“Carl was someone everyone wanted to be around just because it felt good to be near him,” says Ockerbloom-Freeman. “He was sought after by many friends and family but never sought to be the center of things. Instead, he was the glue that connected friends, a pied piper to his daughters and their many pals, an inspiration to his family, and a true friend, partner, and heart throb to his wife Marie.”
Nine years ago, friends and colleagues of Carl, the former senior vice president of PTC, joined a cycling team, aptly named “Team PTC,” and rode and raised money in his honor in the Pan-Mass Challenge. For the past few years, the team has participated in the PMC Pedal Partner Program, which matches Jimmy Fund Clinic patients with teams of PMC cyclists who ride the August event in their honor.
This year, members of the team will dedicate their ride to Team PTC’s former PMC Pedal Partner, Caroline (Calle) Cronk, who lost her battle to diffuse intrinsic pontine, a rare inoperable brain tumor, in July 2013, just days before PMC weekend. She was five-years-old. Cronk’s legacy is the momentum behind Team PTC’s wheels and fundraising efforts to help put an end to pediatric cancers.
“Most of us on the team never had the chance to meet Calle but everyone was heartbroken when we heard that we lost her just before the ride,” says Ockerbloom-Freeman. “I’ll never forget talking to Calle’s mom at the PMC Pedal Partner party at Fenway Park. Calle was too sick to attend but her mother made the trip with Calle’s younger brother, determined to do for Calle what Calle couldn’t easily do for herself and to try and bring some normalcy and joy to a little boy whose family was facing the unimaginable. In less than a year, the Cronks had already raised nearly $300,000 for research into treatments for her type of tumor. Dollars that they knew were unlikely to save their daughter. I was inspired by their generosity and selflessness as they, like my brother Carl, channeled their pain into trying to raise funds in support of the next family that might face Calle’s diagnosis. Being a dad was the joy of Carl’s life. He loved every minute of it and I know he would have been the first one on the bike to ride for Calle.”
On Aug. 2, Ockerbloom-Freeman, alongside her two brothers, John Ockerbloom and Peter Ockerbloom, Peter’s brother-in-law JJ Alberts, also of Winchester, and Carl’s youngest daughter Christine Ockerbloom will take to the road as part of the team. Ockerbloom-Freeman will tackle the Saturday one- day 111-mile PMC route from Sturbridge to Bourne and hopes to break $100,000 in personal fundraising. To date, Team PTC has raised more than $1.5 million for the cause.
“The PMC has become a part of our family and PTC feels very much like family to us as well,” says Ockerbloom-Freeman. “The riders and supporters are some of the most committed, hopeful, and optimistic people I’ve ever met but to a person, we are all impatient with the slow progress in overcoming so many forms of cancer and determined to accelerate the pace of discovery and successful treatment.”
Team PTC will be cheered on by a group of longtime volunteers at the Mass Maritime Academy in Bourne, including Carl’s former wife Marie (Patti) Ockerbloom, also of Winchester, Mark Ockerbloom, Carl’s daughter Alyssa and nieces, nephews, and friends. They will be among more than 5,800 cyclists who will take part in the 35th annual event to raise $40 million to support adult and pediatric patient care and cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through the Jimmy Fund.
From left to right: Brother-sister duo Peter Ockerbloom and Gail Ockerbloom-Freeman during the 2011 PMC.
Post courtesy of Allison from Teak Media + Communication
