Steve Horner

It is with great sadness that I share with you the passing of our dear volunteer and friend, Steve Horner. He passed with great dignity, in his home surrounded by his family and those who love him.

Please keep his family and everyone here at Children’s in your thoughts as we grieve the loss of a truly special soul.

Funeral services for Mr. Horner will be held on Saturday, November 22 at 11 a.m. at the Church of Holy Innocents, 681 Prospect Avenue, West Orange. A reception will follow at the Cranford Hotel, One South Union Ave, Cranford.

Condolence cards may be sent to the family at 209 Holly Street, Cranford, New Jersey, 07016.

A Precious Gift

I know that I have written about random acts of kindness in one of my first blogs but something happened this weekend that brought it all home again. The daughter of our long time volunteer, Steve Horner, called this weekend and asked Janet Weston, Director of Volunteers, and I to come say our goodbyes.

Steve has given over 8,500 hours to the hospital over his 20 years of volunteering. He was recently honored by NJBiz by being named the 2008 volunteer of the year. Steve worked mostly in the school program on our inpatient unit, but he was always available to help where he was needed.

Being invited into a family's grief, before the family member passes away, is a tremendously personal and generous thing for the family to do. Steve’s family made it very clear to me as I sat in their home that his life, after he retired and especially after his wife, Aurelia, died three years ago, was dedicated to spending time volunteering with our children.

Aurelia was also a volunteer, who encouraged Steve to donate his time to our children. As we sat with Steve and reminisced, his daughter grabbed one of two cards that was on the bureau in his bedroom. She told me that this card had arrived last week and was from Jackie Jones in our dietary department. His daughter went on to explain that Steve would come home and tell stories about all of us, but especially Jackie. He had a soft spot for her and the stories would be about - how she had given him a hug, or told him a story - things that I know Jackie never thought would be worth retelling to your family but she brought him tremendous joy. His daughter showed me how the card "sang" when you pushed the button and how much it had meant to him to get this card at home.

As I left that night, I was so thankful for the chance to have time with Steve and his family. Steve’s daughter reminded me how the little things we do make such a difference in people’s lives – in ways we may never imagine.

While I know Steve will join his dear wife Aurelia soon, he has given me a tremendous gift to remind us no matter how small the gesture is, showing that random act of kindness defines who we are as people and could add so much to someone's day.