Sandy Korcsog Schmollinger

. In loving memory of Sandy Korcsog Schmollinger. August 12, 1954 - April 27, 2010. For 28 years I was a witness to your life: you persevered in your profession, rising to its top ranks; you cared tenderly for an aging mother; you were the loyal sister looking out for Danny and Becky; and for all those years I saw you as you were to me: my best friend and the most loving and supportive better half any man could have. To all of us, you were unfailingly generous with your love. You lived the hours of your days with a sense of life that was affirming and spirited and always kind. As the years passed, I watched your luminescent personality have a magnetic effect on others. Your energy inspired those around you. Your smile was a warm light that greeted everyone and those you touched became better people. You lived your life deliberately, always moving with an upbeat purpose. Maybe long ago you had sensed something ephemeral in yourself, something abbreviated about your destiny. If that ever made you sad, you concealed it from us with a smile. You held your head high. You lived each day well and honorably and without regret. You were a role-model for how a person should live. We had a good life too. But in that year before you got sick something had hurried us along. It made us both feel we couldnt lose any time together. Your cancer, evasive and implacable when it came, could only be slowed but never stopped. For 18 months you faced it down every day. The nurses commented often on your stamina and your grace, and that smile you gave freely to everyone. You were very brave. But little by little, day by day, the grace and the smile hid an increasingly painful retreat. Yet, through it all, you kept your dignity. Never bitter, never angry you who had the right to be both. Toward the end, you said: Please dont cry for me. Ive had a wonderful life. You were worried about those you loved. But afterward we cried for you anyway and knew the world was not a better place for your going.We once had a future of memories ahead of us. So many memories still to be made in a future we both wanted. Instead, on a sunny April morning one year ago, you were taken from me for no reason Im able to understand. You lay in your bed in Hospice. I stood there holding your hand, so frail and just now wet from my tears. Your eyes were looking up at mine. They were very tired. I leaned over and kissed your forehead. The sunlight came in through the window of your room. Outside the spring morning was just beginning. Then time slowed with the fading of your breath. I felt the slipping away of the firmness from your hand and with the sigh of an angel, you were gone. Every day for 28 years my universe rose and set with you. Every time you smiled the sun got brighter. It was a universe with long walks at Wildwood and simple joys as varied as the colors on the leaves of fall. There were sun-drenched afternoons on Mackinac Island, out on the flat grassy plain at Mission Point, where we would lay on a blanket holding hands and watch the long ships passing in the straits and laugh at the gulls floating in circles above us. There were the countless moments together that needed no words, the intimate moments echoing afterward, and a million smiles thrown my way and no bad days. And whenever you touched my face, it was your love I felt. All these things with you were your gifts to me. They are in my memories now, Sandy, and there you will live forever.One forever loved. One forever changed. You are missed and loved always.Mark. Sandy Korcsog Schmollinger, age 55, passed from life on April 27, 2010, after an 18-month battle against a virulent cancer. Surrounded by her husband, family and close friends, she passed peacefully and without pain. Born Sandra Marie Korcsog on August 12, 1954, she was baptized at St. Stephens Church in the Birmingham neighborhood of East Toledo, where the family lived for a time. They later moved to West Toledo. Sandy received her Communion at St. Clements Parish and attended Hiawatha Elementary School. She graduated from Whitmer High School in 1972. Sandy was a unique blend of her loving parents: from her Romanian mother, Mary Vaison Korcsog, Sandy was blessed with a statuesque and striking beauty, her trademark black hair so many commented on, a natural athleticism, a positive outlook, and a way of seeing only the best in people. She treated everyone who came into her life with dignity and respect. At an early age her mother also instilled in Sandy a penchant for hard work, frugality and a deep faith in God. From her Hungarian father, Alexander J. Korcsog, a combat veteran of WWII, Sandy received many of the elements of her personality that enabled her to succeed in her chosen career: among these were a quick intelligence, a never-give-up attitude toward any project or challenge she undertook, a feisty willingness to assert her views in any endeavor and not back down if she believed she was right. In the many give-and-take encounters of life, Sandy would stand her ground against anyone, but she did it with such a gifted mix of firmness, poise and diplomacy that only rarely did she not prevail. Her husband called Sandy the bravest person he ever knew. For 36 years Sandy pursued a successful banking career in Toledo. She began in a minor clerical position at Toledo Trust with only a high school degree. Taking night classes while working, she later gained a 2-year degree from Comm Tech. Then, in August of 1986, she graduated with a 4-year Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toledo. Her proud parents and family were there to celebrate her hard work. As Toledo Trust evolved into TrustCorp, Society and finally KeyBank, Sandy moved up in rank and responsibility as if she were striding through empty rooms. In a profession of competitive males, she punched through every glass ceiling she ever encountered. She became a Supervisor, Bank Officer, Vice President and, ultimately, a Senior Vice President for KeyBank for Global Treasury Management. Over many years at the bank, her reputation grew. But she resisted the siren calls of corporate head-hunters and former bank associates who tried to lure her elsewhere with offers of higher compensation beyond Toledo. She loved doing what she did here, close to her family and friends. Aunt Sandy was also the consummate role-model and mentor for her many nieces and nephews. She enjoyed visiting with them and loved them all. Sandy met her husband, Mark Schmollinger, in July of 1982. They were married October 11, 1986, at St. Patricks Historic Church in downtown Toledo. They honeymooned in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Sandy loved traveling with her husband. In the summer they enjoyed annual trips to Mackinaw Island and each October they celebrated their wedding anniversary in Las Vegas. Sandy was predeceased by both her parents, her mother passing on September 4, 2009. Her mother-in-law, Bettye Schmollinger, passed in October of 2007. An unfailingly generous soul, Sandy is survived by Mark, her loving husband of 23 years, her sister, Becky (Randy) Middaugh, brothers Daniel Korcsog, Ron (Nancy) Korsog, father-in-law, Jack (Marion) Schmollinger, sister-in-law, Kathy (Steve) Simon, numerous nieces, nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews. Sandys family will receive friends at the H. H. Birkenkamp Funeral Home, 3219 Tremainsville Rd (at Alexis) 419-473-1301 for a Memorial Visitation beginning at 10:00 am on Saturday, May 1, 2010, to be followed with a Memorial Service starting at 1:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made in Sandys name to HOSPICE of Northwest Ohio, 30000 East River Road, Perrysburg Ohio 43551. Becky, Dan, and Ron wish to thank Mark for his love, care and devotion of their sister, his soulmate, through their years together. Sandys family wishes to thank deeply all the caregivers who had contact with Sandy over the past year and a half, and specifically: Dr Garth Phibbs, his staff and physicians assistants; the 7th Floor nursing staff of Toledo Hospitals Acute Care Wing and their Outpatient Oncology unit; ProMedica Home Caring nurses, and the nursing staff at HOSPICE of Northwest Ohio.. To make online condolences and to view photos of Sandys life, go to www.birkenkampfuneralhome.com. Visitation Saturday, May 1, 2010 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM H.H. Birkenkamp Funeral Home 3219 Tremainsville Rd Toledo OH 43613 United States 419-473-1301 memorial service Saturday, May 1, 2010 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM H.H. Birkenkamp Funeral Home 3219 Tremainsville Rd Toledo OH 43613 United States 419-473-1301