ROANOKE, Va. – The Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital is grieving over the loss of two employees who died this week.
Douglas Martin’s smile no longer greets people at the main entrance of the hospital, but his chair is not empty.
In his memory, bouquets of roses now sit where he worked for nearly 64 years.
“He would bring roses,” Carilion Clinic CEO Nancy Howell Agee said. “I was the happy recipient myself, every spring. He would bring lots of people roses and it was just a part of the gift of Doug.”
She said Martin is the most dedicated person she knows.
He only took one day off in his entire career and on his off time—Martin would clean the hospital’s wheelchairs.
“He was a big man,” she said. “Had big hands and could give great hugs. He always wore a white Stetson hat. And he greeted every single person as if they were the most important persons in the world.”
Mike McKenna also passed away recently.
He served as an ER nurse and a unit director for the emergency department at the hospital for nearly 20 years.
“An amazing leader,” Agee said. “A fabulous nurse. A dear friend who had been here for quite a long time. And his passing is especially hard as well.”