Caring Relationships - Gundersen Health System

A Peaceful Death,
A Grateful Daughter
Marilee Hemstock-Swenson
has maintained strong
ties to La Crosse, even
though she now makes her home
in Mantorville, Minnesota. She’s
received medical care in nearby
Rochester, and also in Arizona where
she spends her winters. Nowhere
has she seen the friendly atmosphere
she has experienced at Gundersen
Lutheran. “I still feel more at home
here,” Marilee admits. Her admiration
for the quality of care provided
at Gundersen Lutheran took on a new
dimension this year, during the final
illness of her 91-year old mother,
Midge (Mildred) Hemstock.
“Mother was very ready to die.
She wanted to be with her Lord, and
my dad,” says Marilee. “She just
wanted to be comfortable, and that’s
what we wanted, too, as the family.”
After being admitted to the hospital
on May 1, Marilee’s mother entered
the inpatient hospice program where
she received palliative care until her
death 11 days later.
“I can’t say enough about
how they took care of
her,” says Midge’s very
grateful daughter. “As
a family member, it
was just wonderful.”
She still refers to
her mother’s hospice caregivers as
“angels” who showed such love,
respect, and empathy throughout
those final days. “I had never seen
care like that,” says Marilee. “I know
that Mother did not suffer. She had
the very peaceful death she wanted.”
Midge Hemstock had even
planned her own funeral. She wrote
the obituary, chose her pallbearers,
specified her favorite songs and
Bible verses, and selected who was
to provide the lunch service. She also
requested that memorials be directed
to several of her favorite charities,
including Gundersen Lutheran
Medical Foundation. Midge and her
late husband, Cecil, were longtime
supporters of the Foundation, dating
back to their life membership as
Founder’s Level donors to what was
then Gundersen Medical Foundation.
As members of the Legacy Society,
they had established a Charitable
Remainder Trust that included the
Foundation as a beneficiary. Marilee
plans to continue giving in her
mother’s memory. “I have been a
supporter of the Foundation for years.
If someone passed in La Crosse who
I knew, my memorials almost always
went to Gundersen Lutheran,” she
explains. “I plan to do more now, not
just because Mother won’t be there to
continue, but because of this hospice
experience. They cared for me as
much as Mother, and when she took
her last breath, the same nurse who
admitted her was there to cry along
with me. Each member of that team
was just wonderful.”
Gundersen Lutheran Hospice
provides care for approximately
65 patients every month—patients
diagnosed with terminal conditions
who receive their hospice care in
either home or inpatient settings. Our
dear friend Midge Hemstock would
be proud to know that memorials
made in her honor, directed to the
Foundation’s Hospice Fund, will be
helping these patients and their loved
ones even beyond her lifetime.
How we help others depart this
life helps define our lives. In 2008 to
date, nearly 300 donors have made
gifts to support hospice funding
through Gundersen Lutheran Medical
Foundation. Grants awarded for the
year are expected to surpass $59,000,
and are used for such things as staff
development, equipment, and services
for hospice patients and their families.
Pictured above: Marilee and Midge in November, 2002, in Mesa, Arizona.
Pictured at left: Midge and Marilee on Christmas Day, 1992, at the Swenson home in Mantorville, Minnesota.
6 www.gundluth.org/foundation