Cancer leads Joliet Army veteran to service twice over

A prostate cancer diagnosis was why Joliet Army veteran Skip Hoechbauer reached out to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 2009.

Palliative care for Stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma, a rare bile duct cancer, led Hoechbauer to join the veterans program at Lightways Hospice and Serious Illness Care in Joliet in March 2023. He’s also facilitated monthly veterans groups at various locations.

“I love helping veterans and making them feel they’re not forgotten,” Hoechbauer said.

One of the worst things you can be is forgotten.”

—  Skip Hoechbauer, quartermaster at Stone City VFW Post 2199 in Joliet and and a volunteer for Lightways’ We Honor Veterans program

Hoechbauer, 76, is the quartermaster at Stone City VFW Post 2199 in Joliet and a volunteer for Lightways’ We Honor Veterans program. This national program, overseen by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the Department of Veterans Affairs, trains hospice care workers “of the unique needs of veterans at the end of life,” said Chris McCarthy, volunteer manager at Lightways.

McCarthy said Hoechbauer shares companionship and stories with veterans. Hoechbauer helps Lightways with special events and “provides pinning recognition ceremonies to thank each veteran for their service,” she said.

Through these activities Hoechbauer “helps make hospice a positive place for patients and their families,” McCarthy said.

“Skip has a caring heart that helps make a difference in the lives of so many veterans,” McCarthy said. “We are so happy to have him as part of the team.”

At the end of the day, Hoechbauer said he only wants to know one thing.

“Did I make a difference?” he said.

Hoechbauer served as a combat engineer in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969. But raising a family and traveling internationally for his job – Hoechbauer worked for a food-processing equipment company – kept him plenty busy.

But when Hoechbauer received his prostate cancer diagnosis, a co-worker suggested that he contact the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs because of his exposure to Agent Orange, Hoechbauer said.

Hoechbauer was hesitant. He’d submitted a claim in 1970 that was delayed and delayed again. But he took the suggestion, and this time a service officer from the VFW in Chicago helped Hoechbauer with the process.

“I felt so obligated, I had to pay it back,” Hoechbauer said. “I actually picked Cantigny because my father-in-law was a member there.”

Hoechbauer said he served as Cantigny’s post commander for a year. He moved his membership to Harry E. Anderson VFW Post 9545 because he was living in Mokena at the time, he said.

“I was on the honor guard there for a couple of years,” he said. “And then I had a job transfer and moved up to Wisconsin for about five years. When I came back, I joined Stone City in 2016.”

[ Stone City VFW Post 2199 in Joliet honors Elwood social studies teacher ]

At Stone City, Hoechbauer served as chaplain, service officer, weapons officer and essay chairman for the VFW’s “Voice of Democracy” essay contest for high school students. He said he also “fought long and hard” against the impact of truck traffic at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.

Hoechbauer said he could not stand “the idea of trying to desecrate a national symbol.”

“It was quite close to my heart,” he said.

In July, Hoechbauer became Stone City’s quartermaster and is working with post leaders to reassess financial priorities and help grow the post’s auxiliary. Like many organizations, Stone City is struggling with higher utility bills and taxes along with an aging and declining membership, Hoechbauer said.

“So, now I’m training a new chaplain,” he said.

Hoechbauer said he learned about Lightways and its veterans program from the palliative care he received during “intense” chemotherapy treatments that greatly affected his quality of life.

“And now that I have the challenges with my own health, I look at the pinning program as just another point of my experience that I can bring to the pinning,” Hoechbauer said.

During his visits, Hoechbauer lets the veterans lead the conversation.

“That’s what it’s all about,” he said. “One of the worst things you can be is forgotten. So they talk. And we just listen.”