MONROE - A pilot program through Monroe Heating and Sheet Metal has helped one Monroe couple breathe a little easier with the installation of central air conditioning Wednesday.
In 1980, Steve Underwood met Jelayne Hollingsworth on an Army base in Stuttgart, Germany. Jelayne, 19, was working in finance. Steve, 22, served as a mechanic.
"The most important fact: I outranked him," Jelayne said with a laugh.
Two years later, the couple married. They will celebrate their 35th anniversary in September. They each spent nearly a decade in the military. Steve readily concedes that his wife is still in charge.
Over the years, they raised a son and a daughter and lived in Monroe, using part of their time taking care of Jelayne's parents. Then Steve was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was a rough few years, Jelayne said, noting the needed care and problems encountered along the way to his recovery.
"Stress is a Medflight, stress is low oxygen, stress is a coma twice," Jelayne said. "At this point, I think I could change an oxygen tank in my sleep."
Steve can only breathe 70 percent, compared to the average person's 100-percent lung capacity. In the first six months of his treatment, he was using an oxygen tank 24 hours a day. This year alone, he has undergone 15 radiation treatments. Scar tissue is reducing in size, and Jelayne credits Steve's boss with ordering him to a doctor because of his cough.
"They caught it in time, we're hoping," Steve said.
For two years, his doctors through Madison's Veterans Administration health care have been stressing the importance of air conditioning in the Underwoods' home as a way to remove humidity, which is why the couple purchased a window unit air conditioner for the bedroom.
However, there was a problem. Jelayne said just to cool one room, the constantly running unit would cost roughly $200 a month. With Steve unable to work in his previous job at Monroe Truck Equip-ment Inc. and Jelayne collecting a modest income through an hourly job with Wal-Mart in Monroe, the couple knew they had to choose surviving financially over taking the advice of Steve's physician.
Then help arrived from an unexpected source: Tom Novak, owner of Monroe Heating and Sheet Metal, said heating and cooling company Trane began a program within the last year in which select dealers of the company's products were invited to participate. The goal is to help veterans, Novak noted.
Trane and equipment distributor Gustave A Larson Company provided the needed products to install the free cooling system throughout the home. Novak added that Maz Electric donated electrical services. With central air installed, the worries of a $200 increase were eliminated. Novak said the couple will pay roughly $150 throughout the summer to cool the entire home. He added that Trane will likely continue the program on an annual basis.
"Years ago, central air was a high-end service," Novak said. "Now few homes don't have air conditioning."
Novak's technician began his work at 7 a.m. Wednesday and concluded just after 2 p.m. Jelayne noted that by 2:30, the home that had averaged 92 degrees in light of recent warm weather had dropped down to the mid-80s.
Novak located the Underwoods with the help of Clayton Ruegsegger at the Green County Veteran's Services Office.
"We come from a long line of military," Jelayne said. "All the way back to the Civil War, we had family members in."
"They were in need, and they were both veterans," Novak said. "I'm glad we found the perfect situation."
In 1980, Steve Underwood met Jelayne Hollingsworth on an Army base in Stuttgart, Germany. Jelayne, 19, was working in finance. Steve, 22, served as a mechanic.
"The most important fact: I outranked him," Jelayne said with a laugh.
Two years later, the couple married. They will celebrate their 35th anniversary in September. They each spent nearly a decade in the military. Steve readily concedes that his wife is still in charge.
Over the years, they raised a son and a daughter and lived in Monroe, using part of their time taking care of Jelayne's parents. Then Steve was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was a rough few years, Jelayne said, noting the needed care and problems encountered along the way to his recovery.
"Stress is a Medflight, stress is low oxygen, stress is a coma twice," Jelayne said. "At this point, I think I could change an oxygen tank in my sleep."
Steve can only breathe 70 percent, compared to the average person's 100-percent lung capacity. In the first six months of his treatment, he was using an oxygen tank 24 hours a day. This year alone, he has undergone 15 radiation treatments. Scar tissue is reducing in size, and Jelayne credits Steve's boss with ordering him to a doctor because of his cough.
"They caught it in time, we're hoping," Steve said.
For two years, his doctors through Madison's Veterans Administration health care have been stressing the importance of air conditioning in the Underwoods' home as a way to remove humidity, which is why the couple purchased a window unit air conditioner for the bedroom.
However, there was a problem. Jelayne said just to cool one room, the constantly running unit would cost roughly $200 a month. With Steve unable to work in his previous job at Monroe Truck Equip-ment Inc. and Jelayne collecting a modest income through an hourly job with Wal-Mart in Monroe, the couple knew they had to choose surviving financially over taking the advice of Steve's physician.
Then help arrived from an unexpected source: Tom Novak, owner of Monroe Heating and Sheet Metal, said heating and cooling company Trane began a program within the last year in which select dealers of the company's products were invited to participate. The goal is to help veterans, Novak noted.
Trane and equipment distributor Gustave A Larson Company provided the needed products to install the free cooling system throughout the home. Novak added that Maz Electric donated electrical services. With central air installed, the worries of a $200 increase were eliminated. Novak said the couple will pay roughly $150 throughout the summer to cool the entire home. He added that Trane will likely continue the program on an annual basis.
"Years ago, central air was a high-end service," Novak said. "Now few homes don't have air conditioning."
Novak's technician began his work at 7 a.m. Wednesday and concluded just after 2 p.m. Jelayne noted that by 2:30, the home that had averaged 92 degrees in light of recent warm weather had dropped down to the mid-80s.
Novak located the Underwoods with the help of Clayton Ruegsegger at the Green County Veteran's Services Office.
"We come from a long line of military," Jelayne said. "All the way back to the Civil War, we had family members in."
"They were in need, and they were both veterans," Novak said. "I'm glad we found the perfect situation."