Uncle Alvah Passed Away....

Alvah Eugene Kohler “Al” Midway, Utah- Alvah Eugene Kohler, 73, Loving Husband, Father, Grandfather, Brother, and Uncle, passed away peacefully at Alta Ridge Care Center August 26, 2009. Born on August 15, 1936, in Midway, Utah. He was the tenth of thirteen children of Albert and Elsie Kohler. Al grew up in Midway, Utah. He served his country in the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1956 and served an LDS mission to Northern California. On July 10, 1959, Al married Monica Bignall in the Salt Lake L.D.S Temple. They raised five wonderful children. He served in many church callings including the Elders Quorum Presidency and Stake Executive Secretary. Perhaps his favorite callings were in the Scouting program. As the District Advancement Chairman, he spent countless hours helping young men attain their Eagle Scout. Al and his family spent 20 years in the Salt Lake Valley where he worked for Hayes Brothers Buick and Jeep. Later they moved back to Midway where he was involved in the Midway Boosters Club, Swiss days, singing, gardening, woodworking, and serving others. Al was a master mechanic and could fix anything. AL is survived by his dear wife Monica; children, Lori (Cal) Stringham, Matthew (Kimalee) Kohler, Keri (Mac) Hernandez, Becki Kohler, Ryan (Kahlia) Kohler; 18 grandchildren and 2 great-grand sons; sisters, Eloise, Barbara, Kathy, Zelda, Elizabeth, and Margaret; brother, Dick; many family members and friends who truly loved and cared for him. Preceded in death by his parent; sisters, Glenna, Marion, and Anna Lynn; brothers, Melvin and LeRoy; great-grand son Parker. A special thanks to all the loving staff at Alta Ridge Alzheimer’s and Millcreek Hospice who spent countless hours caring for Al. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the LDS General Missionary Fund. Funeral services will be held Monday, August 31, 2009, at 11:00 AM in the Midway LDS 1st Ward building, 250 E. 200 S., Midway, UT. Viewings will be held Sunday, August 30, from 6:00 - 8:00 PM at the LDS church and Monday from 9:30-10:30 prior to the service. Interment at the Midway City Cemetery. Arrangements in care of Olpin-Hoopes Funeral Home. Condolences may be sent online at www.olpinhoopes.com.

Uncle Alvah is Moving!

Al Kohler is Moving to a new facility!!!

On Monday, February 23 he will be moving to:

Alta Ridge Alzheimer's Community
1928 West 9800 South
South Jordan, UT 94095

Al is doing about the same. He occasionally recognizes people, but
usually doesn't make much sense in his conversations. He walks a
little bit with assistance, but spends most of the time in a
wheelchair.
We appreciate all your prayers in their behalf.

Al and Monica both enjoy visitors. You can call Monica at 801-502-8270.

Keri's Thoughts

Talk about a roller coaster ride...Last week's events were non-stop highs and lows. It's amazing how much the world can change in the blink of an eye. Treasure each moment you have with those that you love.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with Mom & Dad at the shelter. Normally Dad would get tired and not hang with us for all the events, but he sat & visited with us all during dinner and our baby shower festivities we had for Amber. His spirits were good and over all he was having a "good day". It is wonderful that we will all have those memories to think back on just days before his stroke.

Monday, December 1st, was a unbelievably busy day for me at work and on my way home I called Lori to "chat". I was totally shocked when I dialed her cell number and got a recording that the number I had dialed was "no longer in service". After double checking that I had dialed correctly and attempting to reach her again, I called Dad and Mom's cell phone number expecting to get the same message. (Their number is a part of Lori's cell phone plan so it should have said the same thing...I figured I could really tease my sister about paying her cell phone bill on time to avoid these temporary disconnection issues.) For some reason their number was working fine and I had the chance to visit with Dad for a little bit. I can honestly say that if I had reached Lori, I may not have called Dad & Mom's number and may have missed my chance to talk to him that one last time before his stroke. I thank God every day for sending me that recording so that I had the opportunity to tell Dad I loved him one more time before his health diminished so drastically.

We have definitely had some interesting experiences in the last week and have seen some things that Dad would have wanted us to find humor in, as his mind has been in malfunction mode. It's amazing what the human brain can do and can't do under stress.

My 10 year old Jacki and I spent breakfast time with Dad on Saturday morning and boy was that an entertaining experience for both of us. The other patients sitting with us were quite animated and visited with us non-stop. We brought Rita to visit also, and found that the whole room lit up when we walked in with Dad's little dog. The sparkle came back to all of the patients eyes to get to see and pet her.

Ryan and Lori have both given very accurate accounts of the actual happenings of those first few days and we hope you will all continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we hope Dad & Mom can both find comfort in whatever the future may hold.

Thank you all for your love and support we have so many friends and family here for us that it is unbelievable! We are all so blessed to have so much help in times of need and everyday!

