Terry and Warren in their 30s
It’s difficult enough to have one parent transition to hospice care, let alone two. But for Warren Lewis Jr. and his wife, Terry, Masonic Village Hospice was truly a gift. Hospice staff brought normalcy to a challenging and sometimes scary experience, while supporting their family every step of the way.
“I don’t know how we would have gotten through this process without hospice,” Warren said. “For the patient, as well as the family, death is humanized. They give families sanity during a time where they can’t even see straight. It’s a wonderful way to leave this world with their [hospice’s] hand in the pot.”
The oldest of three sons, Warren Jr. lost his parents, Warren Sr. and Penny, in 2021 and 2023, respectively, to lung cancer and dementia. Warren and Terry, along with middle son Gregory, and wife, Theresa, and youngest son, Doug, and wife, Tina, were a close family, deeply involved and a great support to one another as everyone attempted to adjust to the journey ahead.
“It was the first time going through a situation like this for my brothers and I,” Warren said. “My parents were in their early 80s and generally in good health until they both got sick. We needed hospice. We didn’t know what to do.”
Penny was diagnosed with dementia in her early 70s, and Warren Sr. spent five years taking care of her while they lived in a cottage at Masonic Village at Elizabethtown. Warren was very organized and took comfort in putting arrangements into place when he himself fell ill.
“When we found out my dad had lung cancer, he knew he only had four to six months to live. He rallied the troops, had all of us come up, invited in hospice and that’s where we met Kevin [Jacoby, hospice social worker] and the rest of the hospice staff,” Warren Jr. said.
Warren described Kevin as an “absolute angel” and a consummate professional. “He would stop in all the time to see my parents and coach them,” he said. “My parents were both Christians, as was Kevin, which was important to us. He’d talk about Jesus with my dad. He would tell my dad how they would take care of my mom after he passed. He was truly wonderful.”
Warren Sr. and Penny lived in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and originally met because their parents were friends. At one point, Warren had arranged a date for Penny with one of his friends, but then became smitten with her himself, and their relationship blossomed. They were married for 60 years. In addition to their sons, they were blessed with six grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and recently, a third great-grandchild.
Warren Sr. and Penny lived lives full of joy and surrounded by family. Warren Sr. was an accomplished businessman, working in the auto industry and running his own finance business. He continued working up until two or three years before his death because he “loved to work,” Warren Jr. said. He enjoyed playing golf, a pastime shared with Penny, as well as his three sons. The couple also loved to travel and had a boat on the Chesapeake Bay for many years.
Penny did not work outside of the home, instead focusing her efforts on raising her three boys and supporting Warren’s involvement in his business endeavors. She was very active athletically and socially, and had a particular affinity for tennis, aerobics and golfing.
Warren Jr. said he was most impressed by how his parents always prioritized each other and put their marriage first. “They were great role models,” he said. “They said their relationship had to come first so they could take care of us properly. They were wonderful as a loving couple, which then translated into being loving parents.”
Warren Jr. and Terry currently live in Savannah, Georgia, but the other siblings still reside in the Lebanon area.
Theresa said her in-laws never treated her like a “daughter-in-law,” but as their own daughter. She recalls fun family trips to Cape Cod, the Poconos and, of course, the Jersey shore. Warren Sr. and Penny were very good about supporting all the grandchildren, never missing a school musical or a hockey game, she said.
Hospice staff, especially social workers Kevin Jacoby and Brooke Rambert and Hospice RN Case Manager Christine Eisenhart, went above and beyond to make Warren Sr. and Penny feel better, she said, including taking them out for a golf cart ride and ice cream, bringing them flowers or just stopping by to say ‘hello.’
“They just really made our parents feel comfortable, and us as well,” Theresa said. “There were a lot of things we didn’t understand, and they explained everything to us and what to expect. Chris was wonderful about calling me with updates every time she visited them. I have nothing but adoration for the hospice team.”
She praised Masonic Village as a “top-notch” facility because of the continuation of care it provides families. “We are so thankful this was the facility that our parents chose,” she said.
When Warren Sr. needed additional care as his cancer progressed, hospice staff moved the couple out of their cottage and into personal care. After Warren Sr. passed, they moved Penny into the memory support area.
“Hospice staff really helped manage her process to put it at the proper speed. Up to the moment of her death, they were involved. I think Kevin was there for the last hour of mom’s life.”
