Bruecker, Christine

Christine married Ederer, Terrance G. (son of Ederer, Gerald and Micke, Carol Marie) [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Obituary: 22 Aug 2009; Green Bay Press Gazette
• News Mention: 21 Sep 2009; Appleton Post Crescent

Notes:

Obituary:
Michael Ederer, Kaukauna, 19, passed away Thursday August 20, 2009, at St. Vincent Hospital, Green Bay, after a long, courageous battle with childhood cancer.
He was born in Appleton on September 11, 1989, to Terry and Chris (Bruecker) Ederer.
Michael was a graduate of Kaukauna High School, where he participated in football and track.
He loved the outdoors and was an avid hunter and fisherman.
Michael also enjoyed playing video games and watching Packers and Brewers games with his friends.
Michael is survived by his parents, Terry and Chris Ederer, Kaukauna; sisters, Justine and Kasey, both at home; grandparents: Jerry (Carol) Ederer, Kaukauna and Roger (Arlene) Bruecker, Greenleaf; and aunts and uncles: Barb (Bruce) Lamers, Ken (special friend Dawn) and Todd (Lisa) Ederer, Linda (Jim) Krautkramer, Rick (Sandy) Bruecker, Pat (Katrina) Bruecker, Mike (Jenni) Bruecker, and Marty (Shelly) Bruecker. He is further survived by many cousins, many friends and his dog, Copper.
Visitation will be held at HOLY CROSS PARISH (309 Desnoyer St., Kaukauna) on Monday, August 24, 2009, from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. A vigil service will be held at 7:30 p.m. Visitation will continue Tuesday, August 25, 2009, from 10 a.m. until the time of Mass at 11 a.m. Committal Holy Cross Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, a memorial is being established.
For online condolences, please visit www.oconnellfuneralservices.com or www.caringbridge.org/visit/michaelederer.
God saw you getting
tired and a cure was not
meant to be,
So he put his
arms around you and
whispered "Come to Me".
With tearful eyes we
watched you, as we saw
you pass away.
Although
we loved you deeply,
we could not make you stay.
Your Golden Heart stopped
beating, hard working
hands at rest.
God broke
our hearts to prove to us,
He only takes the best.
O'CONNELL
FUNERAL HOME
201 E. Main Street
Little Chute 920-788-6237
www.OconnellfuneralServices.com

