Nurses' care sparks legacy gift to Northwest Community Hospital

Even though it happened more than 10 years ago, orthopedics nurse Mary Justo still remembers the patient and comforting her during the night.

As a new nurse, fresh out of school and working the night shift at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, she took an interest in an elderly woman who was recovering from orthopedic surgery.

“I wanted to make sure she wasn't in pain and was comfortable,” remembers Justo, a Hoffman Estates native, who attended Harper College for her nursing degree. “I held her hand and didn't want her to be alone.

“It wasn't anything special,” she adds. “That's what we're taught to do as nurses, make sure our patients are pain-free and feeling comfortable.”

Turns out the woman and her family found Justo's care — and that of all of the nurses on the orthopedics floor — to be compassionate and caring. The woman, Mary Jane Laseke, passed away that same week.

Then last year, her husband, Henry Laseke, died after losing control of his car, which slid into a pond near his Arlington Heights home.

Together they had worked in the Arlington Heights office of Laseke Disposal, which Henry's father had started in the 1940s. They were married for 57 years and Henry Laseke called his wife “the love of his life.” They had no children.

Over the last six months, their estate has been settled and after donating $200,000 each to the Arlington Heights police and fire departments, the couple left the bulk of their estate — nearly $1 million — to the hospital.

Dave Ungurean, vice president of the Northwest Community Healthcare Foundation, said he met with Henry Laseke a few times in recent years to work out details of the couple's gift.

“He was a very private man, but he just loved this community,” Ungurean said. “He had two requests: he wanted to establish a legacy for his wife and see her name remembered, and he wanted to help the community.”

Laseke toured the hospital with Ungurean, and while the use of the funds was unrestricted, he specifically chose the orthopedics department for the couple's naming opportunity.

Late last month, hospital officials dedicated the “Henry and Mary Jane Laseke Patient Floor” with approximately 20 members of the nursing staff and friends and family members on hand.

The unit has 31 private rooms and is a busy one, caring for the 750 patients a year who undergo knee and hip replacement surgeries as well as other orthopedic recovery stays.

“He specifically talked about the care his wife received on the orthopedics floor,” Ungurean said, “about the compassionate care from the nurses.”

Diane Ryzner, a clinical nurse specialist on the floor from Rolling Meadows, noted the timing of the gift: It came on International Orthopedic Nurses Day.

Justo and her co-workers are still beaming about the donation — and the recognition.

“It's so rewarding,” Justo said. “This is why I continue to be a nurse.”