Tributes
A Tribute to my Baby Girl
On 24th July 2007 an angel in disguise was born, Rebecca Edwardson.
Rebecca you entered this world so small and perfect,everybody who met you said you were a little china doll... you bought so much joy to our lives, and we are so so proud to be able to call you our own. We knew from an early age there was something wrong but all the doctors just kept on telling us we were wrong, but we kept taking you back over and over again, till they listened, finally you got to see a skin doctor who arranged a biopsy as you had skin lesions all over your body, he diagnosed you with a rare condition called pleva, but even then I knew he was wrong, and the biopsy never did confirm his diagnosis, so we kept on at doctors again, and again, till we finally got to see another doctor Mr Laycock.
I thought he would be the same as the rest of them,but to my delight he listened and instead of turning us away he agreed that something was wrong. Two days after seeing him you were admitted into hospial, for a CT scan, and two days after that you were transferred to the Children’s Hospital in Manchester, because they found two white spots of calcium on your brain, you spent two weeks at Manchester, undergoing loads of tests and procedures, but nothing came of them. Each test they carried out came back normal so you got discharged, with an appointment to see Mr Laycock again but before that date arrived you became poorly, and you were admitted back into hospital, and the following day back to the Children’s Hospital, where you had emergency surgery on August 9th 2008, for what turned out to be peritonitis. You never did get the chance to come home again. Though you did recover from the operation you started becoming poorly again, and over the next three months you went through endless tests, but no matter how many tests or how many differnt doctors you saw they just couldn’t tell us what was wrong with you; that was until September 22nd when you were transferred to Great Ormond Street, where after four days of the same tests you had gone through so many times, they finally made the diagnosis of such a horrible and rare disease called Degos Disease, the doctors told us that it is so rare they know nothing about it and then thats when they broke our hearts, because they told us that there was no known effective treatment and they couldn’t cure you.
We went back to Blackpool Hospital on the 26th September 2008. Doctors tried treatments but they just didn't work baby girl, two weeks later you were taken to Brian House Children’s Hospice where you were given the best t.l.c in the world. You only managed a week before you closed your eyes forever, all your family beside you, everybody came to say goodbye. You waited till it was just me and you and Daddy cuddled up together in bed before you spread your precious little angel wings and flew to heaven to be with all the other little angels.
Rebecca you are so, so special, and I hope that when you left this earth that you were not scared in any way because my baby you did not go alone, you took a part of me with you. I miss you so much, we all miss you so, so much, too young to die, but too precious for this earth. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Nora Dickson
Nora Lee Dickson, 56, of 6 Dahl Street, Warren, died on Saturday, September 6, 2008, at the Warren Manor, following an illness of the past several years.
Miss Dickson was born May 14, 1952, in Middlebury, Vermont, the daughter of Anna (Grant) Dickson, Warren and the late DeWitt Dickson. Nora received a BA in Education from Vennard College and worked as a school teacher, and later in the bakery at Thorne's Bilo. She was a member of the First Church of the Nazarene, where she was active in the Sunday School, the Nursery, and other programs. She lived in the Warren area from 1961–1978, moved to University Park, Iowa and Stockton, Calif., before returning to Warren in 2000.
In addition to her mother, she is survived by, a brother, Douglas Dickson and his wife, Sharon, Newton, Mass.; two sisters, Ruth Ann Ramey, Goreville, Ill. and Ellen Guild and her husband, Paul, Hill, NH; six nieces, five nephews, and seven grand nieces and grand nephews.
In addition to her father, she was preceded in death by a brother, David Dickson.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Degos Disease Support Network, at www.degosdisease.com, or the American Diabetes Assoc., 300 Penn Center Blvd., Suite 700, Pittsburgh, PA 15235.
Shirley King
This is a tribute to one of the most beautiful and loving people I have ever had the priviledge of knowing and loving. This is in memory of Shirley King.
Shirley has gone on to heaven and is waiting there for the rest of us. She was a very brave and loving woman. She was diagnosed with Degos disease back in 2002. She withstood a long and hard battle. She will be missed dearly by all of her family and friends. We know there is a new “angel” in heaven, as she was an “angel” here on earth. We love you Shirley, you will always be in our hearts! Thank you for the love you gave us all through out our lives!
