Sunday, July 9, 2000

Two men are heart of group

Although Bill Hester and Ralph R. Ekroos have died, both men continue to be the heart of a local organization that offers support to those who have received or are awaiting an organ transplant.
   "Bill was like all of us, so grateful for whatever life he had left that he wanted to help other people and raise organ donor awareness," said William Farmer, a member of the New Hearts Support Group, which Hester and Ekroos helped co-found in December 1994. "After Bill's death (of a heart attack in 1998), Ralph doubly dedicated himself to that legacy of offering support to people who were going through this very scary ordeal."
   The idea for the support group originated during a chance encounter at a Houston hospital, where Hester, recuperating from heart transplant surgery, met Ekroos, who was awaiting a heart.
   Seven months after Hester's surgery - the same month Ekroos would undergo transplant surgery - the two Coastal Bend residents, joined by a handful of other area heart transplant recipients, met at a local coffee shop to outline the mission for the new group.
   Growing attendance
   Three months later, the group elected its first officers. Hester served as president the first two years.
   Since then, the nonprofit group has grown from six to 50 members and has broadened its mission to include patients needing any type of major organ transplant surgery, such as kidneys or lungs.
   In six years, its membership has issued nearly 15,000 organ donor cards, most distributed at churches, schools, colleges, health fairs and civic organization meetings. The group also is helping residents in Victoria and McAllen form their own organizations.
   'Does make a difference'
   "That was their dream," said Ralph's wife, Mary Ekroos. "They wanted to let people know that their organ donation does count, does make a difference. They wanted to take their message down to the Valley."
   Although Ralph died of a heart attack in May at age 53, he lived to see grandchildren, including the birth of a granddaughter, Dakota Dunn. "He loved to tell people that she was the light of his life," Mary Ekroos recalled. "He knew every day was a gift and he made it a point to cherish every moment."
   Hester's wife, Marion, still keeps in touch with members of the group but can't bring herself to return to attending monthly meetings yet.
   "It's hard to walk in that door because he started the group. He's supposed to be sitting in one of those tables. But I know he's there in spirit. Just like I know he's now drinking coffee with Ralph at Whataburger, like they did two or three mornings every week."
  
  
 

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