People We Know

Liliana Marasco Garrido and Faustino Navarro Santos explain medical problems facing polio survivors at a meeting in Mexico City, October 29, 2007.

The Provan Opportunity Center in Pflugerville, Texas, in memory of Austin attorney and polio survivor Robert Provan, who died July 6, 2007. Robert Provan (right) speaking in 2000 at PHI’s Eighth International Post-Polio & Independent Living Conference, held in Saint Louis, Missouri, which featured 89 speakers experienced with post-polio and independent living issues. Three hundred individuals – polio survivors, ventilator users, health …

During this season of thanksgiving and celebration, it is well to reflect upon the life of C. Donald O’Connor – a man who triumphed in spite of enormous odds, a man who lived his life with honor and dignity. On September 28, 2007, Don succumbed to complications of post-polio syndrome. Born in Elmira, NY, on July 1, 1929, Don graduated …

Month 3, 1932–January 2, 2009 FrRobertRonaldLtr FrRobertRonaldPix Fr. Robert J. Ronald, SJ, of Operation de-Handicap, Taiwan, Retires (Christmas 2003 Letter) My dear friends: It’s been a special year. On January 1, at age 70, I retired from my job at the Veterans General Hospital after 31 years as consultant for vocational evaluation. I now have a new job as an …

After more than four decades of service, mainly as a volunteer, to Post-Polio Health International and its predecessor organizations, Judith Raymond Fischer is retiring as IVUN’s Information Specialist, the last in a series of positions she has filled over the years. Fischer became involved with the organization, which published the Rehabilitation Gazette, in the late 1960s when it was coordinated …

Carol Thompson received the Christie Gutierrez Award on April 20, 2013 from Hub City Access to honor her fight for accessibility. One of Christie’s passions was to see a more accessible society for individuals with disabilities. Carol does, too. Hub City Access (HCA) is a Lubbock, Texas, non-profit organization, established in 2007 through the Lester E. Wolcott Memorial Foundation and …

Lawrence (Larry) Becker, Roanoke, Virginia, is the newest member of PHI’s Honorary Board. At its 2011 Strategic Planning Board Meeting, the PHI Board of Directors acknowledged his years of service to the organization by voting this unanimous designation. Larry served on the PHI Board from 2001 to 2011 and served as its chair from 2006–2009. Throughout his tenure on the …

The Edouard Foundation recently acknowledged the exemplary life of Morton Freilicher by donating $5,000 in honor of his 80th birthday to support the activities of Post-Polio Health International. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Freilicher received his law degree from Columbia Law School as a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar eight years after he contracted polio at age 17, which left him …

Gary McPherson, CM, AOE, LLD, died May 8 of colon and liver cancer. A vent user since 1955 due to polio, Gary spent 34 years living in a special ward at University Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta. He moved out of the hospital into his own home in 1989, after marrying Valerie Kamitomo in 1988. Gary became a successful businessman and …

Nickie Lancaster is a mother, wife, medical professional and dedicated, giving volunteer, and is also a post polio survivor. In the summer of 1950, at the age of eight, Lancaster contracted polio while attending a camp. In 1987, she founded Polio Heroes of Tennessee, a program of Easter Seals Tennessee. Today she remains the coordinator of the program not only …