Lola Abeln Lola@orthoband.com
Missouri, USA - 17:05 on 28/01/04
Marge Potter
Some of us first met Marge back in 1971. She was a freshman at Marist. A beauty, with waist long straight hair, she was a head turner for the guys on campus. Being the ambitious person she was, Marge was working her way through college. Rather than pile up school loans, she decided to leave Marist the end of her first year and return home to Brooklyn, work for a year or two, save and later complete school.
In 1974, after attending one of Barbara Dudley’s famous parties on South Hamilton St., she fell in love with the people, the apartment building and after learning of a vacancy upstairs, left a deposit for the apartment and decided to return to Poughkeepsie to complete her education.
At around the same time, after drifting a bit, my luck changed for the better when Barbara, who knew I was looking for an apartment, told me that this girl Marge and her friend Betty were looking for a third roommate. I met with them and was blessed with the good fortune of being accepted to live with them in that apartment. We were the original “three’s company”.
Using the money she had earned during the prior few years working for her cousin, Marge bought a little olive green Toyota and enrolled in S.U.N.Y New Paltz. Although a brand new car, no matter how hot it would get, we could not get her to use her air conditioner.she said she wanted the car to last and thought it would be bad for the engine.
Marge was incredibly driven and disciplined. Always on time with her bills and rent. Every morning at exactly the same time there would be her three-minute egg boiling on the stove, she would have her books ready on her desk in the foyer (the chair of which she kept covered in plastic so that it would stay like new). She would go off to school; I would go to work and Betty off to Marist. On weekends during the first year or so, she would return to Brooklyn to work and return on Sunday nights. We’d always get that checkup call from her mother - “a person to person call for Jackie Sweeney” and we had a code that we followed to assure that we didn’t accept the charges but let her mom know she was home.
We shared that apartment for about three years — and what great years they were. Although South Hamilton was an apartment building, it was like a dorm for us all and the hub from which the friendships of many us here today truly became solidified. Barbara, Susie, and many apartment mates over those years lived down stairs from us.
Marge, Betty and Betty’s boyfriend George, Smitty who would come up from the city whenever he could along with our extended family downstairs, were the original core group of our apartment building. We had countless great times even just hanging out. Marge was a great friend, was fun to be around, had a great sense of humor, had a great laugh and was always upbeat and as we know her... She was Marge.
We rotated cooking responsibilities. And I must admit, although a terrific apartment mate, a great student and a lot of fun, a cook Marge was not. I remember picking up a roast and telling her step by step what temperature to roast it at, for how long and so forth. I came home, could smell the roast, opened the oven. No roast. Then I opened the bottom drawer. There was a meatball sized burnt roast. She had broiled it!
Marge was full of life, very independent, adventurous and always up for trying something new. During those years she sky dived, learned to scuba dive, flew in a glider, loved to hike in the mountains at New Paltz, and of course was always up for a good party. I remember after she completed her scuba diving class she had to do a dive to get certified. We asked how deep she had to go and she said “I don’t know. 5000 feet?” Mike Lewis quickly said to her. “Marge there are submarines that can’t dive that deep”.She later said “ok maybe it was 50 feet”.
Eventually Betty moved out and Bruce, my close, solid lifelong friend, a friend that I’ve known since we were in first grade, moved in with us. (Bruce was always fascinated with my living arrangement and would find excuses to come over and visit). Marge was dating someone else at the time, but during that time Bruce and Marge got to know one another. It probably would have clicked between them right then, but it may have been Bruce’s big “fro” hairstyle that held her back.
Eventually, after Marge graduated from New Paltz, we all moved on to different places. Bruce, Smitty, Mike Lewis and I rented a house across the river, only to later move back to So. Hamilton and nearby apartments. Marge went on to Albany to earn her Masters degree in social work. During that time, Marge broke it off with the guy she was seeing and she and Bruce began dating. It clicked. Bruce’s hair was a little shorter by then. They moved in together and shortly after, they married, as did many of us that year.
I remember how excited Marge was when she and Bruce bought their home. She told me “I never would have imagined that I’d be lucky enough to have my own home with a pool and a yard” (she enjoyed gardening) She absolutely loved it and loved Bruce. Shortly after getting married, she was one of the founding members of “Crafts night” — a scheduled night each month where all of the woman in our group of friends including Marge, Susie, Barbara Dudley, Barbara Gill, Francine, Mary Sledge, Mary Garlo, my wife Ellen and others would get together. Crafts night is still going on today. She would never miss a meeting.
