ConnectLife Blog

Kevin Ryan Hickey became an eye donor upon his passing on January 31, 2014. This remembrance was shared by his mother, Michelle Hickey. Kevin was an amazing young man whose life was ended way too early. He was born with a damaged autonomic system that affected many parts of his body. He could not walk or talk and suffered seizures on a daily basis. But he loved life and had such a contagious smile that could make anyone's day a little better. He touched many people's lives...

Paul Englert, Jr. became an organ donor upon his passing on September 19, 2013. This remembrance was shared by his family. Paul was a happy, healthy 19-year-old young man who is described by everyone as always having a big smile and a hearty laugh. He was born January 11, 1994, on the birthday of his paternal grandfather. For 19 years they shared this special day together, and ironically God called them home only 10 days apart. Paul Englert, Jr. shared a birthday with his gra

James and Mary Ellen Bonnar James M. Bonnar became an eye donor upon his passing on July 25, 2004. Mr. Bonnar was born in St. Catharines, Ontario, and later moved to the United States, earning a degree at Buffalo State College and working at Multisorb Technologies and at Adelphia. This remembrance was shared by his wife, Mary Ellen Bonnar. My husband Jim was such a wonderful son, husband, father and friend. Although we never had that conversation about organ donation, I knew

Shaun Szmak of Buffalo became an eye and tissue donor upon his passing on Dec. 4, 2010. This remembrance was shared by his parents, Colleen and Doug. Shaun was born June 26, 1979. He was our second son, he has an older brother named Doug (we call him Dougie). Shaun was born prematurely and required a lot of attention. He spent a few months in the hospital due to being born premature. We were told by the doctors that he would most likely be a learning-disabled child, and a sma

Joseph G. Marks, Jr., of Wheatfield, known to friends as "Big Joe," became a donor upon his passing on July 1, 2012. This remembrance was shared by his wife, Kathryn. Joe was 6’5”, so he easily towered over everyone in a room but that was no comparison to the size of his heart. Joe was the kindest, most gentle person I had ever met. Joe was a huge sports fan. He loved his Buffalo Bills, Sabres and the Cleveland Indians. In fact, we named our puppy Slider after the mascot for

Shared by his mother, Donna Jon was born in 1985. He was a big baby, 9 lbs. 6 oz. He had beautiful blond hair, blue eyes. Jon was born with a rare metabolic disorder and his sister Rebecca had died the year prior with the same issues. When I brought Jon home from the hospital, where he lived for three months, I wasn't sure if I could be the mom that he needed. I wasn't sure if I could love him, knowing that he would not live to be an adult, but I was wrong. Jon grew up in a l

Written by Sophia’s daughter Tracey Mom was very involved with her family. She had four children, Tracey, Lori, Julie and Dan; three sons-in-law, Joe, Ken and Keith; and four grandchildren, Joey, Trevor, Cassie and Ashley. Her favorite things to do always involved her family and especially her grandchildren. She would travel all over the country to watch her granddaughter Cassie perform in baton competitions. She also enjoyed Ashley’s soccer matches. She spent this past Thank

Written by Jim’s beloved wife, Barbara Jim was born on August 2nd, 1946. He was the second son of Mary and Ben Kwitowski. Jim lost his dad at age 3 and missed having a father figure in his life. Jim grew up on the East Side of Buffalo until seventh grade, when the family moved into an upper apartment on Beach Road in Cheektowaga, NY. He attended Maryvale High School, where he played football and was awarded a place in the Maryvale Hall of Fame. He was also awarded a scholarsh

Story submitted by Michael's mother, Terry. Michael was adopted by us when he was 10 years old. But that was not when Michael came into our lives. I met Michael when he was 5 years old. I am a nurse, and I was evaluating him to be placed in a long term care facility. The first 5 years of Michael’s life were wrought with disability, dysfunction and abuse. Michael was born with Spina bifida and multiple disabilities. He was taken by the authorities from his birth parents and le

