Prayers, and then some...

[SEATJERKER]

...picked up the paper this morning, and realized my friend is dying...
...his former wife, Katie, is the brother of my friend that just died 5-6 months aback,, and the other brother of my friend Ray,...(Ray, and I go way back,((I dropped a transmission on the tip of his finger when he was trying to help me move it, he lost the tip))......
...Mark's father was a vet from back in Korea, who passed on many years back at a young 50ish... he has one older brother that I went to school with...

...say a strong prayer, and ask that you send your heart with it...



Rensselaer County offers sick time proposal
Troy -- As ailing worker is hospitalized, a plan that might be too late for him advances

By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Staff writer
First published: Sunday, March 9, 2003

Following a public outcry of support for a man with cancer, Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino called Saturday for the creation of a policy that would let county workers donate their banked sick days and vacation time to co-workers in need.

Any new policy, which requires union and legislative approval, could come too late, however, for Mark Holman of Troy, a 35-year-old father of two young children.

Holman, who since November has battled cancer that spread throughout his body, was hospitalized early Saturday after collapsing from a possible stroke.

Although he was earning about $30,000 a year, Holman has been trying to provide for his family on the $300 he receives every two weeks in extended sick leave pay until Social Security benefits start in June.

"It's about time the policy was changed," said his former wife, Katie. "Other cities and counties saw the need for this long ago. Why not Rensselaer County?"

Holman moved in with her and their children Paul 12, and Maggie, 10, a few weeks ago after doctors said he had a year to live.

Co-workers at the Rensselaer County Detention Center offered Holman hundreds of hours of sick time to bring him back up to full pay, but county officials said no.

Jimino said Thursday her hands were "tied" because the United Public Service Employees Union contract didn't provide a policy on banking sick leave.

But in an apparent turnaround Saturday, Jimino said she was proposing legislation that would ensure sick employees and their families would be free from the added pressure of loss of income.

Workers could bank up to 13 days a year along with unlimited vacation time under the plan, she said. Jimino also proposed allowing county employees to donate unused vacation hours to colleagues called up to active military duty in the National Guard and Reserves "during the current global hostilities."

The County Legislature's Republican majority backed Jimino's proposal but stressed that it has supported creation of a sick leave bank policy for years.

Th county director of governmental relations, Chris Chesley, said subcommittee members worked into the night Friday forming the proposal they then sent off to the union.

"It's a No. 1 urgent issue on the county executive's agenda," said Chesley. "And now it's in their hands."

But after union officials reported having received nothing on Saturday, Chesley clarified that the plan was packaged and put into the outgoing mail bin.

"Expediency doesn't seem to be a priority," said union business manager Kevin Reilly. "We do have both e-mail and a fax."

The union, which represents more than 1,300 county workers, is negotiating for a two-year contract to replace the one that expired Dec. 31, but those talks are at a standstill.

Reilly said he couldn't comment on a proposed policy he hadn't seen. He did say that the Holman family suffers with every day that passes.

Katie Holman, 36, has taken a leave of absence from her job as a nurse at the Eden Park Nursing Home to care for the man she began dating at age 14.

She spent the night at Samaritan Hospital after her ex-husband collapsed on the floor with a marked weakness to his left side. A CT scan Saturday morning showed increased lesions on the brain, she said.

That indicates the rigorous round of radiation treatments Mark Holman underwent in recent weeks did little to slow the spreading cancer.

"Mark should have been concentrating on spending time with his children, not worrying and stressing about money," Katie Holman said. "He isn't in very good shape, and I'm just praying that he can come home."

She said their children have been through too much already, following a serious illness of her own last February and the unexpected death of her younger brother last summer while they were staying with him.

"My God," she said. "How much can you dish onto children? I just want them to have a few more months with their father. They are so proud of him."


...send a card:

...Mark Holman
...168 Taft Avenue
...Wynantskill Ny 12198

...Thanks.......

[nang]

Mark will be in my prayers, and his family.

[Keith_Hixson]

Our prayers go with the family.

Keith

[catman]

What Keith and Nag said times 2!

Trav

[Arrow]

C..it's a hard thing to watch our friends go down like this...but esp when they are so young with children that need them...praying for peace in the middle of the storm and wisdom for the medical community that is treating him...

Arrow>>>>

[SEATJERKER]

...inspired change
Troy-- Cancer victim's predicament was catalyst for new county policy

By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Staff writer
First published: Thursday, March 13, 2003

Mark Holman left the world with the knowledge he'd made a difference.

Not only to the people who loved him, but to the more than 1,500 Rensselaer County employees who can now donate sick and vacation time to needy colleagues because of him.

Holman, 35, died at noon Wednesday in Samaritan Hospital with his childhood sweetheart -- and former wife -- Kate, by his side.

He was hospitalized Saturday after suffering a massive stroke, an apparent complication from intensive radiation treatments for cancer that had spread to his brain.

The lifelong city resident's death came 18 hours after county legislators approved the sick leave bank policy he fought for but did not benefit from.

"But he knew about it, and he was pleased," Kate Holman said. "I read him the article this morning. He could only smile with half his face, but he squeezed my hand and me he was at peace."

County officials created the sick leave policy this week following an outcry of public support for the 12-year-county worker who depleted his sick time in November following the cancer diagnosis.

Holman was trying to live on the $300 he received every two weeks in extended sick leave pay after county officials rejected offers from co-workers at the county detention center to give him hundreds of hours of their accrued sick time.

Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino said she felt badly for Holman but couldn't offer a benefit that wasn't contained in the union contract.

Union officials claimed they had been trying to establish a sick leave donation plan for years. So had county legislators.

Jimino bowed to public pressure over the weekend and produced a policy that was revamped in a marathon bargaining session Tuesday afternoon and then sent to the Legislature for approval.

Kevin Reilly, business manager for United Public Service Employees Union was stunned at the news of Holman's death.

"He and his family have been an inspiration like nothing we in this office have ever experienced in our working lives before," Reilly said. "Any time this job starts to get difficult I'm going to remember what he went through and what he did to help 1,500 employees."

Holman died with the security that his family would be provided for, Kate Holman said.

Donations have poured in from people all over the Capital Region, along with a $2,500 check from the county to make up the difference between the half pay he has received since Dec. 9 and his full salary.

His former wife said Holman knew he was near death early Wednesday, as she prepared to briefly leave the hospital to get Paul, 12, and Maggie, 10, ready for school. "He called out to me, 'Kate, I'm really gonna miss you ... and I love you very much.' He waved to me. Then he turned his head away," she said.

Kate Holman said she can't help but relive almost every hour she's spent with the man she fell in love with at age 14 and stayed with for 18 years.

"We have two beautiful children that we are so proud of," she said. "We remained friends through it all. So I feel like I'm going to be burying a part of myself."

A wake will be held today 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the McLoughlin & Mason Funeral Home on 109th St. in Troy.

Funeral services will be Friday at 2 p.m. at Sacred Heart Church on Pawling ave...

...RIP Mark, I'll miss you........

[DMZ-LT]

Sending a BIG piece of my heart and a prayer Curtis. It is terrible when a young father dies. At least he knew he was helping those county workers coming up behind him and he died close to his home with loved ones around him.God bless us one and all. Peace brothers

[nang]

So sorry that your friend has passed on. My prayers go with his family.

[Boats]

Geez that's terrible he was so young and his poor family. They will need friends and family to get them through this ordeal.

[PHO127]

Curtis, I have beenin N. Ga. Mountains for a few days. I am sorry for your friend. But in death he still was providing for others. There will be many prayers for the family but I'm sending up one for you and his other friends that will miss him.