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.
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