If you go ...
What: Green County Relay for Life, fundraiser for American Cancer Society
When: 4 to 11 p.m. Saturday
Where: Brodhead High School
For more info: relayforlife.org/greencountywi
BRODHEAD - Don Spooner knew the moment he was asked to be the honorary survivor for Relay for Life of Green County that he wanted to support the event honoring cancer survivors and the families who had lost loved ones to the illness.
"It's quite an honor," Spooner said. "We're all in this together. (Cancer) affects everybody sooner or later."
He set to work in his shop, a one-car garage that has slowly been converted into a woodworking space, creating puzzles for the event slated to begin at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Brodhead High School track. Spooner will also give a speech as a part of the opening ceremony, talking about his life, his kidney cancer and other battles he has endured.
The Evansville native grew up in Wisconsin, playing football and staying active on the family farm. Immediately after his graduation from high school in 1958, Spooner moved to Oklahoma with his parents. Hopping a train to South Carolina, he spent a few months working for the government before traveling back up to Oklahoma where he began his time in the Army Reserves as part of the 49th Infantry Division in 1959.
Spooner met and married Alberta Ann Swango in 1961. The couple had their first daughter in October of that same year before they decided to move back to Wisconsin in January. They took over Spooner's grandmother's farm in the country between Evansville and Cooksville, and had another daughter and a son. Spooner worked laboriously on his farm while they raised their children, and continued his time in the Army until 1966. Eventually he developed problems with his knees and hips because of the strenuous farm work.
"One day the doc said "you got two choices; either sell the cows or put in a parlor,'" Spooner said, recalling the day he decided to quit farming. After selling the farm and finishing up crop season, he went on to work for agriculture businesses. His last job was at AgTech of Monroe for a decade, before he retired in 2007.
Spooner, now 76, has eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
The Spooner family was supportive when their patriarch dealt with cancer in 2003. Though Spooner initially showed no signs of illness or pain, blood in his urine prompted him to visit the doctor. After an examination in Brodhead, he went to Monroe Clinic for more tests. Tests revealed his kidney was cancerous, and needed to be removed. While Spooner said he wanted it gone the moment the doctor told him the news, he had to wait two days before it could be taken out. Fortunately, all traces of cancer had stayed within that kidney, leaving no need for Spooner to endure radiation or other long-term treatments.
"I was one of the lucky ones," he said.
Life has a way of drawing out bad luck as well. Despite going through the experience relatively unscathed, Spooner was affected by other tragedies. While he was able to get back to showing beef cattle at the Green County Fair once his health improved, he suffered terrible losses within his family in later years.
In March of 2011, Spooner received news that his son Doug and daughter-in-law Cindy had been killed in a head-on collision. Spooner knows the spot well: A cross placed along County OK outside of Juda remembers where two lives ended and where Doug and Cindy's youngest son was severely injured.
Three years later, Spooner lost his grandson Troy Gorr, who died in an accident when a tractor rolled over. Gorr was just 18 at the time. Spooner said his grandson had just graduated high school three months earlier.
A week later, his wife passed away after nearly 10 years of two strokes and brittle bones plaguing her daily life.
Since then, Spooner has endured a stroke as well. But he continues to work even as his movement is limited by a walker to keep him going, a shirt proudly proclaiming his woodwork as his own form of therapy. Throughout the day, sawdust speckled tennis shoes make their way from his living room and a comfortable recliner to the attached garage, where he spends anywhere from 2 to 10 hours making items such as rocking horses, wooden puzzles, picture frames, and even toys for his great-grandchildren when they visit. The puzzles are bagged and donated to schools. Various pieces of wood sit propped against the kitchen table or lean against a wall, surrounded by pictures like the Monroe High School wrestling team where his grandson Traiten Gorr competed. Frames he made himself cover the wall with enclosed pictures of his wedding photo and photos of both his parents and grandparents, as well as his wife's family.
Other members of his family have also been affected by cancer. He said his father survived colon cancer, a sister-in-law battled breast cancer and won and one of his sons-in-law also beat the disease. He also lost two brothers-in-law to cancer.
