As they share the history of their life with us during their flight, we are listening to the radio play, “Can I have this dance for the rest of my life.” How appropriate I thought to myself as I listened. Now happily married for 67 years this all sounds like something from a Hallmark movie don’t you think? And let me tell you they are absolutely adorable together.

Leo, now 88, was born and raised on his family’s dairy farm along with his seven siblings in the small town of Dexter, Michigan. Before graduating high school he joined the United States Navy and was sent directly to Norfolk. This was during the Korean War. He became an airplane mechanic and served our country for 8 years. (Thank you Leo!)

Faye was born and raised in Norfolk along with her 3 siblings. She and Leo married and would eventually move back to Michigan. 

After his service he applied for a position as a state police officer in Michigan, Virginia, Hawaii and Australia. Michigan snatched him up. Leo served once again as a Michigan State Police Captain, covering 9 counties in SE Michigan before retiring. During this time he received his degree in criminal justice while working full time, being a husband and father of 5. Faye worked many odd jobs from waitressing, real estate and insurance. But her main and most important job was her husband and their children.

They have been blessed with 5 wonderful children ranging in ages 53 to 65 years old. David the eldest is a retired adjunct professor and lives in Florida. Susan, a retired special education teacher, is still in Michigan. Chris, still living in Michigan, is a lieutenant police officer. Ann Marie who is also in Florida and lastly Michael who works for Ford Motor Company in Michigan. Between their 5 children they have been blessed with 11 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. 

After Leo retired from the police department, he became Director of Public Safety for the University of Michigan for many years. He then took a position with the state department and federal government and went to Iraq for 2 years. When he asked Faye if she wanted to join them there she simply said, “no, I think I will go to Florida and buy us a home.” In Iraq Leo helped to set up intelligence operations for the Iraq government. Always active he would march alongside the soldiers each morning. He celebrated his 70th birthday while there.

Meanwhile, Faye purchased a beautiful pink home for them in Florida while he was away. She knew that Leo would not live in a “pink” house. But that would be an easy fix so she had it painted. From Iraq, Leo went on to spend 2 years in Bosnia and another 2 years in Kosovo where he helped build schools and urgent care facilities. Faye was able to go over a few times and they did some traveling to Spain, France, Turkey, Italy and Greece. When Leo was finished overseas Faye had made sure that he had a lovely home to return to where they have spent the last 25 years. They also have a cabin on Bear Lake in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Notice I did not mention the word “retire”? No, no, no I do not believe this is in 88 Leo’s vocabulary despite his tender age of 88. He continues to work as an RV porter delivering RV’s to customers across the country. He has taken them as far as California and absolutely loves his job. ( Am I the only one who is completely worn out yet ? How does anyone keep up with Leo? ) He exercises regularly which I am sure attributes to his great health. 

Just a month or so ago while traveling to their cottage in Michigan Leo and Faye stopped outside of Dayton in a small town to spend the night. After checking into their hotel Leo went out for a 20 minute jog. He had been gone longer than Faye had anticipated and she began calling his phone which he was not answering. She thought she would wait just a little longer but was beginning to worry a bit. She had heard some sirens but did not think much about them. After about an hour there was a knock on her hotel door and when she opened it a police officer was standing on the other side. He explained that Leo had been hit by a car and was taken to the emergency room with a broken arm.

Faye explained that they are in an unfamiliar town, it is dark and she has never driven Leo’s car and is not sure how she will get to the hospital. The officer escorted her and when she arrived there was a chaplain waiting. This is looking much more serious than a simple broken arm. The kind chaplain explained that it was definitely more serious and that Leo would need to be transferred to another hospital that would have the capability to care for his injuries.

When Faye entered his room in the ER she was not prepared at all for what she saw. Leo’s bone was sticking out through his arm, his head was covered with blood from a head injury and his entire left side was fractured. They told her they were not sure if he would make it. The chaplain assisted her in calling their sons Chris and Michael who immediately headed to the hotel. While they transported Leo, the chaplain followed her back to the hotel and offered to stay with her until the boys arrived.

It was Betsey, the liaison at the Fishers House who reached out to us initially. This is where Faye had been staying while Leo was at the VA Hospital. Their son Chris also contacted us about transporting his father back home to Florida. As you can imagine Leo was getting quite frustrated being in the hospital despite his multiple surgeries and is ready to go home. And that cannot come soon enough for him. Chris was great to work with. He told me his father is very frugal when it comes to himself but extremely generous with his children. 

After some further investigation their son Michael’s wife Marla’s also had a connection to GOW. Her best friend Jodie told her about us. As it turns out we transported Jodie’s mom back in 2013 and she continues to donate to our ministry. God is always working.  

In Dayton Leo and Faye arrived via ambulance and they are so sweet. We do a quick assessment and head for Florida. We had a great flight. Leo was able to sleep a little and insisted that he did not need anything. Faye shared some wonderful stories about their life with us. One that stuck with me was about Jack Lousma, a great childhood friend of Leo’s who became an astronaut. One year around Thanksgiving they flew with Jack and his wife back to Norfolk and got into some pretty bad weather. Faye is not a good flier and was understandably frightened but Leo reassured her they were in good hands with an astronaut. She also recounted all the kind people who had helped them thus far from Betsey, Josie the hospital case manager and the chaplain. She is so very thankful for each one of them.

It seemed like no time and we were landing in Venice. As Faye passed by Leo getting off the aircraft she leaned in to kiss him and he said, “I was so afraid you would not be able to come with me and I am so glad you could.” He also asked Faye during his flight to call his boss and let him know that he will be back to work in a month or so. I have a feeling he might be ready. 

It is a beautiful day, warm, sunny and 85 degrees. PARADISE ;) After praying and saying our goodbyes to the precious couple off we go to lunch. It was a restaurant I had picked out and they also highly recommended it. They said they go there frequently and love it. They were so right the food was scrumptious and it was literally right on the beach. What an amazing view and perfect ending for this mission.

Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

PSALM 119:143

TROUBLE AND DISTRESS HAVE COME UPON ME, BUT YOUR COMMANDS GIVE ME DELIGHT.

Thank you to Hal, Claire and Cecelia for sharing this mission with me.

Blessings and Shalom,

Shelli RN