12/18/2025
This holiday season, please consider a gift to Stedman Community Hospice to support compassionate end-of-life care, and help families make the most of their time together, just like the Magalas family. Donate online today at https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E360329QE&id=8.
There are only a few things in life significant enough to be called milestones, and some of them may even be called momentous. Among them we might count the first day of school, graduating high school, or falling in love for the first time.
For a young man, not many things rank as high as the mother-son dance on your wedding day and newly engaged Travis Magalas had envisioned it many times.
Now his mom’s advanced cancer was putting this dream into doubt. As children of Laura and Eugene Magalas of Waterford, Travis and his younger siblings Brooke and Garrett grew up working on the family farm.
“Farm families are different from regular families,” says Travis.
“Working on a farm, you spend all your time around your parents and your siblings. You’re rarely away from each other, and Mom was always right there with us. She worked hard in the office keeping the books and answering the phone, and in the middle of the day she drove out to the fields to deliver lunch to everyone. She was as much a part of the operation as any of us.”
Travis says the strong family bond meant that when he was planning to propose to his girlfriend, Rochelle, this past March, he asked his parents to join him and Rochelle’s parents in Florida to be present when he popped the question. Having fought and conquered breast cancer years ago, Laura, 55, was now battling bone cancer but was well enough to make the trip.
Stedman Community Hospice’s outreach team had been helping Laura manage her pain and symptoms from home since September, 2023, but her husband
recalls that not long after returning from Florida, Laura’s cancer progressed and her pain reached new heights.
Dr. Bernadette McNeil, Laura’s outreach physician, felt it was time for Laura to transfer to Hankinson House, Stedman Community Hospice’s inpatient hospice in Brantford, where she could receive full-time care.
“In hearing that, I broke down,” Eugene shared. “When you hear those words, you know the day of reckoning is not far off.”
“Dr. Bernie, in witnessing that moment, did her best to comfort me, assuring me I was doing what was best for my wife,” says Eugene.
Laura was admitted on Thursday, May 14 and Eugene wasn’t sure she would make it through the day.
“Her pain did not let up, it was off the charts, but within 24 hours the staff was able to bring it under control and she was comfortable,” says Eugene.
Travis and Rochelle had set their wedding date for Saturday, August 9 but it was looking less and less likely that Laura would be alive to experience it.
Rochelle placed a call to the Hospice on Friday and asked if there was any chance that she and Travis could be married in the Hospice gardens the following
day. The answer was a resounding yes.
“Supporting families in making memories and living life to the fullest for as long as possible is a fundamental part of hospice care,” says Hospice Director
Kerri VanSickle.
“When a request like this is made, we will move mountains to see that it happens.”
Harnessing a dedicated team of volunteers allowed the Hospice to bring wedding plans to fruition without missing a beat in patient care.
“It was like magic,” says Rochelle.
“Our close friends and family and the photographer all made themselves available to be with us. Hospice volunteers worked away in the kitchen to see that
we had a lovely reception for our guests. And when my dress arrived, it didn’t need a single adjustment.
Everything just came together,” Rochelle added.
Eugene says it was a blessing that Laura was at the Hospice and receiving around-the-clock care.
“Because she was no longer in pain, she was able to sit in a wheelchair and be fully present,” says Eugene.
“The hospice was a beautiful gift for Laura and our family - it was a step towards Heaven.”
Travis says he will always treasure the memory of dancing with his mom on his wedding day.
“I was so scared she wouldn’t make it to August 9, and thanks to the amazing people at the Hospice, she didn’t have to,” says Travis.
Laura Magalas died peacefully at Stedman Community Hospice on June 23, with the comfort of knowing her son’s greatest wish had been fulfilled.
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Our thanks to the Magalas Family for sharing their story with us. Our entire Fall/Christmas newsletter is available to download at www.sjlc.ca/upload/editor/Fall%202025%20Insight_for%20web.pdf.
