Marie C. Harkowa

PRESTON - Marie C. Harkowa passed away on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007, at home.

She was born in New York City on Sept. 4, 1942, to the late Herbert Repole and Minola Repole of Preston. She graduated from North Babylon High School in Long Island, N.Y., in 1960, and then attended the Columbia Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Hudson, N.Y., graduating in 1963 with an R.N. degree.

She married Joseph B. Harkowa and they lived in Long Island, where Marie began her career in nursing at Huntington Hospital. She worked for the next 25 years in New York before moving back to the Eastern Shore.

In 1990 Marie began work with Caroline County Health Department Home Health Hospice, and then in 1997 took a position with Shore Home Care. Marie was certified by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Association. In her work she was responsible for coordinating the care of patients and their families dealing with end of life issues.

During her career she was a staunch advocate of the hospice concept and received many awards. In 1999 she received the You Make A Difference Award given by the Hospice Network of Maryland. The Oncology Nursing Society in 2000 named her as the Oncology Nurse of the Year. In 2002 the hospice community established the Marie Harkowa Patient in Need Fund in recognition of Marie's ardent commitment to both hospice and oncology. Marie's husband and sons built the Hospice House in Denton.

In her leisure time Marie enjoyed fishing with her husband, Joe, on their boat, and spoiling her four grandchildren.

In addition to her mother and her husband, Mrs. Harkowa is survived by four children, Michael Harkowa and his wife, Kateri, of Preston; Therese Harkowa of Fort Worth, Texas; Brian Harkowa and his wife, Christal, of Easton, Jason Harkowa of Easton; and four grandchildren, Joe and Sophia Harkowa, of Preston, Lacie and Alex Harkowa, of Easton. She is also survived by her brother, Charles Repole of Manhattan, N.Y.; and her niece, Jackie Braga of San Diego.

Friends may call at the Framptom Funeral Home in Federalsburg, from 3-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. today, with a Wake Prayer Service at 8 p.m.

A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated Tuesday at Our Lady of Good Counsel, in Secretary, and interment will be at the church cemetery on Saturday at 1 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Marie Harkowa Patient In Need Fund of the Mid-Shore Community Foundation, 102 East Dover St., Easton, MD 21601.