96-Year-Old South Jersey Man Gets A Thanksgiving Surprise
MARLTON, NJ (CBS) -- William Pierce, 96, pointed at an old clock that stood tall in his daughter's living room - a clock he remembers building as a gift for his daughter Joan Fisher's wedding several years ago.
"I decided I'd rather give my daughter something besides a watch that would last years. It took a while, but I learned a lot from doing it," said Pierce, a Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice patient who had plenty of other stories to tell on Saturday when a group of volunteers stopped by his home with a basket of Thanksgiving treats.
The Pierce family was one of 130 South Jersey families with relatives in hospice care to receive Thanksgiving meals and gifts from the Giving Thanks, Preserving Memories program. The program, which was started by Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice and CulinArt, Inc., aims to make the lives of these families a little easier during the holidays so they can spend more time with their loved ones.
"I thought [the basket] was very nice. It was delivered by three really nice ladies. It got my father to talk about old times because he likes to do that," Fisher said. "And it'll help me out since I have to work on Thanksgiving."
During the volunteers' visit, Pierce talked about everything from how he fell in love with his wife to how he came up with the names of his children. He even touched on his involvement in the Apollo Program.
Fisher recalled the stories her father used to tell after his days as a quality control technician with RCA, making sure the radios were functioning before they left the factory.
"When Apollo 13 got into trouble, he looked at me and said, 'Well, the radios worked.'"
"My father would not believe that man had gone to the moon," Pierce said, displaying a certificate he had received honoring his hard work with RCA and the Apollo Program.
Fisher didn't disclose her father's condition, but some patients who enter hospice care are expected to live up to another six months. Some do surpass that expectancy though, according to Carol Paprocki, a spokesperson for Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice.
Despite how long a patient has left to live, the goal of Giving Thanks, Preserving Memories gives families a chance to worry less about cooking and preparing a Thanksgiving meal and instead, to spend quality time with their loved one.
"That's the nice thing about Samaritan. They'll usually have their grief counselors, their nurses come out to the homes and try to help them live out their last remaining days there, because it could be a big burden to take on, and we just really want the families to concentrate on family," said Laurie DePerro, one of the Thanksgiving volunteers who also offers grief counseling once a month to families who lost a loved one.
"Since I work full time, and since I'm gone at least five days out of the week, I think with the aide and the nurse, and Kim, the social worker, visiting--I think it kind of brightens my dad's day. I think just having that person come in and spend time with him, and let him get his stories out, it makes him feel special," Joan said.
"I certainly do feel special," confirmed Pierce.
Pierce has 11 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. He'll be 97 in January.
Reported by Crystal Cranmore, CBSPhilly
