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Services Set for Jimmy Fund Chairman
NEW SWEDEN, MAINE (January 23, 2001) - Carl Einar Gustafson, honorary chairman of The Jimmy Fund cancer charity and a member of Evangelical Covenant Church of New Sweden, Maine, died Sunday (January 21) from complications following a stroke. He was sixty-five.
In 1947, the then-twelve-year-old Gustafson was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. While at Children's Hospital in Boston, he was treated by Dr. Dana Farber, a pioneer in children's cancer research. In 1948, Dr. Farber was asked to appear on Ralph Edwards' national radio program Truth or Consequences with members of the Boston Braves baseball team. He was asked to identity a young baseball fan that was a cancer patient to appear on the program with him. He picked Gustafson,
calling him "Jimmy" to safeguard his privacy. From his hospital bed, Gustafson appeared on the program and led the Boston Braves in singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Following the broadcast, thousand of donations came in. When the Braves left Boston in 1953, the Jimmy Fund became the official charity of the Boston Red Sox. Since that time, the Jimmy Fund has raised $160
million for cancer research.
Gustafson underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, received an early form of chemotherapy and regained full health. He moved back home to New Sweden, where he eventually worked as a carpenter and
truck driver. Over the years, the staff at the Jimmy Fund lost track of Gustafson. They assumed that he had died, given the low survival rate of cancer patients at that time. Gustafson never talked about his role as
Jimmy.
His sister wrote a letter to the Jimmy Fund in 1998, saying that her brother was "Jimmy." Gustafson became an unofficial spokesman for the Jimmy Fund, visiting patients, making public service announcements and driving a new truck with the Jimmy Fund logo and slogan: "Because it
takes more than courage to beat cancer."
When baseball's All Star game was held in Boston in 1999, Hall of Famer Ted Williams made a special trip to the Jimmy Fund Clinic to meet Gustafson. Williams lost his only sibling to leukemia and has
been a major supporter of the Jimmy Fund. According to The Boston Globe, the two men sat on rocking chairs, talked with young patients and reminisced about old times.
In New Sweden, Gustafson was known for his generosity towards others. When the church called Shelly Timber as pastor in November, he insisted on driving to her home in New Jersey and moving her and her belongings to Maine. At first the two had trouble finding a move date. " I told him, 'Einar if this is difficult, we have some others who can come and help," recalled Timber. "Oh no, absolutely do not do that," Gustafson told her. "I have to do this." He came and picked Timber up on November 13 and moved her, her car and all of her belongings in his tractor trailer."
Gustafson suffered a stroke on January 17. Timber visited him that night at his hospital in Caribou, Maine, and the two reminisced about their trip together. He suffered a massive stroke that night and never recovered. "Even though I only knew him a short time," said Timber, "I really grew to care for him. He had that kind of affect on people."
Gustafson is survived by his wife, three daughters and six grandchildren. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, January 24, at the New Sweden Covenant Church.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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