Fred Lockard led Boy Scouts, coached youth baseball teams and helped people in numerous other ways.
He's still at it, even though he died on Sept. 13.
Lockard donated his body to the Maryland Anatomy Board. A former football star who eventually suffered from dementia and Parkinson's disease, he made a donation specifically to the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Brain and Tissue Bank Department of Pediatrics.
Helen Lockard said it took her late husband several months, marked by pain and mental and physical decline, to reach that decision. He hoped it would help others.
"He said, 'Nobody should have to have this in their life. No family should have to have this,'" she recalled.
Medical professionals say donations like Fred Lockhard's are invaluable to medical research and training.
"It's a precious gift to give," said Ronald Wade, director of the state anatomy board. "It's life-saving, and it's life-altering."
"I think it's a noble thing," added Tim Harman, a Hagerstown funeral director who did some of his own professional training at the anatomy board's facilities.
The diagnosis
Helen Lockard said her husband loved football, and there was a time when he excelled at the game. He was named linebacker of the year for Pittsburgh high schools and received a full scholarship to the University of Miami in 1955, she said. In 2008, he was inducted into the Carrick High School alumni sports hall of fame for the Class of 1955.
He served a stint in the Army, followed the Washington Redskins and Baltimore Orioles, and enjoyed a 36-year career as an "elevator man," in Helen's words, holding membership in the International Union of Elevator Constructors. They retired to North Carolina, where he picked up a second career with Harris Teeter grocery stores.
In 2005, she said, their lives began to change.
Fred underwent successful surgery for a brain tumor, performed by renowned surgeon Dr. Allan Friedman at the Duke University Medical Center.
That's when they first learned about making an anatomical donation, Helen said.
When Fred Lockhard played football, the helmets were made of leather. Helen said Friedman predicted her husband's health and habits would decline and might stem from his playing days. But more research was needed on the issue.
In 2009, Fred was readmitted to the Duke center, Helen said. The diagnosis: dementia, frontal lobar brain disorder and Parkinson's disease with disorders concerning the head, legs and lower body.
In 2010, the Lockards moved back to Maryland. In 2011, they moved to Hagerstown. And in 2012, Fred moved into long-term care.
He also was thinking about donating his body to science.
'Help us educate'
"We probably have one of the best donor programs in the country," Wade said of the anatomy board program. "We also have one of the largest donor programs in the country."
In many other states, Wade said, donations are done through medical schools. But Maryland's board was established in 1949 as part of the state health department in a partnership with University of Maryland's medical school.
More than 1,000 Marylanders make the decision to donate each year, and Wade said that number is increasing by 3 to 4 percent a year.
"We're getting a lot of young people who are considering donation," he said.
In addition to taking donations, the anatomy board also is charged with taking care of unclaimed bodies. They become "donors by circumstance," Wade said.
The cadavers are used in research and in training professionals, from paramedics to physical therapists to physicians — even those involved in military medicine.
One donation "is going to help us educate probably at least four medical professionals," Wade said.
That education is "invaluable," in the words of Dr. Shani Belgrave-Heath of Meritus Surgical Specialists near Hagerstown. She went through the cadaver lab while learning anatomy at Brown Medical School.
These days, she said, a lot of medical training is done through computers, simulation and videos. While those methods are useful, "nothing is as good as learning in the anatomy lab on cadavers."
"I think that was really invaluable in learning about how we are made and what we look like on the inside," she said.
'Never stopped caring'
Fred Lockhard made his official decision to donate on Nov. 16, 2012, putting aside long-established plans to be buried in Pittsburgh.
"Fred wanted his brain and tissue to be used for the medical research of football injury studies related to Parkinson's and dementia and medical education and research," Helen wrote in an item she prepared about her husband. "Fred loved life. Fred wanted in any way possible that his body donation would give life back and help families and their loved ones. ... Fred never stopped caring, even after death."
Fred put a lot of thought into his decision, Helen said.
Because of the importance of their Roman Catholic faith, they sought and received the approval of the church. She said he also wanted to make sure his children — he had two from his marriage to Helen and two from his first marriage — "were OK" with his decision.
'Handsome, happy and at peace'
"Usually families have already made their decision before I'm in the loop," said Tim Harman at Harman Funeral Home in Hagerstown.
In addition to serving some of those families at his funeral home, Harman has a contract to transport bodies and cremains (ashes left after cremation) for the board.
While he might be asked to help with prayer cards or notices in the newspaper, donor families typically make their own arrangements for memorials, Harman added.
"They've already thought about what's going to happen, and they have a clear idea of what they want done," he said.
Helen Lockard said she's considering what might be done for Fred, who was 80 when he died. She has time before the research is finished, the body cremated and the ashes are returned, she said.
As she thumbed through photos of her and her late husband last week, she paused at one taken on July 19. That was the day the Rev. Ernest Cibelli, administrator of St. Mary Catholic Church in Hagerstown, conducted a "last rite" service for her husband.
Fred is shown sitting erect in his wheelchair, gazing into the camera. It's a scene Helen tried to capture in writing.
"Fred was happy, handsome and at peace," she wrote.
Have you wondered?
Are body donations needed?
"Yes. Donors are needed to support programs in medical education and research study."
How do I donate my body?
"By completing an anatomy board donor form. You may write or telephone the board to request this form and any additional information."
Are there any charges to my estate or my family?
"No. All costs are paid by the state, including transportation, embalming and cremation."
May I also donate organs for transplants?
"Yes. If you are registered with an organ bank or the Driver's License Program; keep your card with any other identification you carry."
What happens if I die out of state?
"If a signed donor dies in one of the states surrounding Maryland, the family will have the cost of transporting the body into the state, usually the closest funeral home inside the Maryland border. If a donor dies out of state and the distance to transport is unreasonable, then the closest medical teaching facility should be notified, as well as the Anatomy Board's office."
How may I cancel my donation?
"Your donation may be cancelled at any time by writing to the Anatomy Board."
Is a funeral service held?
"No. The Anatomy Board assumes immediate custody of the body, so a funeral service with the body present is not possible. However, the family may elect to have a memorial service at any time."
What about a notice in the newspaper?
"The family may place an obituary notice, at their own expense."
What happens after the body has been used in a medical program?
"The body is returned to the Anatomy Board and cremated. ... In most cases, cremation will occur within a year to a year and a half, depending on when the body is released from the medical program."
What happens to the ashes?
"Following cremation, the ashes are interred in a dedicated gravesite in Sykesville."
Can the ashes be returned to the family for burial or private disposition?
"Yes. You may designate on your donation form that the ashes are to be returned to the family by listing the name, address and telephone number of the person to receive them. The ashes will be returned in an urn suitable for burial or entombment."
— State Anatomy Board
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