Obituary of Mark Lynnell Voy

Mark Lynnell Voy, age 54, (son of Dr. Brooks and Vi Ranney) of Yankton, SD passed away Monday, July 27, 2015 at the Alcester Care and Rehab Center, Alcester, SD. A celebration of Mark's life will be 7:30 PM, Thursday, July 30, 2015 at the United Church of Christ (Congregational), Yankton, SD with Rev. Molly Carlson officiating and special music by the church choir and the Kratz cousins. Burial of his cremated remains will be in the Yankton Cemetery, Yankton, SD at 10:30 AM, Friday, July 31, 2015. Mark's family will greet friends after the service in the Pilgrim Hall while we share Mark's favorite dish, ice cream and chocolate syrup. The Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home & Crematory, Yankton, SD is assisting with service details. Mark was born on January 24, 1961 the only child of Melvin and Viona (Thum) Voy of Scotland. It was apparent at birth that something was wrong with this baby. At the age of three months, with death eminent, his life was saved by a doctor who had just come from Germany to begin practicing medicine in Tripp, SD. Dr. Eric Mueller performed the surgery for pyloric stenosis which enabled food to finally leave Mark's stomach and be absorbed into his digestive system... and thus Mark lived. Mark's early childhood was filled with many medical problems. At the age of 18 months he had eye surgery and began wearing glass. Before the age of eight he had four ear surgeries which eventually caused him to lose his hearing in the right ear. He went thru a grueling three years of being on the Dolman Delacato Program for Brain Damaged Children, where he learned the alphabet, the names of all fruits, vegetables, animals, counting and numbers and simple reading. As school age approached, his home school district felt they couldn't serve him and a friend of the family suggested Hope Haven in Rock Valley, Iowa. He was there for six years when the State of South Dakota brought him back to SD and he was assigned to Sioux Vocational School in Sioux Falls. After three years he was brought to the newly opened Yankton Area Adjustment Training Center where he spent the next 13 years. Upon visiting Village Northwest in Sheldon, Iowa, he liked what he saw there, especially the puppy farm, and wanted to move there. He was finally granted legal permission and spent the next 16 years there. But Mark always wanted to go back to Sioux Falls, and finally that dream came thru on August 1, 2013. He was very comfortable in his home on Silver Valley Road as a client of the Volunteers of America. Until his health began to fail, Mark loved to go bowling, loved to travel, attend family reunions and do the things most young men like to do. When Dr. Ranney became Mark's father, he was anxious to know what Mark's actual diagnosis was. Dr. Virginia Johnson, a geneticist with the U of SD Medical School, determined Mark had been born with Smith, Lemli, Opitz Syndrome. This birth defect takes place in the first seven days of a pregnancy when mutations of the DHCR 7th gene take place. This prevents the last step in the synthesizing of cholesterol to take place. Cholesterol is necessary for normal embryonic development to take place both before and after birth. Characteristics of the syndrome are minor physical defects, retardation, and as the individual grows older, behavioral difficulties become more pronounced. Like most families with a handicapped child born, this family too has searched the world over for help. Perhaps the most difficult part, is finally 'acceptance' that this life will forever be impaired. Mark had a cancer of the lung already noted when he moved to Sioux Falls in 2013. This was successfully treated, but a reoccurrence was found March 3 of 2015. Mark was diagnosed with a broken hip due to the cancer which had spread to the bones and had surgery on March 18th. The surgery was not successful and infection set in and the cancer in his body also became rampant. He spent most of the last four months either just staying at the group home or in the hospital with Colleen at his side. Mark was finally released from the earthly imprisonment of his own body on July 27, 2015 about 7:00 a.m. in the Hospice Room at the Alcester, SD nursing home surrounded by his mother, Aunt Donna and a wonderful nurse named Rhode. The tears we shed today are first of all, tears of joy for the release of pain and suffering bore by Mark, and tears of sorrow, for we shall miss him so. Vi wants you all to know, she couldn't have carried this burden without each and every one of you. First of all, to all the special care givers in Mark's life over in Iowa, Yankton Ability Building Services, and Volunteers of America in Sioux Falls, Mark's grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. Oscar Thum (deceased) of Scotland, SD who did absolutely everything and then much much more to help care for Mark. Mark loved his step-father, Dr. Brooks Ranney who provided stability, love and support and also the financial means for Mark's move to Sheldon. Vi wishes to thank her siblings, Marvin (Agnes) Thum, Marilyn (Bud) Kratz, Donna Mouser for all their support and love and Mark's cousins, whom he loved so dearly: David Thum, Steven Thum, Lori (Rob) Evans, Lisa Kratz, Greg (Stacey) Kratz & family, Randy (Lisa) Ulmer, Michael (Rosie) and Matt Ulmer, Darren & Justin Gerlach, step-sister Carol Hesla, and step-brothers Dr. David Ranney, Robert (Pat) Ranney, special friends, Evelyn Haynes, Emma & Suzanne Brown and Mary Jacobs. Vi was often comforted by the words of Mary who always reminded her, "Mark is being just as good a boy as he can be!" Everyone who knew Mark loved him. And he taught us all Patience...beyond measure Love...unimaginable and unconditional Gratitude...for healthy bodies, minds and souls Endurance...To the point of breaking Kindness...beyond limit Mark was preceded in death by his favorite cousin, LeAnne Ulmer Gerlach; grandma and grandpa Thum; grandma and grandpa Voy; his dad, Melvin Voy and many others. Memorials will be divided among the homes for the handicapped where Mark lived.