In the next few weeks Hospice & Palliative Care of Chenango County will introduce you to four of the special people we took care of this year. We brought our compassionate end-of-life care into their homes from Smyrna to Oxford and towns in between.
Take a few minutes to read Donald, Edna, Jack, and Jean’s stories. While their lives took very different directions, their right to a dignified and comfortable end journey is very much the same. Hospice hopes that after you get to meet these individuals who represent so many more, you feel compelled to support their mission to provide competent and compassionate care to those at the end of life.
If you would like to contribute to the “Friends of Hospice Campaign” call 334-3556, or send a donation to Hospice of Chenango County, 21 Hayes Street, Norwich, NY 13815.


Edna O’Connor
6/19/1919 – Still receiving Hospice Care

Edna O’Connor is surprised that she’s lived as long as she has. She’ll celebrate her 90th birthday in July and family from around the country is expected to join her in Oxford, the town she’s called home her entire life.
Edna has what her doctor calls a slow growing lung cancer, and she’s still spry enough to live alone, with some help from good friends and a son who lives a block away.
As a younger woman she and her husband Paul owned O’Connor’s Grill in downtown Oxford for decades, where she knows she took in a lot of secondhand smoke. Yet, her lung cancer diagnosis came just three years ago, and she became a Hospice patient in January. Edna looks good, and more importantly she says she feels okay, “so far, so good, I wouldn’t know I had cancer if the doctor hadn’t told me,” she happily admits.
Edna has lived a simple life; mother of two boys born 15 years apart; wife for 52 years until Paul’s death – “It was a terrible loss, I still miss him;” and restaurant owner. She wasn’t able to finish her schooling because her family suffered economically after her 28-year-old father died of Typhoid Fever, leaving her young mother with five children to raise. Edna went to work doing odd jobs, washing eggs on a farm, and taking in other’s laundry for about $1.00 a week. Her mind still sharp, she remembers saving eight weeks pay to purchase a fancy dress for her school prom. While her education was necessarily interrupted, she is very proud of her grandson J.P., who was a state champion wrestler from Oxford and has just completed his third year at Harvard University, with plans to become a doctor.
Today, Edna enjoys watching TV especially “The Price is Right” and “Judge Judy.” She also keeps up with the news and follows politics. “I’m surpised, but pleased that I lived to see a man of color become President. I think Obama seems very smart, and he went to Harvard, too.”
Celine Gagne is a Hospice volunteer that has found her way into Edna’s home and heart. “She’s wonderful,” says Edna. “She comes twice a week and we visit, she mops my kitchen floor, vacuums and washes dishes.” At almost 90, Edna is comfortable, at peace, and ready to accept what the future brings.