Wall of Champions
Loved ones with Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia deserve to be remembered. We’ve created a place where you can learn a little more about those who Championed us, whom we love, and who’ve been affected by — or lost to — this relentless disease. To add someone you love, please click here.
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Richard & Virginia Sparks
Mukwonago, WI
Richard & Virginia Sparks: Loving Parents and Grandparents.
My favorite story is how they met. My Grandma Virginia wasn’t old enough to go to the bar at the time, so her best friend snuck her in through the window of the ladies’ bathroom. She saw my Grandpa Richard sitting at the bar drowning his sorrows in a beer because of a recent breakup. She sat down right next to him, told him to buy her a beer and the rest is history.
Married for 57 years they had 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.
This memory is from when our family went to visit them when they lived in Las Vegas. My Grandpa took us to Fremont Street to show us the light show on the ceiling. It’s one of my favorite memories of him. I miss Grandpa Richard’s baseball stories and Grandma Virginia’s gold shoes and matching cigarette case. They were always so classy and the best dressed at any event.
My family walks every year in the Alzheimer’s Walk in honor of them both, in hopes of finding a cure for this horrible disease.
We miss you Grandpa & Grandma Sparks!
Carolyn Harrison
Pendleton, IN
Sweet Carolyn Harrison, you are loved.
Linda Lucas
Sebring, FL
Linda’s life is always about helping others. Her family. Working as a substitute teacher. Teaching at our church. Working for Champions for Children. Struggling.
Still has her Loving Heart.
Patricia Campbell
Detroit, MI
Loving Wife… Mother… Mimi… What a blessing!
Rachel Corso-Poland
Danbury, CT
Diagnosed 2019. Age 64.
Gabriela Marín Velásquez
Miami, FL
Gabriela Marín Velásquez, better known by her loved ones as “Tía Gaby” came from a large Colombian family of 11 brothers and sisters. Her home, although not a large one, always seemed to have enough room for her whole family.
She opened her home to many over the years, whether it was for an evening coffee chat, or to stay for extended periods of time while they got back on their feet.
And speaking of feet, she had a pair of dancing feet that were unparalleled. Spark up a good salsa song by Marc Anthony and you couldn’t sit her down! She was kind and selfless but also feisty and outspoken; definitely a multi-dimensional personality that all around her loved!
She is survived by her husband, Humberto, her only son, Andres, and two grandchildren. Heaven has gained a dancing angel!
Dorothy “Dottie” Rossmann
Roselle Park, NJ
Thank you so much for being The Best Mom any child could ever dream of.
Love You Forever…♥️♥️♥️
Masae Cassidy
San Diego, CA
Loving mother and Obachan to her grandchildren!
Barbara Beckman
Covina, CA
Loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, grandmother, friend.
Her laugh could light up a room — and often did, with Barbara surrounded by friends, sharing stories and happy times. But it was with her husband Eugene, and daughters Donna and Diane, that she was truly happy. Family meant the world to her, and she made a home filled with love.
This photo with Gene — on their 60th wedding anniversary — epitomizes her life. Despite a diagnosis of leukemia and encroaching dementia, she refused to stop living – happily enjoying a beer and her beloved backyard with family.
Dearly missed, every day.
Bharat M. Bhatt
Medina, OH
Imagine what your first love feels like. You feel that warm fuzzy feeling in your soul, the thought of this person brings you safety and comfort. That’s exactly how I would describe my love for my Dada.
The tenacity, drive, and power he carried exemplified who he was as the patriarch of our family. Bringing his whole family over from India to start a new life here in the United States was no small feat. I imagine the years it took to sponsor and settle his sisters and brother came with hardships and trials. Yet he continued to put his family first and work hard to give the gift of a better life in the USA.
He and his wife, Bharat’s Baa, raised two strong children, a son and a daughter. Living in a one bedroom apartment in Queens, New York is no easy task. The kids had to sleep in the living room and started working at very young ages. Bharat Dada always pushed his children to work hard and be grateful for what life can provide.
Later after his children both married and started having children of their own, he found himself settled in North Olmstead working as a Line Manager at Varbros. He was extremely successful and managed his team for 10 years. During that time he would have us grandchildren over to his and Baa’s apartment where we would have sleepovers and pizza parties. This man was as strong as an ox and he would show off his headstand trick to everyone! We often visited their apartment to go swimming as Dada was a master diver and would show off his fun swimming tricks!
He was not only caring towards his grandchildren, but towards the children of his apartment complex. He was affectionately deemed the “Candy Man” by the kids who would play around in the yard of the housing area because he would throw down candy to these children from his second story balcony.
Not only did Dada love everyone in his life, he made sure to love the most important being, Bhagwan (god). Dada woke early every morning and recited his pooja (prayer) and bathed his deities. He never forgot the true reason as to how he was able to accomplish everything in his life. Along with his morning prayers came a cup of chai with one packet of Equal from Baa and his favorite snack, ganthiya.
When anyone would come to the grandparents apartment, once you neared their floor, you could hear the Dada at the top of the stairs saying “Oh maro betu, oh maro deku” doing his jolly dance with excitement as his family came to see him.
