Greenville. On Tuesday, December 3rd, more than 70 people gathered at Charles A. Dean Memorial Hospital and Nursing Home to dedicate a bronze Tree of Life in the memory of C.A. Dean supporter, Robert "Dolly" DuPlessis.
Even as Dolly's family mourned his death last summer, they knew they wanted to do something special in his memory. During his life, Dolly worked tirelessly to improve healthcare in the communities that he lived. When he moved to Greenville in 1999, he quickly grew to appreciate and support the hospital which shared his own property line. Unfortunately, failing health prevented him from fundraising for C.A. Dean more actively in his final years. His family, however, has designed a way to honor Dolly's intent and memory by donating a five-by-five-foot, bronzed Tree of Life.
The DuPlessis family, in working with C.A. Dean, has donated the bronze tribute and initiated the formal design of C.A. Dean's Memorial Giving Program. The program allows donors the opportunity to remember individuals with a memorial gift upon a person's death, birthday, or anniversary. While the gift honors the loved one's life, it also impacts the lives of other by improving healthcare in the Moosehead Lake region.
Cumulative giving in a person's honor is calculated and upon receiving $500 in memorial contributions, C.A. Dean will engrave his/her name on a leaf for the Tree of Life, which is located near the lobby in the hospital. Contributions exceeding $1,500 in that person's name will have an engraved bronze stone placed at the base of the wall-sized tree. "It's our hope that the Tree of Life will encourage other families to request that donations be made to C.A. Dean in the future," offers Cheryl DuPlessis, Dolly's wife.
"Today would have been my father's 74th birthday and I'm sure he would approve of the way we have chosen to gather together and continue to give to those in need," stated son Alan DuPlessis to the crowd that gathered to witness the Tree of Life's unveiling. In addition to those attending to honor Dolly's memory, family and friends of 17 other individuals whose names have been added to the Tree of Life were present as well.
For more information about the Memorial Giving Program and Tree of Life at C.A. Dean, please contact the Development office at 695-5237. |
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