The Jonathan Lax Center's former nurse manager Rebecca Barnebey passed peacefully July 23, 2010, surrounded as she had been for weeks by friends and family. This is a sad loss for our FIGHT family, and we all join in mourning this death. Rebecca brought many strengths to the Lax Center in the years she was our nurse manager, and she was loved by patients and staff alike. We extend our deepest condolences to her husband Dennis Barnebey, and to all her family.

While Rebecca worked at FIGHT she contributed these thoughts to our website:

"I joined FIGHT as a full time employee in October of 2006. During that month, the staff gathered to honor those patients who had passed during the previous year. As each persons name was mentioned, a staff member spoke in tribute. As we shared in these incredible stories of sadness, of joy, of lives lived with hardship, pain, loneliness, and love, we cried and we laughed together. I knew I was in the right place. I had found a workplace where there was a community of supportive providers able to see and honor the beauty of each patient.

I have worked as a nurse in hospitals, schools, residential settings, summer camps, and private homes. In no other setting have I had the privilege to work where ALL of my co-workers share the level of devotion and commitment to patients lives that I continue to find at FIGHT.

I would just add my sincere appreciation and thanks to each person living with the virus and FIGHTing to make healthier choices every day."