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Lowellville hosts fundraiser to help family buy tombstone
LOWELLVILLE
Big, gentle, giant are three words Lowellville residents consistently use when describing Tommy Hoye.
“Everybody considered Tommy a friend in Lowellville — just about everyone knew him,” said June Lewis, whose son was a friend of Tommy’s.
Tommy died three years ago of kidney problems at age 39. He was a truck driver who helped his widowed mother and sister financially. He also served as a firefighter in Mahoning Township.
Karen Hoye, his mother, said Tommy’s death caught the family by surprise. She said none of Tommy’s doctors caught onto his problem fast enough.
“The doctors told us if they caught the problem one month earlier, he likely could have been saved,” she said.
Karen said her family was going through economic struggles when Tommy died. While the family could afford a nice funeral, Karen said they couldn’t pay for a tombstone to place at the Lowellville Cemetery. All that stands over his grave now are a wooden cross with his name on it and a firefighters flag.
Jeff Wildes, somewhat of a father figure to Tommy and a Lowellville firefighter, realized there was no tombstone when visiting his gravesite.
“I would really like to get a stone there for him so it would last forever,” he said.
Wildes, his wife, Lori, and June Lewis, Wildes’ sister, teamed up in May to plan “A Tombstone for Tommy,” a fundraiser set for 8 p.m. Nov. 29 to help the Hoyes purchase a tombstone. While the event is free, the team has been encouraging people to buy $5 raffle tickets to raise enough money to fund the purchase.
“Tommy helped everyone, so we want to help him,” Lewis said.
Karen said she feels blessed to have a team help her family, three years after her son’s death.
“I just couldn’t talk when they told me about it — I just about crashed,” she said. “Tommy had no life insurance. I tried to purchase a tombstone out of pocket several times, but every time the family tried to buy one, something would happen.”
Wildes said a tombstone will cost about $2,400. He said the team needs to sell at least 500 tickets to reach that goal.