In honour of November being Make A Will Month, Rudy Noll tells us his story.

I remember the very cold January 6, 1966, when I, my expecting wife Gaynor and my son Stephen moved from East York to Scarborough. Immigrating from Germany in the 1950’s, Scarborough was to be our new home. We all called it ‘Scarberia’ at the time because the area was relatively new – no restaurants, no nightlife, no bus service, and many unpaved roads. But to us, it was a great place to raise a young and growing family in a three-bedroom bungalow.

Our move was subject to many friendly jokes and comments from friends and colleagues. But it didn’t bother me because Scarborough was going to be our future home. We had settled in an area just north of the General Hospital and having a neighbourhood hospital made us feel safer and assured.

After a couple of years, we really appreciated that our home was not only close to a hospital but also to a school. By then we also had switched all medical service needs from East York. Scarborough had become home, and if anybody asked, where do you live? The answer was always: In Scarborough, just north of the General Hospital. We felt proud to be in this neighbourhood.

I was a trained typographer and eventually became Manager of Publications Ontario. This included publishing the Ontario Gazette and acquiring and distributing printed government material.

As time went on the demand and stress of the job affected my well-being. I would go for angioplasties at a downtown hospital, spend a couple of days in care, and then walk back to my job. At one angioplasty, my heart shut down and I had a cardiac arrest.

While at the time SHN didn’t perform heart operations, my follow-ups were never-the-less done at the General Hospital. Not that the building attracted – it was the people working there that made it a great place. I was always treated well. Since a cardiology department was developed, SHN has looked after the needs of my heart.

In 2016, my wife Gaynor got progressively sicker just before Christmas. A timely angioplasty allowed her to enjoy Christmas with family and friends and a quiet New Year’s with me. During this time, we firmed up our resolution to include SHN in our will. Sadly, she ended up in the General Hospital again and despite excellent care passed away at the end of January.

I encourage everyone to be charitable. It benefits everyone in a community. If I have some knowledge of the situation, I like to be blunt. Have you ever been sick and in the hospital? Donate. Hospitals need our support now more than ever. People of my age will get more benefits from giving to the local hospital than from buying more stuff.

Driving by the Scarborough General Hospital to pick up meals for Meals-on-Wheels delivery, I often think of that cold day in ’66 when we moved to Scarborough, just north of the SGH. There has been no better place to live than in ‘Scarberia’.

– Rudy Noll, Legacy and Annual Donor

To learn more about including SHN in your will, visit SHNFoundation.ca/Legacy or contact Verna Chen at vchen@shn.ca