THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 3, 1994 TAG: 9411010086
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Ed Page Jr. doesn't remember much about his father.
The Midlothian teen was not even 2 when his father died in 1979 with a brain tumor.
But on a recent trip to Portsmouth, Page got to see the realization of a dream his father struggled to make possible in his dying days: the Edmarc hospice for children.
In his own way, this 17-year-old Eagle Scout is helping to keep his father's dream alive.
With the assistance of his Scout troop, Page built 12 specially designed bird feeders for Edmarc children. The Scouts also donated gallons of bird seed and copies of ``Peterson's Field Guide of Eastern Birds'' to go with each feeder.
``I wanted to have some tie to (Edmarc) and to do something that would mean something to me,'' Page said during a recent visit to the hospice. ``These feeders go on the window so children who are homebound can have something to watch.''
``This was all his idea,'' Peggy Page said of her son. ``He's very giving, very sensitive to others. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't become a minister one day, too. He reminds me a great deal of his father.''
Ed Page Sr. was a Presbyterian minister based in Suffolk when diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor in 1978. About the same time, doctors discovered that a young boy, Marcus Hogge, in the minister's congregation also was dying from a progressive illness. Despite their grief, the two families joined together and decided to find a way to make something positive come from their tragedies. Before dying, Ed Page Sr. secured seed money from the Norfolk Presbytery to create a hospice designed especially for children.
``When something like this happens, you try to find an answer,'' Peggy Page explained. ``One of the answers is to try and help others. When you're in the middle of it, you become very aware of what is needed.
``At the time, there wasn't a hospice just for children anywhere in the area. The only one we knew about was in California. It became obvious there was a real need.''
Shortly after getting the grant, the elder Page became seriously ill, and the family moved from Suffolk to be closer to relatives.
Eventually, the hospice was created and named Edmarc - ``Ed'' in honor of Ed Page and ``marc'' for young Marcus Hogge.
Today, the Portsmouth-based agency is one of only a handful of pediatric hospices in the country and the only one that brings treatment to the child's home, said Julie Sligh, executive director. Edmarc currently provides health care and supportive services for 60 Eastern Virginia families who have children with life-threatening illnesses.
To mothers like Bobbi Kozera of Norfolk, whose 2-year-old son, John, has severe hemophilia, the hospice has meant she has ``somebody to lean on.''
``When I have to stay with him around the clock at the hospital, I need somebody I can talk to,'' she said. ``They've been great to me.''
An Edmarc program also means that John Kozera no longer has to go to the hospital for routine treatments.
``Thanks to Edmarc, now we can do them at home,'' his mother said.
For the Pages, who met the Kozeras during their visit, coming to Edmarc was an emotional trip.
``This is very special for us,'' Peggy Page said with a quiet smile. ``It's a wonderful legacy.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JIM WALKER
Ed Page Jr., left, and John Thompson show the bird feeders they have
made to 2-year-old John Kozera and his mother, Bobbi.
by CNB