From the Heart: Donor Story by Dolores Mobley

Springfield Memorial Foundation October 2022

During the last few days of my husband’s life in February 2022, he was able to come home under hospice care, and it was then he gave me a handful of special requests to accomplish on his behalf. One of those requests was to make a donation to help oncology nurses and techs at Springfield Memorial Hospital (SMH).  

Mark had been diagnosed with melanoma back in August 2020, and we were thankful it was controlled for a year. Unfortunately in August 2021, all havoc broke loose, and a large tumor grew. From September 2021 to February 2022, Mark was in and out of the hospital. During that time, the nurses and techs on the oncology floor at Springfield Memorial Hospital were absolute angels as they cared for him, not only from the cancer but also the many side effects from his treatment. They even knew his favorite flavor of popsicles – orange – and made sure he had them, which made me smile.

After his funeral, I began to work through all the financial and legal “stuff” and looked for a way to fulfill the promises I had made to Mark. I wanted to make a donation for oncology nursing at SMH, but wasn’t sure how to start. A friend of mine, who retired as an oncology nurse, gave me the name of Diane Rutledge on the Memorial Health board of directors, and she put me in touch with Melissa Hansen Schmadeke, the executive director for the Springfield Memorial Foundation.

“Our donation can’t compete with large donations made by families who fund hospital wings,” I explained to Melissa. “But we do want to make a donation that will help those individuals who chose oncology nursing at SMH because they were so special to us and to Mark.”
   
Even though I have lived in Sangamon County for 37 years, I didn’t really know much about the hospital. We had spent happier times there with the birth of our three children, and I had read newspaper articles about the hospital’s community work. After talking with Melissa, she worked with other staff at the Foundation to create an endowment fund in my husband’s memory. She answered all my questions and helped me better understand how the endowment would work.

My family and I are grateful to the Springfield Memorial Foundation for helping us to honor one of Mark’s last requests. He was so thankful for the care he received from the nursing staff, and so was I. Now we are able to pay it forward.