"We're all affected by it in some way, either through family or friends," Spooner said. "If we take care of each other we'll be OK."
"It's quite an honor," Spooner said. "We're all in this together. (Cancer) affects everybody sooner or later."
He set to work in his shop, a one-car garage that has slowly been converted into a woodworking space, creating puzzles for the event slated to begin at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Brodhead High School track. Spooner will also give a speech as a part of the opening ceremony, talking about his life, his kidney cancer and other battles he has endured.
The Evansville native grew up in Wisconsin, playing football and staying active on the family farm. Immediately after his graduation from high school in 1958, Spooner moved to Oklahoma with his parents. Hopping a train to South Carolina, he spent a few months working for the government before traveling back up to Oklahoma where he began his time in the Army Reserves as part of the 49th Infantry Division in 1959.
Spooner met and married Alberta Ann Swango in 1961. The couple had their first daughter in October of that same year before they decided to move back to Wisconsin in January. They took over Spooner's grandmother's farm in the country between Evansville and Cooksville, and had another daughter and a son. Spooner worked laboriously on his farm while they raised their children, and continued his time in the Army until 1966. Eventually he developed problems with his knees and hips because of the strenuous farm work.
"One day the doc said "you got two choices; either sell the cows or put in a parlor,'" Spooner said, recalling the day he decided to quit farming. After selling the farm and finishing up crop season, he went on to work for agriculture businesses. His last job was at AgTech of Monroe for a decade, before he retired in 2007.
Spooner, now 76, has eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
The Spooner family was supportive when their patriarch dealt with cancer in 2003. Though Spooner initially showed no signs of illness or pain, blood in his urine prompted him to visit the doctor. After an examination in Brodhead, he went to Monroe Clinic for more tests. Tests revealed his kidney was cancerous, and needed to be removed. While Spooner said he wanted it gone the moment the doctor told him the news, he had to wait two days before it could be taken out. Fortunately, all traces of cancer had stayed within that kidney, leaving no need for Spooner to endure radiation or other long-term treatments.
"I was one of the lucky ones," he said.
Life has a way of drawing out bad luck as well. Despite going through the experience relatively unscathed, Spooner was affected by other tragedies. While he was able to get back to showing beef cattle at the Green County Fair once his health improved, he suffered terrible losses within his family in later years.
In March of 2011, Spooner received news that his son Doug and daughter-in-law Cindy had been killed in a head-on collision. Spooner knows the spot well: A cross placed along County OK outside of Juda remembers where two lives ended and where Doug and Cindy's youngest son was severely injured.
Three years later, Spooner lost his grandson Troy Gorr, who died in an accident when a tractor rolled over. Gorr was just 18 at the time. Spooner said his grandson had just graduated high school three months earlier.
A week later, his wife passed away after nearly 10 years of two strokes and brittle bones plaguing her daily life.
Since then, Spooner has endured a stroke as well. But he continues to work even as his movement is limited by a walker to keep him going, a shirt proudly proclaiming his woodwork as his own form of therapy. Throughout the day, sawdust speckled tennis shoes make their way from his living room and a comfortable recliner to the attached garage, where he spends anywhere from 2 to 10 hours making items such as rocking horses, wooden puzzles, picture frames, and even toys for his great-grandchildren when they visit. The puzzles are bagged and donated to schools. Various pieces of wood sit propped against the kitchen table or lean against a wall, surrounded by pictures like the Monroe High School wrestling team where his grandson Traiten Gorr competed. Frames he made himself cover the wall with enclosed pictures of his wedding photo and photos of both his parents and grandparents, as well as his wife's family.
Other members of his family have also been affected by cancer. He said his father survived colon cancer, a sister-in-law battled breast cancer and won and one of his sons-in-law also beat the disease. He also lost two brothers-in-law to cancer.
"We're all affected by it in some way, either through family or friends," Spooner said. "If we take care of each other we'll be OK."