Shared by Luanne, Andy's mother Andy was 14 years old when he was hit by a drunk driver on the street in front of our home. He was on his way across the street on a farm vehicle to take care of his horse, Max, who was very bothered by bugs on that beautiful August day in 1995. After three days in Erie County Medical Center’s trauma unit, Andrew was declared brain dead and when I asked the young doctor what we should do now, he posed the question, “Have you ever thought of org

Written by Eric's Mom, Vicki Eric Michael Fontaine was born on June 4, 1991. He was my only child and I miss him with all my heart. He became an angel on May 17, 2013. He was just 21 years old. He was in a motorcycle accident and died instantly. Everyone that knew Eric loved him. He was such a fun loving, easy going young man. He always made everyone laugh and he had such an infectious laugh. Eric loved cars. This started at a young age. Whenever his grandmother or I took him

Written by daughter, Margaret R. Debus. I donate to Unyts in honor of my father, F. John “Jack”Debus. Preceding his death on January 15, 2011, Jack had made arrangements with Unyts to donate his body. Giving back was always a priority for my dad who, with my mother, raised nine children. Jack was a WWII Navy veteran, a loyal employee to the Buffalo Forge Company for 45 years and a volunteer for over 25 years at the WNY Veterans Hospital. I give my blood for now, but when the

”I know now that participating in the organ donation program was absolutely the right decision…To know that her gift was able to save a life is an unbelievable and wonderful feeling. And to know that a part of her is still living feels like a miracle.”

Written by daughter Maranda E. Reed (Golding) I am honored to be sharing my father’s life story with you. First let me tell you a bit about the amazing man he was... Ken was born on Friday September 13th to Victor and Marilyn Golding. He was the younger brother to Debbie Golding and Vincent Golding and older brother to Jeffery Golding. He was born and raised in Niagara Falls, Ontario. From the stories my grandparents told me, my dad was a quite trouble maker and yet became a

Written by Elizabeth Woods I met Michael in college; he worked in the College Bookstore and I was the brash editor of the college newspaper. Mike had never been married, I was divorced with 4 kids. Although Mike was 4 years younger than me, we started dating within months after we met. As we got to know one another, we realized that we had a lot in common. We were both family-oriented, we both loved kids and we were both blood donors. Mike made friends for life with just a

Our father, Vic to his friends, was an only child born and raised in Elizabeth New Jersey. His Father, Victor Winston Hamilton Sr. was killed in action during the Second World War. Even with this loss, he was surrounded by family. He was raised by his mother while living with his Grandparents and his beloved Aunt Manny. She filled in for his father attending all his school's Father and Son events. He loved the summers he spent with his family down the Jersey Shore playing Ske

Written by Shelly's mom, Debra I am so excited to share the life of my beautiful daughter, Shelly. Shelly was a very, loving, caring, generous and considerate young woman. Family was very important to Shelly, she had an older sister (my oldest daughter, Nicki) and a younger brother (Billy) and sister (Jillian), whom she loved very much, they meant the world to her. Shelly was my best friend. We could sit and talk, laugh and cry for hours. Mall walking and window shopping was

Written by Janice Heckt How do you sum up someone’s life in a few paragraphs? As I sit here thinking about what to say about Steven, and how to say it, with all of the memories flooding through that I have of him, I can’t help but refer to the poem “The Dash” by Linda Ellis. The poem is about reading a headstone and what the dash between the two dates represents. The last verse reads as follows: “So, when your eulogy is being read, with your life's actions to rehash. Would

by Yvette Marin I would like to tell you about the man I was married to for 28 years. Grant was smart, funny, insightful, and generous in spirit. He was a loving husband to me, a loving father to our two daughters Amy and Tiffany, and a loving owner to our Great Dane Bailey. He loved sports - watching football, playing hockey, or going to the games with his friends. He retired from the Department of Corrections after 25 years as a Lieutenant. During his time, he served for si

Shared by his mother, Ericka John Stark 1984-2005 John was full of life. He was always on the go, looking for adventure. He was into extreme sports and was always trying new things. His last craze was snowboarding. He was fearless. He did not believe in letting fear rule a person. He was also a prankster. He loved to get a laugh out of people. He also had a very deep sensitive side, which not a lot of people saw. John knew that I loved him and worried about him, as all mother