Rex Kock, RN, registered respiratory therapist, Parkview Regional Medical Center (PRMC), has been a dedicated employee at Parkview Health for 42 years. In those 42 years, he has had an opportunity and privilege that most never get to experience — the chance to work alongside his mother.

Linda Kock was a devoted Parkview employee and served in several different positions throughout her career. She was a floor nurse, an instructor at the Parkview Methodist School of Nursing and an administrator for 20 years. Linda eventually returned to the patient bedside in the Coronary Intensive Care Unit (CICU) and Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at Parkview Hospital Randallia, where she would finish her career and retire after 41 years of exceptional service.

When Linda, who was always full of love and life, passed away on May 20, 2019, it was heartbreaking to Rex and his family. The time they spent working together in the ICU became even more of a cherished memory for Rex. To keep his mother’s memory and legacy alive, Rex and his family thought it would be a fitting tribute to generously donate to the Parkview Foundation’s Critical Care Fund.

More specifically, the donation was used to honor Linda in one of the best ways possible, through the comfort quilts. As an avid seamstress, Linda was very involved with the comfort quilts when the program first began in 1997 at Randallia. The quilts initially began when a group of dedicated nurses, including Linda, wanted to give patients a gift during their hospital stay.

“I spoke to my dad and brother and we decided to donate in memoriam to the Foundation. From there, we wanted the funds to be directly given to the MICU for the comfort quilts,” Rex explained. His family’s generosity will be used to help purchase the material and fabric to make the quilts, ensuring patients continue to receive them.

In the beginning, Parkview employees would purchase the quilt fabric themselves. They came up with creative ways to raise the funds needed including craft and bake sales, but their generosity could not stand alone forever. Thankfully, donors to the Parkview Foundation have been providing gifts over the last five years to ensure the Comfort Quilt Program is a continued tradition. Now, thanks to Rex and his family, Linda’s legacy can live on with the quilts touching people’s lives and brightening patients’ days just as Linda once did.

For more information and to learn about the many ways you can help patients, visit Parkview Foundations or call 260-266-7800.