Goodbye Mr. Carell, and thank you
It was a very sad day at work today. The Children’s Hospital’s namesake our our biggest supporter, Monroe Carell Jr., died, and it was my job to get a lot of the information out about it and plan a memorial service at work.
Although he was very sick the last time I saw him, the circumstances give me comfort. I was there on what would be his last visit to the NICU at Children’s Hospital in May. He loved all the patients but was particularly drawn to the NICU and had made frequent visits, quietly, to visit with families and the tiny babies for years.
That day, the last room he visited, he got to sit down and hold a beautiful little baby girl — she fit so naturally in his arms and he was just beaming. The infants we care for are so critically ill, that it was a very special treat that he was actually able to hold a baby. It was a lovely sight, and one that will stay with me now that there won’t be any more of those special visits.
In addition to giving millions of his own money to the hopsital, Mr. Carell led the charge to raise the funds for our new Children’s Hospital (we are a non-profit) and was already working on fund-raising efforts for our upcoming expansion.
So thank you, Mr. Carell, we’ll try our best make you proud and keep your legacy alive.
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:20 am
amen to that.
June 26th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
You did a fabulous job, on a tough situation. You did him proud.