Marge and Bruce did many things together, they would go boating, water skiing, snow sking, mountain biking. They were a solid couple, a couple we all admired, looked up to and enjoyed being around. They went on to raise their family and introduced to us and the world three wonderful children, Liz, Kevin and Julie.
Marge also pursued her lifelong ambition, that being helping others through her work. We will never know how many, as she was so modest, but can only imagine the countless number of families and individuals that she helped and who were saved as a result of her dedication to her profession. We know there were many. She loved her work.
She was a devoted, loving Mother to her children and a devoted loving wife to Bruce. Our children and theirs along with many of our friends’ children all grew up together. We all loved getting together, no matter where or when. It was always a fun time. I am so grateful to have had such solid pillars of friendship, Bruce and Marge in my life and the lives of my family for so many years.
For years, the Potters would vacation each year, along with the Gills, the Henekins, Fitzpatrick’s and other Marist friends, down in N.C. Marge raved about those vacations and it was her infectious enthusiasum that convinced us several years ago to also join them along with the Dudley’s. How thankful we are to have had the opportunity to do so for these past few years. We all had such a wonderful times there. They are incredibly fond memories and times that we will cherish, our children will cherish and we are just so, so thankful to have shared those times together.
No matter who knew Marge they loved her. Whenever you would mention her name you would always here a similar comment: “I love Marge”, “Marge is great”. She never had a negative thing to say about anyone. That wasn’t her style. Yet, I was reminded that after a Corona or two she would slip into her Brooklyn accent and say “Hey, don’t mess with me, I’m from Brooklyn” (I’ll leave out the language).
Marge was a great friend, a trusted advisor, a wonderful person. There are so many memories I and we could go on telling them forever. And we will — each of us when we meet and get together — we will never forget her.
Those of us who followed the events of her bout with this rare and terrible disease over the past year were and continue to be in awe of her incredible bravery, spirit, optimism and balance throughout her ordeal. No matter how bad things got or how uncomfortable she may have been, she would go out of her way to make you feel comfortable and kept the spirit of hope alive. She knew what she was facing and was just so, so brave.
I know she would want me to mention two other Degos patients in need of support. Judith Calder, a patient in England who corresponded with Marge, sent her flowers and called her while in the hospital. Judith has been a champion in fighting this disease. And Joseph Murphy, a patient in Connecticut who also corresponded with Marge and drove down to visit her at the hospital. Simply go to the web and look up Degos. You will find them in the website. Don’t be afraid to communicate with them they need your support.
To her friends here today, we know how much Marge meant to us and how much she will be missed. Speaking on Bruce’s behalf I can tell you he was so amazed at, and so appreciative of, the support, the meals the visits the outpouring of care that everyone provided, the girls from crafts night, Rose Murphy, Marge’s neighbors and friends. You were wonderful with your generous meals, help with the house, coordination of visits and just being there for them. Marge knew of this and it warmed her spirits. But we all know that Marge would have done the same for any of us.
As I’ve seen over the past several days, Liz, Kevin and Julie have also been blessed with great friends who have been there to help, provide love and support in any way they can. They are terrific. Appreciate them. Be proud of them.
I also cannot describe the incredible help, love, tireless dedication, care and comfort that Bruce’s mom Terry provided Marge and Bruce over these last few difficult weeks. She was there at the hospital every day and helped in ways that only a mom could. Marge was so appreciative and looked forward to her visits. She put Marge at ease and was a godsend. You were terrific. Your presence and support as well as the kind support and love that Marge received from Terry’s close friend Janet, the Potter family. Brian, Donna, Kim and Steve, the Walsh family, her co-workers and friends carried Marge through these very difficult past few months, as it did Bruce and his family. It’s hard for us all to accept that we’ve lost her. Over time we will. To Bruce and the Potter family we all, your friends, share your pain. You can count on us to be there for you.
Marge has touched each of us in her special way and as we reflect on the celebration of Marge’s life we can be thankful for having had the privilege of knowing her and for the bond that she has formed among us all.
Marge, you were a great friend, and a great person. We will miss you.
Marge Potter
UK - 22:12 on 10/11/03
Page last modified on 29 December, 2008
