Shirley and I drove to Hutchinson, KS, on Friday for the funeral of her brother-in-law Saturday. After the funeral I went to Great Bend to see Mary Pauline. She is a resident in the Great Bend Health and Rehab Center, 1560 K-96 Highway Great Bend, KS 67530. She did not recognize me. The attendants said she had slipped in the past couple weeks. The two aides that I talked with seemed genuinely fond of her. They told me she often asks for Nadine (her long-dead twin sister) and can put together a string of curse words when riled. They also told me she could be very funny.
Pauline has a guardian conservator, Art Jaske, a man appointed by the state social services. Mr. Jaske met me at the Center where we talked for some time. He knew quite a lot about Pauline, Ralph (Nadine's widower), and Pauline's parents, Uncle Bud (Edward) and Aunt Lois. He told me that some years ago he had lived near them and admired the way they kept the yard and house. Mr. Jaske is responsible for eleven people in his care. He seems to be a very caring man. He looks in on Pauline a couple times a week and said that until a few weeks ago, she knew who he was and what he did.
Mr. Jaske also told me some of the events of the last two and one-half years, since Ralph died and Pauline was moved to the Center. Ralph and Pauline had wills, but no one found them before the six months limit on implementing them had expired. As a result, Ralph's three nephews got half the proceeds of the sale of the house, Pauline got the other half, a grand total of $2300. Ralph and Pauline had a woman who was supposed to be caring for them, I suppose running errands, shopping, etc. No one knew the name of the person. When neighbors hadn't seen either Ralph or Pauline for several days, they investigated and found a pretty dire situation. Mr. Jaske said Pauline's credit card had a balance of $20,000 which he believed she had nothing to do with. He, as guardian conservator, took care of the credit card issue, the sale of the home, and now is responsible for the on-going care of Pauline.
In our conversation Mr. Jaske explained that he had a good deal of experience in this line of work, beginning years ago because he had two Down Syndrome brothers he helped care for. I told him about Lydia Orso and her wonderful wedding. Turns out, he had seen the news report of the wedding on television.
One of the things I wanted to accomplish while in Great Bend was to insure that eventually Pauline's final resting place will be in the family plot in the Marshfield, MO, cemetery. Mr. Jaske helped me arrange that. He had already set aside a $2300 death benefit so the expenses of transportation and burial will be covered. I have to contact the funeral home in Great Bend that has the burial policy and give them sufficient information to insure Pauline's eventual interment in Marshfield. I will do that tomorrow.
I am posting a photo of Pauline.
En route to Great Bend, I stopped at the cemetery in St. John and found brother Bob's grave. I could not find his son, Bobby's grave. [Many of you probably remember that Bob and his family speak of trips to "Hutch" and Great Bend as if they were right up the road. Believe me, they are quite a distance apart, as I discovered Saturday!]
Pauline has a guardian conservator, Art Jaske, a man appointed by the state social services. Mr. Jaske met me at the Center where we talked for some time. He knew quite a lot about Pauline, Ralph (Nadine's widower), and Pauline's parents, Uncle Bud (Edward) and Aunt Lois. He told me that some years ago he had lived near them and admired the way they kept the yard and house. Mr. Jaske is responsible for eleven people in his care. He seems to be a very caring man. He looks in on Pauline a couple times a week and said that until a few weeks ago, she knew who he was and what he did.
Mr. Jaske also told me some of the events of the last two and one-half years, since Ralph died and Pauline was moved to the Center. Ralph and Pauline had wills, but no one found them before the six months limit on implementing them had expired. As a result, Ralph's three nephews got half the proceeds of the sale of the house, Pauline got the other half, a grand total of $2300. Ralph and Pauline had a woman who was supposed to be caring for them, I suppose running errands, shopping, etc. No one knew the name of the person. When neighbors hadn't seen either Ralph or Pauline for several days, they investigated and found a pretty dire situation. Mr. Jaske said Pauline's credit card had a balance of $20,000 which he believed she had nothing to do with. He, as guardian conservator, took care of the credit card issue, the sale of the home, and now is responsible for the on-going care of Pauline.
In our conversation Mr. Jaske explained that he had a good deal of experience in this line of work, beginning years ago because he had two Down Syndrome brothers he helped care for. I told him about Lydia Orso and her wonderful wedding. Turns out, he had seen the news report of the wedding on television.
One of the things I wanted to accomplish while in Great Bend was to insure that eventually Pauline's final resting place will be in the family plot in the Marshfield, MO, cemetery. Mr. Jaske helped me arrange that. He had already set aside a $2300 death benefit so the expenses of transportation and burial will be covered. I have to contact the funeral home in Great Bend that has the burial policy and give them sufficient information to insure Pauline's eventual interment in Marshfield. I will do that tomorrow.
I am posting a photo of Pauline.
En route to Great Bend, I stopped at the cemetery in St. John and found brother Bob's grave. I could not find his son, Bobby's grave. [Many of you probably remember that Bob and his family speak of trips to "Hutch" and Great Bend as if they were right up the road. Believe me, they are quite a distance apart, as I discovered Saturday!]
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