News Mention:
Mourning for her son has a Kaukauna mom on a mission to beat childhood cancer
By Cheryl Anderson, Post-Crescent staff writer
There are plenty of times when Chris Ederer cries.
She quietly weeps for her son, Michael, who died of cancer a month ago today at age 19. But for the sake of her family and her own mental health, she keeps busy. She has to.
"Your kids and your family are only as strong as you are," the Town of Kaukauna woman said. "That's my job."
It hasn't gone unnoticed by her husband, Terry, daughters Kasey, 16, and Justine, 19, family and friends."She's just been phenomenal through the whole thing for her family and for everybody around her," said family friend Bruce Van Boxtel, whose son Rich, 20, was a pallbearer at Michael's funeral.
In remembrance of Michael and to raise awareness, the Ederers are spreading the word about childhood cancer one gold ribbon at a time. Chris in particular is on a one-woman mission to raise the profile of childhood cancer - the need for research and the need to love and pray for those children going through the same hellish journey her child endured these past three-plus years.
"People need to realize what these kids go through," Chris said. "I can't get Michael back, but I'm going to do all I can to spread the word. We need to find a cure."
Her car, adorned with a paint job and stickers commemorating area children being treated for cancer, is a moving billboard of sorts, giving all who come upon it a reason to pause.
Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among U.S. children between infancy and age 15, according to the National Cancer Institute, whose 2008 budget was $4.83 billion. Of that, breast cancer received roughly 12 percent, prostate cancer roughly 6 percent, and childhood cancers roughly 4 percent, according to reports at fundedresearch.cancer.gov.
"There needs to be continued research, even though we've made such progress in the last 40 years in increasing cure rates in childhood cancers and decreasing side effects and long-term effects from treatment," said Terri Lewis, a nurse with the Prevea Health Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Clinic at St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay, where Michael was treated.The Ederers' crusade, Chris said, is to make the gold ribbon of childhood cancer as well known as the pink ribbon, the international symbol for breast cancer awareness.
"I'm not knocking pink ribbons. My mom and my mother-in-law are both breast cancer survivors," she said. "But the kids need a little more acknowledgement now."
Van Boxtel credits Chris Ederer for not only raising awareness about childhood cancer, but also "helping people that don't even have cancer be more aware of it, and try to prevent it and go in and get checked."
Michael's story
Much has been written about Michael Ederer, a 6-foot football player and track hurdler at Kaukauna High School who was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma his junior year.
But his story started two years earlier in December 2005 when he went to the doctor with a pain in his side.
"The doctor pushed on it and thought (Michael had) pulled a muscle," Chris said. "Physical therapy was prescribed."
"Physical therapy" is a phrase Chris still hates to hear.
"What I know now, I would have demanded (an x-ray)," she said of her son's initial diagnosis. "There's something hurting him. …Confirm it."
A year to the date later, Michael's pain was so bad he was losing sleep at night. He again went to the doctor, and this time an X-ray was performed and showed small, stringy objects hanging down from his rib. A biopsy was sent to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Two weeks later came the diagnosis of cancer.
Ewing's sarcoma is a rare bone cancer that affects only 150 to 200 cases a year in the United States.
"It's rare, but once it hits your kid it's not so rare anymore," Chris said. "It's your life."
The cancer was in his ribs and had already spread to Michael's lungs. He had a 10 percent survival rate.
Chemotherapy, radiation and surgery had Michael and his family hopeful he had beat the disease. But the week of his high school graduation in 2008, it returned. And the grueling process began again, but it never changed Michael's disposition.
"He was always a happy go-lucky kid," Chris said. "Even when he was not feeling good or things weren't looking good, he always looked back to Kevin Sharp, a country singer he'd met a couple times, who is a Ewing's sarcoma survivor now of probably 15 or 16 years. … (Michael) would still always say, 'I'm not giving up. They told Kevin Sharp he wasn't going to make it.'"
Though Michael never mentioned dying with his family, he did to his friends.
"He was worried about the girls (sisters Kasey and Justine) being taken care of and dad having a hunting buddy," Chris said.
Early in the week Michael died the doctor told the family nothing more could be done.
"So even though he battled almost three years, it went fast," Chris said of her son's death Aug. 20. "I wouldn't of thought he'd be gone now. I thought we'd get one more Christmas at least. I still can't believe he's gone."
A mother's mission
In the Ederer family's front yard in the Town of Kaukauna sits a large cutout of a gold ribbon Chris designed. There also are dangling gold stars blowing in the breeze, hung before her son's death. They represent the children undergoing cancer treatments at the St. Vincent Hospital Regional Pediatric Center, which works in concert with the Prevea Health Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Clinic in Green Bay. The number 50 has been crossed out and replaced with 49.
Chris sent e-mails to corporations such as Toys 'R Us, Grayco, Crayola, Hershey's, Precious Moments and Kimberly-Clark asking for their support. She's e-mailed Oprah and Dr. Phil, Ellen DeGeneres and Bonnie Hunt, to no avail.
"I can't help but feel unless we get someone to back us, like Deanna Favre (did) with breast cancer or Michael J. Fox with Parkinson's (disease), we will never get enough funding," she said. "It is the most underfunded research there is. We just need more. … Something needs to be done about it."
Piles of black T-shirts created by Eagle Graphics in Kaukauna lay on a table in the family's garage with the same gold ribbon and slogan, "Spreading the word one gold ribbon at a time." The shirts were Chris' idea, and they're offered for a minimal fee to families on Caring Bridge, a nonprofit Web service connecting families and friends of those enduring a critical illness, treatment or recovery. It's on her to-do list to get the shirts in the mail.
Parked in the garage is her red Chevy Impala. From behind it looks like any other car. But from the front it is a conversation starter. Painted in black, the hood is emblazoned with tiny gold ribbons and the names of those the Ederer family met or have gotten to know through Caring Bridge who've either beaten cancer, are undergoing treatment or who've lost the battle. If a child dies, a small, white angel is added.
In the fall sunlight, the car sparkles.
"I think it's very special what Chris is doing," said family friend Terry Gussert of Wrightstown, a body shop technician who helped with the car conversion. "She's dedicated and committed to finding a cure and promoting the awareness of childhood cancer."
Never forgotten
On Sept. 4, the Kaukauna School District and community paid tribute to Michael at Kaukauna High School's football game against Appleton East. His No. 81 jersey was officially retired before the game, followed by a moment of silence.
Prior to the freshman football game against Neenah Sept. 10, the teams lined up across from each other on their respective 45-yard lines. The captains met at mid-field. The Neenah players had heard Michael's story, took up a collection among the team and presented a donation. In Michael's honor, they would not wear No. 81 for the game.
And the Kaukauna girls volleyball team is wearing gold shoelaces in recognition of September being Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Michael's sister, Kasey, is on the junior varsity team.
About a dozen of Michael's friends showed up at the Ederers' house Sept. 11. Michael would have turned 20. They released balloons in his honor.
"Even those big, sturdy football players stood and watched (the balloons) until you couldn't see them anymore," Chris said. " Then they came in, sat down and played video games just like (Michael) was still here until 12:30 or 1 in the morning."
For just a moment, the Ederers' world again felt normal.
Additional Facts
Cancer awareness
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Here are some facts:
# Of the 12 most common forms of childhood cancers, leukemias and cancers of the brain and central nervous system account for more than half of new cases.
# About one-third of childhood cancers are leukemias, the most of which in children is acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The most common solid tumors are brain tumors, with other solid tumors being less common.
# In the United States in 2007, approximately 10,400 children under age 15 were diagnosed with cancer and about 1,545 children will die from the disease. Although this makes cancer the leading cause of death by disease among U.S. children ages 1 to 14, cancer is still relatively rare in this age group. On average, one to two children develop the disease each year for every 10,000 children in the United States.
Source: www.cancer.gov