By: Rebecca Miller
Even amidst the uncertainty and constant need for flexibility that has characterized life since the beginning of March 2020, the Relay for Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society has chosen to maintain the Naming of Survivors of the Year. For 2020, the Williams County Relay for Life Survivors of the Year are Marie Wolff and Fred Hausch. These two people who are being honored, were chosen by the WC Relay for Life Committee because of their perseverance, great attitudes and continued participation with this major anti-cancer Fund Raiser.
Edon native, Marie Wolff, is married to Jim and has two children who were three and six years old when she was diagnosed with cancer “I am sixty three now, but at that time as a young wife and mother, it really tested my faith. I was prepared to go, but I really wanted to stay and watch my children grow up,” Mrs. Wolff said. Now she thanks God every day for the gift of life. Marie shared that she found out “by a blessing in disguise” when her son had his tonsils out and had a fever. She got run down while caring for him and came down with a cold.
When she went to the doctor, he found a nodule in her neck and sent her to a thyroid specialist in Toledo who removed almost all of her left thyroid lobe. “The highlight was that the cancer cells in my lymph nodes around my thyroid were all dead cancer cells, because my immune system had killed them. I have had no further treatment through the years except that I have to take a thyroid pill every day,” Marie said.
Over the years she has had the amount of medicine changed many times because it is too hight or too low, and she experiences being very tired when that happens, but she is just grateful to be alive. Marie is on Team Count Our Blessings and for the past few years, her team has raised at least $25,000 each year with fund raisers and by walking in the Relay for Life. “This year fund raising is down due to not being able to have the events and fund raisers that we usually have,” she said. As a very actively involved member of Relay for Life, Marie says to all who think they are exempt from getting cancer, “Get your Annual Check Ups! Take care of yourself. The earlier it is found, the better is the rate of survival.”
Fred Hausch, who is an Archbold native, but has spent all of his adult years as a Williams County resident, now lives in West Unity. Through the years he has experienced many major health issues, that would have floored someone with less stamina of character. He and his wife, Shelley (Cotter) Hausch, who passed away at Fairlawn Haven in March of 2017, spent many wonderful years together and lived as over-comers.
Since 2003, when it was discovered that he had cancer and the surgeon took a lump from his pectoral muscles, Fred has gone through recurrences of the cancer, removal of 36 inches of upper bowel, a near fatal heart attack, bypass surgery, and tons of radiation and chemo treatments! He recalls exactly how many treatments each situation required, twelve radiation treatments one time and seventy two chemo treatments another, “but through all of that I never missed a day of work at MidTown City in Sherwood.”
“I would leave work early on Tuesdays for an afternoon treatment, and still get up and go to work on Wednesday. I would be so drained on Wednesday nights, but I would get up and go to work on Thursday. People have a hard time believing that I never got sick from those treatments, but I didn’t! I know it was the Lord because I had a prayer team that would check up on me to see how I was and what I needed prayer for.”
During one round of twenty radiation treatments, he had to have others take him to get them as he was too weak, but through it all he explains, “I just take it as it comes. Some days are worse than others, but every day is special.” Hausch attends Solid Rock Church in West Unity, enjoys time with his daughter in Archbold and looks forward to visits from his other daughter and his three grandchildren who come to visit from Franklin, Tennessee.
He has been an active member on Barb Green’s Relay for Life Team, the B&G Team, ever since the first cancer diagnosis. Just this year on Memorial Day, his brother died of complications from kidney cancer. Hausch says that everyone needs to remember, “We can control some of our lives, but the Lord has got the rest of it.”
As Williams County Relay for Life Chairperson of Marketing and Publicity, Patrick Fischer, said in an interview, “As you know, no matter what is going on in the world, cancer never lets up.” Even as we all are dealing with COVID19 and the unrest in our nation and around the world, people are still receiving those hard to hear reports of cancer from their doctors, and the need for encouragement and support has not stopped.
Fischer and his wife, veterinarian at Archbold Animal Hospital, Dr. Kim Fisher have been actively involved for over twenty years with Relay for Life and are part of the Powers and Sons/Archbold Animal Hospital Relay Team. The team also incorporates Madison Church of God near Pioneer, where they attend. Cancer has touched their family with his mother’s death and then when Kim was diagnosed with breast cancer, just before their first wedding anniversary. “The support you receive and give by participating in this fund raiser for the American Cancer Society is tremendous,” Fischer said.
The Relay for Life Survivors of the Year were chosen by the Committee, Fischer explained, which this year is around fifteen members. Each year, people are nominated and the committee reviews the information and votes. These two active Williams County Relay for Life members, Fred Hausch and Marie Wolff, were chosen in that same way.
Since 2001, the Relay for Life has been held at the Fairgrounds and has been a huge event, raising thousands of dollars for the American Cancer Society. It was scheduled for June 12/13, 2020, but when things fell apart in the spring, the committee moved the dates to August 14/15 with guidance from the Williams County Health Department.
In June they began talking about whether it should be canceled all together for this year or if it would be possible to hold a Drive Through Relay for Life. The decision was made to consider having the Drive Through on August 14, in which people could drive by the Luminari Ceremony as well as a Photo Memorial, being able to see everything from their vehicles.
On July 29, a meeting was held and sadly, the decision was made that “there will not be a physical Relay for Life event this year, due to COVID-related safety concerns for our Survivors and other attendees,” Patrick Fischer explained. There will be more information and announcements in the future.
With the pandemic changing the income of many who would normally donate to the relay teams, and with businesses, people and organizations being hit hard around the world, the American Cancer Society is also feeling the hit. If you would like to help, there are a number of ways available: cancer.org website; call the ACS at 1-800-227-2345; contact a Relay member or captain that you know or go to the Relay website – secure.acsevents.org/.site/SPageServer/?pagename=relay.
As it says on the website, “Relay for Life may look different this year, but now more than ever, cancer patients and researchers need your help to sustain the fight against cancer. Our lifesaving mission has been threatened by suspended events and a decrease in donations, so your support is urgently needed to continue research, patient programs and cancer screening.”
The post Added To Our Free Archives: Meet The Williams County Relay For Life 2020 Survivors Of The Year appeared first on The Village Reporter.
Source: The Village Reporter
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