Hospice of Marion County was begun some 25 years ago when parishioners learned of the suicide of one of their church members. The pain of his cancer was so intense it led him to take his own life. A handful of volunteers sought to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again. They imagined a model of compassionate hospice care for each patient at the end of life. In 1981, The Star Banner published an article written by Kathy Askren, wife of Rev. Robert Askren, calling for the need for hospice services in our community. A task force chaired by Marilyn Curran followed and soon their resolution to succeed resulted in Ocala Hospice, which received licensure from the State of Florida in 1983. The name was officially changed to Hospice of Marion County in 1989.

In the ensuing years, four other companies have been formed to complete the continuum of care for our neighbors throughout the county, from Lake Weir to Lake Kerr, Citra to Dunnellon, and every place in between.

Putting Words into Action

Still Advocates
Retired nurses Marilyn Curran and Ann Allen believe in hospice care now more than ever..

“Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was my inspiration!” says Marilyn Curran, RN, without a moment’s hesitation. In the 1970s, Dr. Kubler-Ross’s ground-breaking book, On Death and Dying, set the stage for the modern hospice movement. With glaring honesty, her words helped transform the way we view death and end-of-life care.

At the time, Curran was Director of Nursing at New Horizon Nursing Facility: “After reading this book, I realized terminal patients were not getting the type of care they really needed.” So she opened her own facility called The Retreat, where the South Pine Apartments stand today. Caring for 30 patients, she called upon her colleagues, Ann Allen from the Health Department, and Rita Hofmann, a nursing educator at CFCC. Together, these “three musketeers” forged ahead and created a task force, often meeting at the old Brahma Restaurant at Pine and 17th Street. The original group included Dr. Tom Fuller, Dr. Thomas Cartwright, Dr. John Boysen, and Dr. and Mrs. Gary Wright. The task force took on steam and new members, willing to speak out on behalf of those with life-threatening illnesses, and even more, willing to offer volunteer medical care, like Dr. David Elliott, who is "officially" retired from Hospice of Marion County as one of its medical directors, but still fills in for vacationing physicians.

“Our first significant donation of $22,000 came from the United Way in 1980,” adds Allen, “but we didn’t stop there. We had fundraisers all over town, including our famous Chicken Purloo Dinners...fed a lot of people and went a long way!” Another important donor of the day was Theresa Castro, who was also a major supporter of cancer research and member of the Royal Dames.

“I saw her at church one day and was debating about whether to approach her. I got up my courage, walked over and told her what we were doing,” says Curran. “She immediately agreed to help us. Soon Bernard and Theresa Castro sponsored the First Gala for Hospice at Golden Hills. It was quite a kick-off!”