Community Memorial Services: A Time for Remembrance

By Calvin Crews Suncoast Hospice chaplain

Chaplain Calvin Crews

It’s that time again for Suncoast Hospice and our community to come together at our community memorial service to remember friends and family members. There’s an added bit of excitement with this service because it will be held at a local faith community, as we’ve done in the past.

Our service will be July 25 at 6 p.m. at Anona United Methodist Church, 13233 Indian Rocks Road in Largo. It’s open to everyone of all faiths. Our services were held at our community service centers in the past several years. We’re looking forward to going back out in the community. As with all of our services, it gives us another opportunity to connect with the families we’ve served and to continue the journeys with them. 

We feel that this is an important service to many in our community because we all come together to comfort one another and share memories of our deceased loved ones. Some have made our services part of their bereavement process, attending year after year. Our services provide the perfect occasions for people to acknowledge and mourn those who’ve died, regardless of when the losses occurred. 

It’s also important for our own staff and volunteers to remember the patients and others we’ve served. In the book, Tuesdays with Morrie, author Mitch Albom states, “Death takes a life not a relationship”. Our services are to help those relationships stay alive through the remembering and honoring of our loved ones.  

Our services include meaningful words, music and other rituals that can support the moment that’s shared. At this particular service we’ll be giving an inspirational stone to each of our attendees to take with them as an expression of the moment and hope of the comfort that they received during the service.

Our society often thinks a funeral or memorial service provides closure. That just isn’t true. At the end of a person’s life, the most important need is to know that his or her life mattered and that he or she will not be forgotten. Our relationships with our deceased loved ones play out in our hearts every day as we remember them. A memorial service gives us another opportunity for remembrance.

It was once stated that if our tears become our stairs and our memories our road, we’ll always be able to travel with our loved ones in this life that is left behind.

We hope you’ll join us at our service on July 25.

If you feel you need support with your grief, you can always call us at 467-7423.

Proud of Our Rich History of Volunteer Service

It’s amazing when a community comes together to care for each other. A small group of Pinellas County, Florida residents cared deeply about improving the quality of life for the dying and their families in the community, and made a giant leap to do it. In 1977 this group of volunteers gave birth to one of the first community hospices in America, the Elizabeth Kubler-Ross Hospice (today known as Suncoast Hospice). 

Our hospice started out small and humble with 50 volunteers operating from a one-bedroom bungalow in Largo. They carried out a mission of end-of-life care that was centered around patients and families. They cared for patients in their homes, giving them comfort and support physically, emotionally and spiritually. They also supported family members as they cared for, lost and grieved their loved ones.


Visionary Leadership, Innovative Care
Soon many more volunteers and employees joined in the mission, including the late Mary J. Labyak, who went on to lead the organization for more than 30 years. Innovative, specialized programs were launched as well, including hospice care for children and AIDS patients and a teen volunteer program.

President & CEO Rafael Sciullo

Suncoast Hospice has grown into one of the nation’s leading hospice and palliative care providers. Our new President and CEO Rafael Sciullo started this past February. He’s a mission-driven, visionary leader with close to 30 years of end-of-life care experience.

Rafael shared, “I believe our organization’s care should encompass the three founding principles of hospice: openness, mind matched with heart and uplifting the spirit. Those principles ignite the passion in what we do. When you uplift the spirit of someone you’re caring for, you transform the person, the experience and yourself.”

Under Rafael J. Sciullo's  leadership, our programs and services continue to expand and touch those who are affected by advanced and chronic illnesses, end of life and grief. This work wouldn’t be possible without the support of the more than 3,200 volunteers who serve. He greatly values all volunteers for their dedicated service.


A Founder Carries On Mission
Volunteer Mary Jean Etten, Phd, one of the Suncoast Hospice founders, is very proud of the organization’s mission. She continues to serve on three boards. Last year, she was honored for her outstanding, longtime service with the dedication of the Dr. Mary Jean Etten Center for Caring at our Mary J. Labyak community service center in Clearwater.

Dr. Mary Jean Etten

“It has been a precious gift to be a founding member of this organization and to watch it grow. Having cared for the dying for many years prior to coming to Florida, it became evident when I was teaching nursing here that there were many lonely, suffering and unattended deaths and families who received little or no support with their grief. The hospice movement brought hope, comfort and peace to our community. Together with our board members, staff and volunteers, we have made a dramatic 

difference in how people live and die in Pinellas County,” Dr. Etten said.   

Interested in becoming a Suncoast Hospice volunteer? Click here.     

Stepping Stones Provides Care & Support for Children & Families

Post by Julie Douglass, R.N., director of palliative care and children’s programs

Julie Douglass

“Stepping Stones, this is Sandy. How may I help you?”. The important first step for families who have a seriously–ill child or suffered the loss of a child starts with a phone call to our children and families program, Stepping Stones. They’re reaching out for help and we’re here for them.

Assessing Families’ Needs

Sandy Murray, our team assistant, is often the first voice families hear when they call in seeking a life line of support to help them navigate through the unbelievable – the possible loss or loss of their child. Sandy provides a calm, supportive presence as she gathers the necessary information to determine which of our care programs may best meet the families’ needs.

Do they have a child battling a life–limiting illness? Perhaps our Stepping Stones 4 Kids pediatric hospice care or pediatric home health is the answer. Have they already experienced the loss of a child? Our Stepping Stones grief counseling may be the right choice. Is a couple anticipating or experiencing a perinatal loss? Our Stepping Stones perinatal doulas and counselors can walk alongside them as they navigate this unplanned road.

Coordinating Care & Services

Once we determine which program or programs are a good fit for families our staff jumps to action. Our pediatric registered nurses (RNs) and counselors may collaborate with staff and physicians at All Children’s Hospital to coordinate nursing and counseling services, so families can bring their child home. Our counselors may coordinate individual and group counseling sessions for working through the emotions and stresses of having an ill child or bereavement. Our pediatric medical director may get involved to assist with a child’s pain and symptoms management. 

Our care for children and families is provided regardless of their ability to pay. Some of our services are covered by insurance or Medicaid. Individual and group counseling is provided based on an individualized fee scale. 

Stepping Up 4 Kids

One opportunity for the community to support our children’s programming is to join our 3rd annual Stepping Up 4 Kids, a 1–mile and 5K walk/run happening this Sunday, March 3 at the Seminole Pow Wow. You can register online or at the race. We hope you’ll come out with your family and friends for this fun event benefiting the kids we serve. Thank you for making a difference for kids.

Does your family need help with care or support? Call our Stepping Stones program, 727–523-2361, to find out how we might help you.