August 26, 2025

'Beary' Special Gift from Hospice Volunteer Keeps Grandmother's Memory Alive

When it comes to sewing, Rosanne Brown is looking for a challenge.  The EveryStep hospice volunteer says she made that clear when she started giving her time and talents to the organization.  “I don't really like the boring stuff,” Rosanne says she told hospice volunteer coordinator Toni Parkins, “and she said: ‘No problem. We have volunteers that do the simple stuff ... as I told her, I’m a pretty good seamstress.” 

Rosanne started donating her time and talents to EveryStep in 2024.  “My aunt was in hospice a year ago,” Rosanne says, “Having visited at Cavanaugh house, I looked around and thought: ‘I bet there's times they need sewing help’, so I contacted (Toni).” 

When a special request came in from the Negrete family, Toni knew exactly who to call. 

Mary Negrete passed away on June 3rd, 2025, while a client of EveryStep hospice care.  As her family gathered to say their goodbyes, her grandson decided he wanted to carry on a family tradition.   When Mary’s husband, Albert Negrete, passed away in 2009, the family created a unique keepsake – turning one of Albert’s old shirts into t-shirts for memorial teddy bears for Mary and her two sons. 

“This is one of the things that they really held tight with them because it was kind of like a little piece of him that they could keep around keep memories going of him,” says Tim Negrete – Mary and Albert’s grandson, “I knew instantly that I wanted to do the same kind of thing for my grandma - making them a pair.” 

“The family had approached and asked if they got the teddy bears and provided the shirts, if someone could make shirts for the teddy bears,” Rosanne says, “Toni immediately thought of me and, yes, I was happy to do it.” 

Tim was shocked to learn that EveryStep had a volunteer seamstress like Rosanne available.  “I was fully prepared to go to a company or someone who does this on the side or even a big business that could make up these teddy bear clothes for us,” he says,  "There's not a lot of people who would take that that amount of time to do stuff like this for free these days.” 

For Rosanne, though, she never gave thought to charging for her work.  “I'm in the central Iowa chapter of the American Sewing Guild and one of the core principles of our group is that we are to do some community service work,” she says, “it's not just to learn and share our experience, but also to provide community service to the to the community as a whole.” 

“I dropped them off one day and she had them done like four or five days later, so it was perfect,” says Tim, “My grandma passed shortly before right before Father's Day, so this was a bittersweet Father's Day gift for my dad. The timing was not great, but the gift was the gift was ... he was very happy and then very sad. He definitely cried.” 

"I understand, having lost a loved one, how having this sort of a memento,” says Rosanne, “They've got this beautiful teddy bear that they can hug. They can display it whatever but to know that the garment on that teddy bear was a garment worn by their loved ones. I can see how that brings comfort to them.” 

“Mine is in our office,” Tim says, “We have her urn with some of her ashes next to it as well.”  Tim’s father and uncle display their bears next to their bears from their father’s funeral – reuniting their mom and dad.  Bears were also given to Tim’s brother and a cousin in California. 

While Rosanne wouldn’t accept pay, Tim says he is looking for another way to repay her kindness.  "I've talked to my partner about ... wanting to do some volunteer work because this is kind of a pay it forward kind of thing. I know how much that meant to me and my family.  I don't know that I'd be able to sew clothes up for someone, but any kind of cooking I can do.” 

Rosanne, who’s never met Tim in person, agrees with that sentiment: “Someday I'm gonna have a need and somebody's gonna do something for me so it all comes around goes around.”