Eldon and Dee Hesterberg of Gifford spend an affectionate moment Saturday after their wedding at Carle Hospital. The next day, Eldon had surgery to clean out a clogged carotid artery that had led to two strokes.
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GIFFORD -- Eldon Hesterberg had been lonely since the death of his wife, Mary, in May 2023.
The former rural Gifford resident, who moved about two years ago to an independent-living facility attached to Gifford's Country Health Care nursing home, prayed a simple prayer, according to daughter Christina Jepsen: If he was going to live another 10 years or so, would God please bring him another wife.
Hesterberg was part of a group of friends who would get together to play cards at the facility almost every night.
Three days after his prayer, he was walking one of his card-playing friends, Dee Grogan, back to her apartment after cards.
"She turned around and asked him if she could have a hug," Jepsen said. He obliged. "Three days later, she asked for another hug."
Hesterberg thought this could be an answer to his prayer.
Grogan thinks so too, saying, "I think the Holy Spirit gave me a push."
"He started stopping by my apartment. We were friends, and then all of a sudden he asked me if I would go out with him, and I said 'yes.'"
Before the hug request, Hesterberg said, "I was friends with her. I just never noticed her."
Grogan had lost her husband, Kermit, about nine years ago.
Hesterberg and Grogan began spending more time together. About seven weeks ago, Hesterberg asked her to marry him.
"She said 'yes,' and we began feverishly planning a wedding," Jepsen said.
The nuptials were scheduled to take place last Saturday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Gifford.
Everything was going according to plan until the Wednesday before. After he got home from a doctor appointment, Hesterberg noticed some tingling in his fingers. Soon, his entire arm was numb, and he couldn't lift it.
"Fortunately, my sister (Cindy Lustfeldt) took him to the emergency room (at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana) and was informed he had a stroke," Jepsen said.
On Thursday morning, the medical team came in and said he could be released and could go ahead with the wedding, but the honeymoon was a no-go because he would have to undergo surgery.
About 3 a.m. Saturday, Jepsen received a call from her father. His arm was numb again, and he couldn't lift it. She rushed him back to the emergency room, and it was confirmed he had suffered another stroke.
After each stroke, most of his symptoms had subsided within an hour. This time, however, it was determined he would not be released from the hospital until he had undergone surgery.
But there was still a wedding to hold. They were going to have to hold it at a different venue, so they got permission to hold it at Carle.
The it was time for the family to do the scramble drill. The decorations were taken down at the church and, along with his wedding attire, the cake and other items, transported to the hospital.
"Pretty much everything went according to plan for the rest of the wedding," Jepsen said.
The groom wore his suit, and his bride wore her wedding dress. The flowers and the photographer were also on hand.
The Rev. Gary Maxwell of St. Paul's said it was the first wedding ceremony he'd performed in a hospital, according to Jepsen.
Hospital officials said only 30 guests could attend due to the size of the lobby area where the ceremony was performed. The family decided against the hospital chapel because only 10 guests were allowed.
The following day, around 10 a.m., the newly married Hesterberg was wheeled in for surgery to clear out a clogged carotid artery.
"Everything went fine," Jepsen said. "It is a fun story.
"From the 3 a.m. phone call that 'I'm having another stroke' to 12 hours later he's in a suit escorting his bride to the altar, it's just a testimony to us of God's goodness and His protection to all of us."
Hesterberg said he didn't feel much like celebrating the day after his surgery: "I thought I was going to die, but last night was a good night, and I feel good right now."
He said there were a few complications, "but they're taking good care of me."
Hesterberg said he and his future wife had talked about postponing the wedding, "but Dee was pretty adamant (it should go on), and I was in favor of it if we could find a place in the hospital."
"If it wouldn't have been for my two girls, we wouldn't have been able to pull this off."
Dee's daughter, Gina Schmidt, who lives in Paxton, also helped the wedding happen.
Their wedding trip to Pigeon Forge, Tenn., in the Smoky Mountains had to be postponed -- a trip he said they will likely take later in the year.
The new bride, who is 86, said afterward she is feeling "really great."
There was never a time she didn't think the wedding would happen: "I didn't have time," she said. "We're very happy."
Eldon Hesterberg, the 1983 News-Gazette Farm Leader of the Year, is a retired farmer and contractor. He and three others developed a subdivision in north Gifford. Now he has rented his farm to Jepsen.
"I still love to go out to the farm and putz around, especially in the springtime and harvest, and help Christina," Hesterberg said.
Maybe next time, he will bring his new bride.