Lockheed Martin Corp. workers help veteran's widow in special cleanup day

FORT MCCOY — Twenty-five volunteers from Lockheed Martin Corp. in Ocala converged on a Navy veteran widow’s trailer in Fort McCoy recently to kick off a major landscape, cleanup and renovation project.

The volunteers used their sweat equity to give a meaningful "thank you for your service" to the late veteran.

“This means everything,” said Diane Stewart, 71, widow of Navy veteran Murray Sink, who suffered from cancer and  passed away three years ago at age 74.

Stewart, who has a neck ailment and four bulging discs, was her husband’s caregiver. Belongings removed from the mobile home during the cleanup included several wheelchairs.

A Star Banner article from Nov. 21, 2023 detailed that Stewart was recognized by Marion County Veterans Helping Veterans as needing housing assistance, and the article described the mobile home as deteriorating.

According to county records, the mobile home, on a one-third-plus-acre lot, is 51 years old.

The volunteers were alerted by an in-house email and many donated their days off to do the landscape and clean up at Stewart’s singlewide mobile home.

Stewart and her late husband lived at the location for 10 years in what Stewart called a peaceful setting.

Molly Groves, with Lockheed Martin seven years, served in the Air Force from 2013 to 2020 including a deployment to Qatar.

She said it’s “great to give back” to those who served as she pulled weeds and raked.

Jeff Chang, senior human resources manager, has 21 years with the corporation and six at the local Lockheed Martin facility. He was accompanied at the workday by his wife, Sedjenane, and their children: Aiden, 16, and Rylan, 14.

Chang said the volunteer workday coincided with Lockheed Martin’s Community Impact outreach.

Also making the workday a family effort were Will Mahoney and his son Liam, 14; Ed Zawosky and his daughter, Klarissa, 17; and Kevin Swaby and his daughter Loren, 14.

Volunteers removed furniture and bedding from the mobile home and discarded some items and kept others to be replaced after scheduled flooring repair work is completed.

Volunteers Anita Fox, Izzie Morrison and Kathy Patch worked closely with Stewart on identifying any plants she wanted to save as they cut and removed foliage as part of their workday.

The joint effort outreach to the local widow was suggested by Marion County Veterans Helping Veterans, which had worked with the veteran family previously. It was done in partnership with the national nonprofit Rebuilding Together and Lockheed Martin Corp.

Rebuilding Together is based in Washington, D.C. with 120 affiliates in 38 states and is the “ leading national nonprofit organization with a mission to repair the homes of people in need and revitalize our communities” with a focus on “low-income, veterans, people with disabilities, older adults or families,” according to its website.

An effort spearheaded by the Ocala Marion County Association of Realtors saw a 160-square-foot, fully outfitted “tiny house” donated to Stewart and placed on her property adjacent to her mobile home last year.

Hank Whittier, director of Marion County Veterans Helping Veterans, said the tiny house was a temporary measure. He said a question had arisen about zoning for the structure, which was towed onto the property from the Veterans Resource Center in Ocala following the presentation ceremony.

According to a Marion County spokesperson, “site-built tiny houses not less than 360 square feet meeting the Florida Building Code are only permitted for permanent residency” in the zoning categories mixed residential, general agriculture, improved, and residential agriculture estate.

Terry Scott, a former general contractor and 19-year veteran with Rebuilding Together including service in Super Storm Sandy, spearhead the workday on the site along with Whittier and Todd Belknap with Marion County Veterans Helping Veterans.

Marion County Fire Rescue provided an emergency medical team as a safety backup.

Scott told the volunteers before starting work that everyone deserves a “healthy home” and a primary need  was to “seal the envelope,” or roof of the mobile home, by having a contractor applying seal coat.

He told the volunteers to be safe and emphasized the need to hydrate.

Scott later showed materials on hand to apply up to three coats of sealant to the roof and heavy-duty plywood sheets for floor repair needed because of holes in the existing floor.

Scott said Lockheed Martin donated $20,000 for materials for the project. He said he could turn the donation into “four or five times” the value when the rakes, shovels, other tools and repair materials are used by the volunteers to complete the work.

Volunteer Kelly McCord with Lockheed Martin cleaned out weeds and cleared around a flower trellis. She understood how the cleanup could be a “hard day” in some respects for Stewart.

Stephanie O’Hagen, Stacey Hicks, Perry Chiarelli, Nick Perkins and Julie Doan were also part of the army of volunteers.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Veteran's widow gets help from Lockheed Martin Corp. employees