Joey Moran

Joey Moran’s Story

I think in retrospect the final months of Joey’s life were the most important… and quite frankly I think that is when I got to know him the best. You see Joey married my sister Elizabeth Baker in October 2002. He was almost 20 years older then my sister, but when they were together you would never know. Somehow Joey just fit in – with my sister, and all of us. He had intelligence, humor, and was the hardest working guy ever. I would only find out how caring he was after he passed, when countless numbers of people came to our rescue with stories of how Joey had helped them. God it was like he was a super hero.

A few years before, Joey had a mole removed it was diagnosed as melanoma. He was your typical Irish man who had been out in the sun in County Mayo, all of his life. No one had ever heard of skin cancer. Joey went through the first mole removal like a pro. We thought it was all in the past. Boy, were we wrong.

May 3, 2003 Joseph (Josie) Dearg Moran was born. What a day! Little Josie was his dad’s pride and joy. Unfortunately, melanoma reoccurred shortly after his birth. It came back with a vengeance. …Such a scary feeling. Joey had a tumor grow back under his first scar. Melanoma had traveled to the lymph nodes under his arm and the doctors performed surgery. He would never be able to be a contractor again! That was his livelihood. We tried to reinforce the fact that he was healthy and that is all that mattered….but he was devastated.

He appeared healthy and all scans were now clear! The doctors wanted him to undergo treatment. A month before his treatments, the Moran family found out that a new member would be arriving in September 2004. Joey was sooo happy but the feeling left soon…. In January 2004 Joey started chemo. He fought so hard with the chemo, and then with the reoccurring brain tumors. When he was in Sloan Kettering hospital after having the brain tumors removed, he asked my older sister and I to visit him! Looking back I think Joey knew the battle was bigger than he was and he wanted us to know that we need to take care of our sister and the babies! We knew that already though!!!

Joey lost his battle on June 19, 2004 and was buried in his homeland of County Mayo (Currane), Ireland. He didn’t see the birth of his youngest son Emmet Thomas Moran who was born September 10, 2004. My sister delivered this baby on her own with my mom and older sister in the waiting area. I think she wanted to be alone hoping that Joey would somehow show his spirit!

Joey does show up a lot. Of course not physically but every once in a while we are thrown a curve ball! He will always live on and he has left everyone he knows with the job of keeping his memory alive!!! I tell his sons about dad. Josie knows that daddy is up in the sky….He does not really get it but for now that is all he needs to know!!

Melanoma cut short a life that was sooo very important to my family.

Meredith Baker, Loving Sister In Law