Marion Ruth Wilson

Ambulance squad cites heroism
[from an Albany, NY area newspaper]

At its June meeting, the North Colonie Ambulance Squad awarded a letter of commendation and a certificate of appreciation for selfless efforts to area resident Marion Rodger. [Marion Wilson]

On April 17, [1984] she I helped save the life of a 72-year-old man who had collapsed in the parking lot of a Latham supermarket. A registered nurse at Albany Medical Center Hospital, Rodger was grocery shopping at the time and immediately went to the man's assistance. She quickly determined that he was not breathing and had no heartbeat. She began CPR (cardio-pulmonary-resuscitation) at once and continued until emergency units arrived.

Through the combined efforts of Rodger, the personnel from the North Colonie Ambulance Squad and S.W. Pitts Hose Company, the man's heartbeat and breathing were restored. Advanced Life support procedures were performed under the direction of Dr. Howard Westney, who also responded to the scene.

According to Elliot Schwebel, the squad's captain, the actions of Rodger were directly responsible for the outcome, noting the fact that she had the skills, she cared and she got involved. "The results speak for themselves. If more people would follow her example, we could see a dramatic decline in the death rate from cardiac arrest," Schwebel said.

Ambulance squad cites heroism
[from an Albany, NY area newspaper]

At its June meeting, the North Colonie Ambulance Squad awarded a letter of commendation and a certificate of appreciation for selfless efforts to area resident Marion Rodger. [Marion Wilson]

On April 17, [1984] she I helped save the life of a 72-year-old man who had collapsed in the parking lot of a Latham supermarket. A registered nurse at Albany Medical Center Hospital, Rodger was grocery shopping at the time and immediately went to the man's assistance. She quickly determined that he was not breathing and had no heartbeat. She began CPR (cardio-pulmonary-resuscitation) at once and continued until emergency units arrived.

Through the combined efforts of Rodger, the personnel from the North Colonie Ambulance Squad and S.W. Pitts Hose Company, the man's heartbeat and breathing were restored. Advanced Life support procedures were performed under the direction of Dr. Howard Westney, who also... READ MORE →

Eulogy

CAN WE JUST GET THIS OVER WITH? … Those were the first words Marion ever spoke to me.

Marion was a very private person. She didn’t tell many people how we met. It was on the Internet. I had posted a profile describing who I was and what I was looking for in a woman. Marion found it and e-mailed me. We were both born and raised in New England. We both lived in Encinitas. She was a Registered Nurse and owned her own home. She couldn’t live up to my 5’8” ideal, but many people found her attractive, she claimed. We should get together. E-mails flowed back and forth. We settled on meeting for coffee on Friday, December 19, 2002.

It was Thursday, the day before. I was working on my computer when the phone rang. It was Marion. She had taken the day off, and wanted to just get this over with. I agreed to meet her at the Roxy in Encinitas.

The woman I met there was attractive, intelligent, interesting, and only five inches shy of my 5’8” minimum. She could be the one. As we talked, I learned that she had never been to Quail Botanical Gardens despite all her years in Encinitas … so I took her there that Saturday.

On our first date, we shared a first kiss at a spot about twenty feet from the spot where we would be married less than ten months later.

Everyone knows that normal babies take nine months, but honeymoon babies can come much faster. Marion and I set the land speed record in that department. Just ten weeks after we were married, she became a grandmother.

This was a dream come true for her. Marion had no children of her own. She grabbed onto that grandson—doted on him, took him places, bought him things. Marion’s shopping shifted from Chico’s to Toys-R-Us. She loved the whole parade of grandsons that came along.

Her life was filled with them until the cancer. The doctors had to remove one entire lung. She went through lots of lung exercises to make that one little lung do the job of two. She would need it. The Preakness was only weeks away. You don’t know how much yelling and screaming is necessary to watch a horse race.

Marion would spend hours pouring over the racing form. She actually knew how to read the things. She knew the stables, and the trainers. Marion spoke the language: she understood words like exacta, and trifecta. She could read and compare the horses’ records. She’d chose her bets and then run down to the off-track-betting place and place a half dozen bets with twenty dollars. She’d come home, turn on the television, and have a thousand dollars worth of fun watching the race. She was out of her chair cheering before the horses reached the first turn.

Marion loved the races. It wasn’t just the Triple Crown. Several times a year she would get dressed up and go for a day at the races with some friends. She’d wear a brightly colored, flowing summer outfit, and carry a purse about the size of a Buick. Inside, she had her racing form marked up with circles and arrows telling her she would bet that day. There were also grapes, ham rolls with cream cheese, and a half dozen ice-cold diet Pepsis.

Marion lived on diet Pepsi—six to twelve of them a day. She owned stock in the Pepsi company … but the big bucks came from recycling her empties. Over a hundred bucks a year from empty Pepsi cans.

She jumped up and down, screamed and hollered at the races. That wasn’t the only thing she did for fun. She loved to walk. She would head out and walk long distances. Her path avoided hills that left her short of breath. Then she would climb steep hills for the breathtaking view from the top. She would go alone, or take a dog, or a husband. Best of all, she would take a grandson in a stroller.

Marion loved those grandsons. She lived to see her fifth one born. Fortunately, his Dad posted a video of the little guy on the web. Marion got to see him. She didn’t live to hold him.

Doting grandmothers make great guardian angels. I know she’s watching over all of them. You didn’t have to start so soon, Marion. It wasn’t time to get this over with. I love you, Marion.

Eulogy

CAN WE JUST GET THIS OVER WITH? … Those were the first words Marion ever spoke to me.

Marion was a very private person. She didn’t tell many people how we met. It was on the Internet. I had posted a profile describing who I was and what I was looking for in a woman. Marion found it and e-mailed me. We were both born and raised in New England. We both lived in Encinitas. She was a Registered Nurse and owned her own home. She couldn’t live up to my 5’8” ideal, but many people found her attractive, she claimed. We should get together. E-mails flowed back and forth. We settled on meeting for coffee on Friday, December 19, 2002.

It was Thursday, the day before. I was working on my computer when the phone rang. It was Marion. She had taken the day off, and wanted to just get this... READ MORE →