GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE — There was a moment, one shining moment for 2-year-old Matthew DiBease, when his mother was just sleeping in a strange bed, just dreaming, just about ready to wake up.
“He saw his mother in the casket, and he thought she was asleep,” dad Matthew DiBease Sr. said. “Still he looks up at me and says ‘Go see Mamma,’ and it is crushing to my heart.”
Karen DiBease, 29, died suddenly in late November, leaving Matthew DiBease Sr. with four children to raise alone.
Stricken with grief and financially unable to provide Christmas for Madelin, 10, Juilia, 7, Samantha, 5, and Matthew Jr., 2, DiBease turned to the community for help.
“It has been pretty amazing how many people have come forward to help us,” he said. “It brings tears to my eyes to think of how much people care for my family.”
Donations of toys and clothing have poured into the Geneva-on-the-Lake Safety Service Center, village administrator Jim Hockaday said, so the children will have a Christmas, after all.
Back to work part time but overwhelmed with the responsibilities of being a single parent, DiBease said funeral expenses are still an issue and he isn’t sure how he will afford a headstone for his wife in the spring.
“The funeral home has been great and is letting me pay the bill over time, but it is still a significant amount of money,” he said.
Karen DiBease had no life insurance, Matthew DiBease said.
A fund has been established for the DiBease family at Andover Bank, and donations can be made at any Andover Bank branch.
Ashtabula County Coroner’s Office investigator Richard Mongell said autopsy test results are pending, though Matthew DiBease said several of Karen’s family members suffer from a congenital heart condition, which he believes is what killed his wife.
As for the children, DiBease said they are coping as well as possible.
“The girls talk about their mother every day,” he said. “They are dealing with not having her here, but little Matt is still kind of lost. We tell him mamma is an angel, but he doesn’t understand. He just wants his mother back.”
DiBease offers a heartfelt thank-you to everyone who offered help during his time of need.
“In a situation that is so desperate and so sad, where you lose someone who you are so close to, it’s those people who step up to help — people you don’t even know — that make all the difference,” DiBease said.
“I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for being there for me and for my children. Words cannot say how grateful I am for your generosity,” he said.
Local News
Community comes to aid of grief-stricken family
Cause of death for Karen DiBease, 29, still pending
- Local News
-
-
Driver avoids jail in deputy’s death
A Concord motorist avoided jail time Tuesday for her role in the June traffic death of Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph DeFazio II.
-
Ashtabula City Council proclaims Cornelius Memorial Park
North Park was renamed Lance Cpl. Kevin Michael Cornelius Memorial Park at the Ashtabula City Council meeting Monday night.
-
Brant’s apple orchard, is an Ashtabula County destination
It was a family visit to an apple orchard more than 21 yeas ago that began the Brants’ own love affair with the apple.
-
Troopers uncover $50,000 in cocaine during traffic stop
Two Pennsylvania men are charged with aggravated drug trafficking and possession of cocaine after Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers found more than a pound of cocaine during a routine traffic stop in Kingsville Township on Monday evening, Lt. Mike Harmon said.
-
Infrastructure projects could be boon to county
Infrastructure projects, led by Ohio’s pending high-speed rail system, could kick-start manufacturing across the state, including plants in Ashtabula County, said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH.
-
Authority, elected officials make case for Plant C grant
Ashtabula County Port Authority members, elected officials and representatives of industries that depend upon the authority’s Plant C for raw water pitched their case for a $1.5 million federal grant to U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Tuesday morning.
-
Ashtabula County turns 200 years old Jan. 11 2011
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a sIn just four months, Ashtabula County will turn 200 years old — the county was officially formed out of Trumbull County on Jan. 11, 1811.
eries looking at historic buildings and their stories. -
‘All Summer Long’ families head out to Geneva-on-the-Lake
Monday marked the unofficial end of summer. A day to sing Kid Rock’s, “All Summer Long,” for the partiers. The last day to wear white shoes for the fashion conscious.
-
Road construction goes on as summer ends
Labor Day may have been the unofficial last day of summer, but it was not the end of road construction in northeast Ohio.
-
Kister and Cassidy-Cousins work together to expand Medicine Shoppe
With plans for a new bigger building, complete with a drive-through window, a family-owned pharmacy is on the move.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Driver avoids jail in deputy’s death