As he aged, we noticed him forgetting simple things. His forgetfulness progressed rapidly and we were told by his physician that he was being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It was a devastating blow to the family. Slowly he struggled at completing his everyday tasks and his children had to make the difficult decision to house him in a nursing home where he would have more help and support.
Even with the challenges he faced he never forgot about god. He had a small stuffed monkey in his nursing home room that he respectfully referred to as Hanuman Dada. He prayed to this figure every day, always remembering his roots.
As his days went by, our family saw a rapid decrease in his way of life and had to make the decision to move him to a Hospice center. On May 22, 2014, Bharat Dada passed away peacefully, surrounded by his entire family chanting “Hare Rama” as his soul left for its next journey.
Now imagine my thoughts, a 20-year-old girl losing the first love of her life. I was devastated, scared, and confused. But I always remembered the lessons my Dada taught me growing up and how to persevere through life’s challenges. To this day, as a 29-year-old woman, married, starting my own family, I cherish the values and beliefs that were instilled in me by him. I can only hope he has seen the woman I have become and is proud of my accomplishments thus far. I’ll always love you, Dada AKA Our Candy Man.
♥️
Edward Guest
Athens, GA
Love you, Dad.
Always will!
— Michael
Leonard Jeter
Houston, TX
My Dad – my hero,
Leonard Jeter lived his life as an example for others. He loved his family and always could make you smile. He was successful, hard working and never sat still. He had his favorite hobbies that included golf, road bikes and car racing. He loved to watch car races. He loved the cars and the stories of the drivers behind the wheel of each car.
I was so excited to meet the Racing to End Alzheimer’s team. Their Team has given me a way to honor my Dad while supporting a cause to end Alzheimer’s.
I can’t wait for Leonard Jeter’s name and memory to be racing around the track!
Love you Dad!!!
Debbie Harvell DeGolier
Marble Falls, TX
Debbie is my lifesaver. She entered my life when it was in turmoil, recently divorced and looking for love in all the wrong places. She took in my two children and treated them as her own. They love her dearly to this day. She is an inspiration on how to love and live a life with meaning.
Her family has a history of Huntingtons disease, so we therefore held off on having children together until she was able to be tested. She was negative (dodged that bullet) so then we had two more children. All four children have made us very proud, and her hard work and love is why they are all successful.
Her sister has also been a rock for both Debbie and me.
Debbie is still a beautiful woman and a shining light for everybody whose life she has touched. Thank God for the time we have with her and have had with her.
Her loving and grateful husband,
Michael
Patrick Hooper
Shade, OH
My Dad, my friend…to the man who made me the person I am today and has helped countless others over the years!
I will always love you 💜
Donald E. Reasonover, Sr.
Orange, TX
Dad was full of life, loved his family, adored his grandchildren and great grandchildren. He lived a full life of service, as an Army Vet, a Mason, a Shriner, a Knights Templar, and Eastern Star.
He had Alzheimer’s, but Alzheimer’s did not have him.
We love you Dad.
Carol Biggs Taylor
Blacksburg, VA
We were young. Carol was 16 and I was 19 when we went out on our first date. We dated for 3½ years before I asked her to marry me and spend the rest of our lives together. She was proud that we raised two wonderful daughters along the way.
Carol was a beautiful woman, kind and cheerful, disarmingly so, with a delightful smile. She was most stunningly beautiful on the inside because she cared so much about other people. I knew she was a catch from the first moment I saw her. Carol enjoyed doing arts and crafts, and she was good at it. At Tech she majored in Art, and so as an artist she had empathy for the engineering majors like me, but really her major was people.
That’s what she wanted to do; it was to help people. She would help her neighbors, friends, clients and co-workers at her job, even random people at the grocery store, and especially her family. Before kids, Carol worked for an insurance company, first as a receptionist and then promoted to an auto claims assistant. I don’t think it was the most pleasant job dealing with the customers coming in with claims. Everyone comes in upset, angry, and mad. But she would calm the customers and assured them it was going to be OK. She had that knack to be able to disarm people’s anxiety and calm them down.
Carol cared for her family the most, her parents, sister, her husband, her daughters, and grandchildren. She urged all of us to be the best we could be, because she knew this would help us to be happy with ourselves. She wanted all of us to be happy. Carol was very frugal. She didn’t put a whole lot of stock into material things, except that they enabled a secure environment for her family and were tools to let us be happy and enjoy life. She sometimes would say to me, if she thought I was being selfish or overly materialistic: “when you’re on your deathbed, is this thing what you want people to remember you for?”
Carol had a philosophy about life, that each of us is put here to fulfill a purpose, to have meaning to our lives. She felt it was most important to make a contribution, to have a positive impact on others so they also could make a contribution to society and the world. Her contribution was to support and raise her family, and to help her neighbors and friends.
