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The Sun News: Fund to Aid Victim's Family...
Jul 15, 2007The Sun News
By Jessica Foster
Fund to aid victim’s family
Questions linger as hospice worker killed in S.C. 544
About a year ago, Eugene Callan moved his family here so he could take care of his aging parents. He went to work for Mercy Hospice and quickly became known for his good humor and generosity.
On July 7 he was running a routine chore – dropping off the recycling – when he stopped his pickup truck in the turn median on S.C. 544. Another pickup struck him head-on and he died of head injuries from the crash.
Laurie Callan still doesn’t know why her husband had stopped there, she said.
“I wish somebody would come forward that saw something to tell me what he was doing,” his wife said. “That’s one of my biggest questions is trying to figure out what happened.”
Other questions involve the future, taking care of the couple’s children and Callan’s parents. But family, friends and recent colleagues have stepped forward to help.
Although Callan had been in Myrtle Beach only about a year, he already had touched so many lives that his co-workers turned up in droves at his funeral and are now raising money for his wife and two young children.
A memorial fund was created this week by Mercy Hospice and Palliative Care to help cover funeral costs, medical and living expenses and college funds.
A few hundred dollars have already been donated to the fund, held at Conway National Bank, said the hospice’s executive director Steve Scoma.
Callan, 49, brought his family to the area from Philadelphia last summer so that he could care for his elderly parents, who live in Murrells Inlet.
As manager of administration, he worked in an office with about 25 women, Scoma said.
“He was looked at by the staff as kind of a sergeant at arms. If something had to be toted, he had the muscles to do it,” Scoma said.
He was in charge of human resources and volunteers, among other duties, and his face was usually the first one people saw when they came into the office.
Now that he’s gone, his wife has to find a way to care for both the children and his parents, though she’ll get help from Callan’s brothers, she said. Having stayed at home with the children for the past five years, she’s not sure yet whether she’ll get a job.
Born in Passaic, N.J., Callan graduated from Penn State University and served in the U.S. Army. He has held several jobs in social services, including working with children in crisis and with the elderly, said his brother, Jim Callan.
Eugene Callan loved backpacking, chess and golf, but most of all he loved his two children, ages 2 and 5, his brother said.
The day of the crash, Callan was on his way to drop off trash to be recycled in Socastee and would have later gone to his parents’ home, his wife said.
Thomas N. Lafluer, 53, of Myrtle Beach, was charged with reckless homicide. He was released on $1,500 bail from J. Reuben Long Detention Center on July 8. Lafluer couldn’t be reached for comment Saturday.
The S.C. Highway Patrol is still investigating the crash that killed Callan, one of 49 deaths on Horry County roads this year, according to data compiled by The Sun News. Details about the investigation were not available Saturday.
At a glance
To contribute to the Eugene J. Callan Memorial Fund, go to http://mercyhospice.org. Donations go to Callan’s widow and children, according to the Web site.