For two hard-working professionals with corporate careers, retirement meant a permanent vacation away from the chill winds of Chicago and into the warm embrace of a Florida breeze. But life doesn’t always work out the way you planned. Sometimes you have to be willing to be flexible and adaptable, as Fran and Pat Marki have shown.
Both from western New York, the couple started life together in Buffalo, where Fran worked for Honeywell, Inc. In 1969 he was transferred to Honeywell’s Pittsburgh office, and then to Chicago in 1973. Settling in the Naperville, IL area, Fran continued work as a Honeywell executive and Pat took an administrative position with Conrail Transportation. Shortly after she joined the company, however, she learned she had uterine cancer and had to have major surgery.
Pat did not let the setback deter her. Like all the other challenges they have had as a couple, they faced the diagnosis with courage and determination and continued living life to the fullest.
After her recovery she devoted herself to taking continuing education courses in the transportation industry while working full-time. Her hard work paid off; she became the first female account executive for Conrail in the Chicago area. “I was the only girl in a family of boys,” she explains, “so I grew up being able to hold my own in a male environment.” She was later promoted to National Account Executive-Retail Sales, and later moved on to CSX Corporation as a Sales Executive for Intermodal Transportation.
After 23 years in the Chicago area, juggling hectic travel schedules and all the demands of their careers, they looked forward to a planned early retirement to a new home in Sarasota, FL. They anticipated having plenty of time together on the beach, traveling, golfing and enjoying the fruits of their labors. But just as they were about to leave Chicago, Pat noticed a nodule in her throat. “I was told it could be nothing,” Pat remembers, “but that I should monitor it for changes.”
Not long after they moved to Sarasota in 1996, Pat thought the lump felt larger so she had a biopsy and the results were “suspicious”. She underwent surgery to remove part of the thyroid. But she was not satisfied with the indeterminant results and sought a second opinion at a nearby cancer center. For the second time, Pat heard “You have cancer”. She underwent a second surgery to completely remove her thyroid just a week after the first procedure. She also had a course of radioactive iodine therapy as a follow up.
Again, the active and resilient couple bounced back in short order. In 1999, they built a vacation home in the Water’s Edge Country Club at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. They jumped into a boating and golfing lifestyle during the summer months when Florida was a bit too warm for them. While their home was in a lovely area, it was remote. This was brought into focus when a physician neighbor collapsed on the golf course and died before emergency services could transport him to the closest hospital. Fran and Pat decided they wanted their second home to be in a community with excellent health care services available close by.
Pinehurst checked off all their boxes – charm, golf, good climate and comprehensive health care facilities. They closed on their Pinehurst home, located in Pinewild Country Club, in 2007. For nearly 12 years, they lived half the year in their Florida home and the other half in Pinehurst. Gradually they began to think they wanted to make Pinehurst their primary residence. “If something happened to me,” Fran says, “I didn’t want Pat to have to deal with two properties.” In 2019, they sold their Florida home and became full-time residents of Pinehurst. They haven’t regretted it a bit.
Even before the couple settled full-time in Pinehurst, they were introduced to the Foundation of FirstHealth. “I really enjoy going to Foundation events where I always learn something new and get to meet so many interesting people who support FirstHealth,” says Fran. They appreciated the opportunity to learn about the breadth of award-winning health care services made possible, in part, by generous donors who want their philanthropy to make a lasting difference…right here where they live.
Fran and Pat began to think seriously about their legacy and how they wanted to leave something behind that would benefit the community with which they had formed a strong bond. The prospect of a comprehensive cancer center on the Moore Regional campus really fired their imaginations. Pat’s experiences had made them all too familiar with the ordeal of diagnosis, treatment and recovery cancer patients face. “It’s hard enough to deal with cancer, and to have to go from building to building for different services does not assist with healing. A cancer center with all the services under one roof will be a tremendous move toward even better patient care,” says Fran.
The Marki’s are making substantial lifetime gifts designated to the cancer center campaign, as well as end of life gifting to the Foundation. “We want to help make sure we have the best cancer facilities and equipment right here,” they agree. “We have no children, so this is our legacy that will give for generations.”
For two people who always face life’s challenges with grace and humor, their commitment to each other is demonstrated by their 53-year marriage. Their commitment to the cancer center project is a worthy way to celebrate their lives together, well-lived in a community they have come to love.