Carol loved our children; they made her so happy. She lived vicariously through them, guiding them along and protecting them. Their experiences were her experiences, their happiness was her happiness, and their sadness was her sadness. Carol was so devoted to them, and she was tuned in. She had more than eyes in the back of her head, she had her “mom antenna” that sensed everyone’s feelings. She could read our body language and faces like a book. Even as the disease progressed, and she couldn’t talk or barely understood what we were saying, she could read my face and knew what I was feeling, even to the very end. She was so very proud of each of us, to see her legacy being fulfilled through our achievements and through our contributions. In thinking about what Carol would want me to say about her, I think it would be that her life was fun as well as meaningful.
Carol and I were very lucky. Some may question that, after losing her, enduring her long illness and all the caregiving. But we truly are fortunate, each finding the love of our lives at an early age, and keeping that as we changed over the years. Carol especially loved her grandchildren, although it is most sad that she is missing out now on their development. Carol’s excitement and the expressions of pure joy when seeing her grandkids was absolutely beyond priceless. That was the real Carol coming through. Now it is up to us, to carry Carol’s spirit within us. Love will guide us if we just let it.
John Weishar
Burlington, ON
John was born and raised in Formosa, Ontario, with his 9 siblings. He was a hardworking man who always said, “A job worth doing is worth doing well”. He worked for Woolworth, Woolco, and Walmart for 45 years before retiring as director of buying. He is a true gentleman to all who meet him.
John traveled all over the globe with his job, but always managed to find time for his family, friends and golf. He is a loving husband, married almost 60 years to his strong, caring and determined wife Anne.
He is a role model to his 3 children, in whom he instilled strong work ethics and kindness to others. He is a proud grandfather to 4 beautiful grandchildren, whom he would do anything for.
As a family we are so grateful for organizations like Racing to End Alzheimer’s for bringing attention to this debilitating disease. John’s son is a car race enthusiast, and his wife is a strong advocate for Alzheimer’s, speaking out for those who no longer can. When the opportunity presented itself, we jumped at the chance to have his name written all over this adventure!
Keri-Lyn Hiscock
Toronto, ON
We are grateful to honour our mum, Keri Hiscock on this Wall of Champions!
Keri was taken from us too early at age 62 in January 2020 after a 10-year fight with early-onset Alzheimer’s.
An avid elephant fan, Keri collected hundreds of elephants to fill her home over the years, and many will remember her whenever they see an elephant. She was a people person who loved chatting and sharing stories with others.
We miss her so much! Let’s continue to fight for an end to this terrible disease and provide support for those going through it.
Love you, Mom!
Eileen Neri
Valencia, CA
Our Mom, Momma, protector, best friend and so much more, where do I even begin to describe her?
Mom was born in 1942 in New York. She was the daughter of a hard-working Con Edison Linesman and Irish immigrant mother. Boy did Eileen inherit those Irish shenanigan genes!!! She always had that sparkle in her eye.
In 1964, she met the love of her life, Salvatore. They were wed in 1966 and married for 54 years. As the years went by Mom had us 3 kids. And then she was blessed with her Grandchildren.
I may be biased in saying this but she was the best Mom anyone could have asked for. She was smart, funny, loving. An amazing cook, prankster, Grandma, Wife, Sister, Aunt, Daughter, friend. She was the craftiest Mom out of all the moms at school to help us in our school projects. She loved gardening and just sitting out in nature taking it all in. She also loved and spoiled her beloved pets throughout the years.
In 2017, she was diagnosed with that wretched disease, Alzheimer’s and quietly succumbed to it in 2020. She was and forever will be our heroine. We love you and miss you Momma. Always and forever. 💜
Paul Robert Haft
West Seneca, NY
My Dad was an amazing man. Although never graduated from high school he was very successful in business and life.
Always the life of the party, Paul always enjoyed being with friends and family.
He taught me so much, but most important be kind to others, never judge and always keep an open heart.
We miss you Dad oooxxx
Nancy & Bill Cardie
Pickering, Ontario
My mum and dad both suffered from dementia.
Mum passed in 2020, and Dad this past May. The picture is from happier days in their retirement residence.
Margaret Spedding
Belleville, Ontario
Margaret just turned 97 years old. She has been living with Alzheimer’s since she was 79.
It’s time we prioritize Dementia like we do Cancer and other diseases. If not now, when?
Friedrich Bernard
Kenmore, NY
Friedrich Wilhelm Bernard (March 1931 – November 2011) — or Willi, as he was called by his close friends — immigrated from Marburg, Germany, to Buffalo, NY, with his pregnant wife, 7-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter in 1957.
It was a time when those arriving had to have a job. He often worked three to get ahead and take care of his family. With the onset of Alzheimer’s, it was difficult for him to do all the things this man’s man was capable of doing. He never got nasty with anyone and enjoyed company….even if he didn’t always recognize them.
Lost him at age 80. He made his mark on those he knew.
Al & Theresa Genevro
Menlo Park, CA
Al & Theresa were married for 72 years. Both were proud Italians. They have four sons: Mike, Rob, Jim & Paul. 10 Grandchildren. 4 Great-Grandchildren. They lived their years together in Menlo Park, CA. They are beloved…and truly missed.