom. She enjoyed many exciting trips and camping expeditions with her family. She made many new friends on the trips she took with her husband, who earned these fabulous trips through Isuzu. She enjoyed sharing company on her long walks, of course, always using her walking poles. We will miss her enthusiastic conversations over a nice glass of wine. Her joy and passion brightened every life she touched. Her quick and ready smile made her friends everywhere she went. This very proud mother, wife, sister and friend will be missed terribly by all. Throughout her long battle with cancer, she was most proud of her patient advocacy activities with Gilda's Club, Wisconsin Cancer Coalition, and Cancer Survivors support group in Cottage Grove. She is survived by her husband; daughters; her mother, Joanne Schultz of Cottage Grove; her siblings, James (Ruth Ann) Schultz of Clintonville, Nancy (Bruce) Schultz-Darken of Madison, Steve (Martha) Querin-Schultz of Cottage Grove, David (Sabrina) Schultz of Waterboro, Maine, Jeff (Kelley) Schultz of Ruthland, Vt., Bob (Joan Frey) Schultz of Verona, Cindy (Steve) Martinelli of Cottage Grove, Diane (John) Jaeggi of Brooklyn, and Donna (Jim) Robinson of DeForest; brothers and sisters-in-law, Mike (Fritz) Starczynski of Marshall, Dave (Diane) Starczynski of Madison, Dan Starczynski of Verona, Larry (Sherry) Starczynski of Madison, JoAnn (Bob) Disch of Verona, Betty (Tom) Koberle of Waunakee; 38 nieces and nephews, many aunts, uncles, and cousins; most of all, tons of friends (all of you know who you are!); the two surviving amigos, Sheryl Beran and Tina Monroe; and her cats, Waffles and Tipperella. Suey was preceded in death by her father, Ronald Schultz; and her in-laws, Stanley and Josephine Starczynski. A Memorial Mass will be held at ST. PATRICK'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, 434 N. Main St., Cottage Grove, at 1 p.m., on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009, with Monsignor Raymond Kertz presiding. A celebration of Suey's life will follow immediately after the church service at THE BARN, 1682 County Road BB, Deerfield. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made toward the education fund for her daughters, or a charity of your choice. Many special thanks to Dr. Sanyal, staff and nurses at Dean Oncology, St. Mary's fifth floor, Hospice, Zimbrick at Fish Hatchery Road and of course, Peggy Weber. Suey would say, "Don't be sad... just put your big girl panties on and deal with it."

The Bedside Gun Rack