Hospice & Palliative Care would like to introduce you to a few of the special people we had the privilege to serve in the past year. Our compassionate end-of-life care was taken into their homes from Afton to Earlville and several towns in between. These patients are young and old; some are still with us, others have passed away; some have cancer, others do not. However, the one thing they have in common is that their lives, and the lives of those who love them, were made easier when they welcomed Hospice into their family.
Our Annual “Friends of Hospice” Campaign is the one time in the year that we ask for financial help from those of you who wish to support our mission, and want to help fill the gap between insurance reimbursement and the actual cost of patient care. Without these dollars, we would not be able to provide the wide variety of services that we do. If you would like to donate to this campaign you can call our office at 334-3556 and charge your gift or send a check to Friends of Hospice, 21 Hayes Street, Norwich 13815.
Each week we will share a short story of one of the five patients who wished to share their hospice journey with the public. While they took very different paths in life, their humanity and the right to die a comfortable and dignified death intertwines their biographies. We’re certain that your hearts will be softened by each of them, as were all of ours.

Betty Convis is not afraid to die. “We all have to go sometime,” she says. “Actually, I’m surprised I’ve lived this long.”
At 91 the mother of two, and grandmother of four, lays in a hospital bed in the front room of her son Carl’s New Berlin home, with the burning desire to make it three feet from her bed to her recliner. She wants to sit in her favorite chair and enjoy a Yankees game before she leaves this world. And if determination has anything to do with it, she will. In the meantime, she continues to exercise her arthritic legs in the hopes of making them stronger. Betty exemplifies the fact that many hospice patients have a lot of life left in them.
Betty graduated from Sherburne High School in 1936 and married Edward Convis when she was 24. They were a hardworking couple who enjoyed each other’s company for a few years before sons Dale and Carl doubled the size of the family. When the boys were little Betty worked at Kraft Foods in Edmeston making cheese, and Ed worked on Sherburne road crews. “I worked because I had to,” says Betty. “We needed extra money to raise the kids.”
Betty says her favorite time in life was as a new bride. She delighted in having a husband come home to her every night at suppertime. Ed was a meat and potatoes man and she loved cooking for him, especially serving his favorite cakes and pies for dessert. Florida became their winter home in retirement until Ed’s health declined. Fortunately, they were able to celebrate their golden anniversary before he passed away. Hospice checks in on Betty nearly every day to ensure that she receives the very best end-of-life care she so richly deserves.