Keri

Dads Current Status - Ryan's Thoughts

It is truly hard to describe the affects that dad’s stroke has had on him. Many friends and family have visited him, and I’m quite sure that each person has walked away with a different idea of his status. I’m guessing that it has caused a bit of confusion, since your idea of how he is doing will depend on who you have spoken to, so I’ll try to describe it the best I can

It seems like over the last 7 days, each day has brought about a different set of circumstances. First off, each day, and even each hour can change his status. Unlike a stroke that affects a side of the body, for the most part dad is physically un-changed by this stroke. There are certainly days, or hours, that he doesn’t get out of bed, or that he doesn’t have enough strength to get up and walk around. I’m not sure if that is because of the stroke, because of the medication he may have been given that day, or even some combination of his Parkinsons mixed with his stroke or medication. At other times, he can get up and walk around, and at times be quite determined (to put it nicely) with the physical strength to give the nurses a run for their money.

The biggest change that the stroke has brought on is a mental and personality change for dad. Yet again, each day can bring fairly major swings in his speech and personality. The first day in the hospital in Heber will probably go down in history since he gave many of the nurses and staff stories to pass around. Between Keri, Lori, and I, we spent the better part of 14 hours walking the halls of the hospital with dad. His only goal was to find a way to exit the hospital. He wasn’t looking to go home, just to leave there. I’m pretty sure that his body had so much adrenalin from feeling confused and stuck in a place that he had no desire to be, that it drove him to walk until completely exhausted.

The second day he would not even open his eyes, and spent quite a bit of time laying in bed whispering unrecognizable works and reaching in the air. He sat up and ate what was fed to him, but was unwilling to open his eyes, even seemed at times to be squeezing them shut on purpose. In watching dad’s health struggles over the last 20 or so years, through most of my childhood and teenage years, this was certainly the most heart breaking thing to see. Finally in the evening he decided to wake up, open his eyes, and get out of bed. He was too weak to walk, but sat in a chair and stood up a few times, and ate some ice cream, of course.

The last few days in the care center have brought much of the same. Some days are better than others. He recognizes people, and calls them by name, but really doesn’t make a lot sense with his conversations. He is looking “to go upstairs”, swears that the place has an upstairs and would like to find a way to get up there. No line of reasoning will convince him that he is asking to do something that we cannot do, it seems that his mind is caught in an endless loop.

This morning he fed himself breakfast, and ate some of his lunch. The highlight of his day was when they brought around the chocolate ice cream. It seems that most of the hospitals and care centers only believe in vanilla. Anyone who knows dad will fully understand how important chocolate flavoring can be. Needless to say, he was quite happy eating the chocolate ice cream that was brought around. One major change in his personality, and only time will tell if it sticks, is that he was satisfied to stop at a single scoop of ice cream. I’m pretty sure that this was the first time in 72 years that a single scoop of chocolate ice cream has ever completely satisfied him.

I hope that this gives a bit clearer of a picture of dad’s current status. I will try to get my brother and sisters to give some of their own perceptions and post them to the blog in the upcoming days, but since I was the one who setup the blog this evening, I figured I’d be the first to post my thoughts.

Once again, I am so grateful for all of the love and concern that has been shown by friends and family members over the last week. I pray that the Lord will bless my parents through this trial, especially my mother. How grateful I am for the knowledge of His plan of salvation and the peace that it can bring during times such as this.

Ryan

Alvah had a Stroke – Monday December 1st

Last Monday night, I received a call from mom at around 11pm. You can imagine that my heart jumped a beat, since my folks tend to not be up much past 8, maybe 9 or 10 when mom stays up watching a jazz game. Mom had found dad on his knees on the floor. Nothing really out of the ordinary there, in the past he has always tried to stoop down when he saw something on the floor or ground to pick it up. It always amazed me to watch him do this, since he has fallen in the past and it often seemed to me that trying to pick up something on the ground wouldn’t be worth the risk of falling. Sometimes I think that dad was trying to prove to himself that he could in fact stoop down to pick up the item.

Mom could not help him get to his feet because he was too weak. She called Mike over, and in the course of helping him up and looking him over, they decided that maybe they should take dad to the hospital. Over the course of a 3 day hospital stay, it was determined that dad had in fact had a stroke. The MRI showed some fairly major damage to the front right part of his brain, as well as some small spots on the back of the brain. Dr. Berg told us that this area affects the personality.

After spending a few days in the hospital, it was clear that he was not going to quickly recover, if at all, and that his situation required much more attention than what could be provided to him at home. We found ourselves needing to make some plans for where he would stay and so Friday he was transported to Murry to a care center.

I’d just like to thank those family and friends who came by the hospital while we were up there over those 3 days. Your love and support were deeply appreciated.

Ryan

About Al & Monica

Alvah and Monica were married June 10, 1958. Almost 50 years ago. They have spent their married life dedicated to serving each other and their family. They are the proud parents of 5 children, with 18 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. They both have worked hard throughout their lives. Al selling jeeps and Monica teaching school. They both have been involved in serving their communities. Al has a beautiful voice and has shared his talent throughout the community. They are grateful for and love their family and friends and appreciate all your love and support throughout their lives.

Visiting Al & Monica

Alvah is currently residing in Murray and Monica is staying with Lori in South Jordan. As you can imagine, mom loves being visited by friends and family. In an attempt to ensure that we can accommodate those who wish to visit mom or dad, please email Lori at unclealvah@gmail.com to let us know when you would like to visit.