“I left home at 15 and had to support myself,” said the 78-year old Charles Lutzow.  “I ushered at the Coranado Theater and it was very beautiful and grand. I met lots of famous people.”

Life then took over and he had children and other jobs and served in the military, but he always remembered that special time at the Coronado.  He would tell his children about it and the great acts he had seen perform there.  Now a terminal diagnosis means that life is about over and his last wish was to re-visit the Coronado with his daughter and re-live a bit of the glamour and excitement of his youth.

“At Serenity Hospice, we go above and beyond to make a person’s end of life as special as their life,” said Dawn Vander Kolk, social worker at Serenity. “The Coronado was very accommodating and we were able to take Mr. Lutzow and his daughter to the theater where he opened up and shared stories and recollections that might have never been told had the visit not been arranged.”

As the dying man and his daughter took a private and behind the scenes tour of the facility, Lutzow told story after story. His daughter, Keri Abercrombie, just listened and took it all in. “If Serenity had not made this possible, these wonderful stories of my dad’s youth would have died with him,” said Abercrombie.   “I am so grateful to Serenity Hospice for making his final wish come true.”

Charles Lutzow died two days after his visit to the Coronado. If you or a loved one would like more information about hospice or making end of life wishes come true, please contact Serenity Hospice at 815-732-2499.