The Journal News from White Plains, New York • Page 6

July 23, 1997 JN Rockland Journal-News Local News Girl's seizures offer clue to mother's death OBITUARIES Monitor shows malfunction is, and likely was, in heart By Kathryn Winiarski Staff Writer Eleven-year-old Meaghan Hanney. of Garnerville was a month old when her mother died unexpectedly. Doctors knew blood had stopped pumping to Debra Hanney's brain, but could not explain why. When Meaghan began suffering seizures and fainting episodes at age 8, fear gripped the girl's household. That at least six deaths in Debra Hanney's family had been rapid and unexplained compounded that fear.

"At one point, it was getting worse and worse, and I would start fainting like two or three times a day," Meaghan said this week. "It got to the point that she couldn't function in school," added her father, Jimmy Hanney. "She was definitely at death's door." For more than two years, Jimmy Hanney dragged Meaghan to doctors and hospitals in Rockland and Westchester, as her seizures lasted longer and longer. By earlier this year, it was taking up to four minutes for her to emerge from a seizure. Several physicians diagnosed her with epilepsy, while others said her symptoms were psychosomatic.

A Suffern psychologist put her on Prozac at age 10, which made Jimmy Hanney uncomfortable. Relief finally arrived in January. Rockland pediatrician Dr. Samuel Berger referred the Hanneys to the Comprehensive Epilepsy Unit at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, and physicians hooked up Meaghan to a sophisticated surveillance sys- 66At one point, it was getting worse and worse, and I would start fainting like two or three times a day. 99 Meaghan Hanney Meaghan Hanney, 11, left, of Garnerville, Jimmy.

Meaghan has a heart condition became more frightening as the knowledge that Meaghan's and Erin's cause when Meaghan was only one tem. The 24-hour video monitor keeps track of a patient's brain waves and the electrical impulses to her heart. Meaghan had a seizure while under surveillance, and that was just what the doctor ordered. From viewing the videotape, it was immediately apparent that Meaghan suffered not from epilepsy which is characterized by abnormal electrical discharges in the brain but from a life-threatening cardiac disorder. That disorder is Congenital Long QT, abnormal conduction of electricity through the heart.

"We were looking at her going, 'Oh my God, it's not her brain, it's her said Dr. Steven Wolf, the pediatric neurologist who identified the problem. In Congenital Long QT, the heart stops beating for a few seconds, cutting blood flow and oxygen to the brain and triggering fainting and seizures. It is often misdiagnosed as epilepsy because the symptoms are the same, Wolf said. The videotape NO TOLL 25.

5 Free at last! A Workers remove some of the booths and barriers yesterday at the Spring Valley toll plaza on the New York State Thruway. The plaza is now toll-free for all passenger cars. Northbound traffic will still pass through these booths and barriers but only commercial vehicles will have to pay. This re-arrangement is the result of negotiations between the state Legislature, which wanted to eliminate the tolls at the plaza, and Gov. George Pataki, who insisted that the New York State Thruway Authority needed the millions of dollars annually generated there.

Hence, a compromise that allows passenger cars to go through free while commercial vehicles continue to pay. Staff photos by Diane Stevenson Marcia Markel, 45: retired county Health Department inspector Marcia Markel of Spring Valley died Monday, July 21, 1997, in the Dr. Robert L. Yeager Health Center in Ramapo. She was 45.

Miss Markel was born Feb. 10, 1952, in the Bronx to Arthur and Betty Jacob Markel. A 40-year resident of Rockland, Miss Markel retired in 1996 after working 18 years as a health inspector for the Rockland County Department of Health. She was a 1970 graduate of Ramapo High School and 1 a 1974 graduate of Findlay College in Ohio. She was an avid collector of art glass, her family said.

Miss Markel is survived by her mother, Betty, of Bradenton, her brother, Jeffrey, of Poughkeepsie; and two nephews and one niece. The funeral is at 2 p.m. today at the Hellman Memorial Chapels, 15 State St. in Spring Valley. Cremation follows.

The family will observe a period of mourning tonight and tomorrow night at 3 Meadowview Drive in Poughkeepsie. Memorial contributions may be made to United Hospice of Rockland, 18 Thiells-Mount Ivy Road, Pomona, N.Y. 10970. Catherine 'Kay' Kelly, 63: former consultant Catherine "Kay" Kelly of New City died Monday, July 21, 1997, at Nyack Hospital. She was 63.

Mrs. Kelly a born Sept. 14, 1933, in Brooklyn to John and Margaret Frances Cribbins Donnelly. She married Leo Philip Kelly in 1954 in Brooklyn. A 32-year resident of New City, she formerly lived in Manhattan.

Mrs. Kelly worked as a business office consultant for Nyack Hospital for 13 years. She is survived by her husband; a son, James of Boston; four daughters, Margaret M. of Charleston, S.C., Monica A. Rush of Seattle, Marie K.

Hickey of Wilmington, and Catherine K. Moreau of Pearl River; a brother, John' Donnelly of Trenton, N.J.; and six grandchildren. The wake is tomorrow afternoon at the Higgins Funeral Home, 321 S. Main St. in New City.

A Mass of Christian burial is at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church in New City. Burial follows in St. Anthony's Cemetery in Nanuet.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, 1 Executive Suffern, N.Y. 10901, or United Hospice of Rockland, 18 ThiellsMount Ivy Road, Pomona, N.Y. 10970. Woodrow W. Felter, 75: retired carpenter; World War II veteran Catherine "Kay" Kelly Woodrow W.

Felter of Pomona died Sunday, July 20, 1997, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern. He was 75. Mr. Felter was born March 16, 1922, in Warwick, N.Y., to William and Bertha Decker Felter. A 15-year resident of the Dr.

Robert L. Yeager Health Center, he formerly lived in Stony Point for about 25 years. A World War II Navy veteran, Mr. Felter was a member of Leo Laders American Legion Post 130 of West Haverstraw. He retired in 1980 as a carpenter with Local 964 after about 25 years.

Mr. Felter is survived by six sons, William of Clintondale, N.Y., Vincent of Stony Point, Frank of West Nyack, David Bloomingburg, N.Y., Richard of Colorado and Edward of Saugerties, N.Y.; two daughters, Ann Marie Wall of Highland Falls, N.Y., and Theresa Felter of Bloomingburg; three sisters, Isabelle Brooks and Evelyn Felter, both of Warwick, and Dorothy Bovee of Michigan; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be at 4:30 p.m. today at Michael J. Higgins Funeral Service, 321 S.

Main New City. Burial is private. NATIONAL DISCOUNT CASKET New Federal law allows casket sales direct to consumer. Save up to off Funeral Home prices. Shewreen open 18-2 or ay Appointment 1-800-4 CASKET 30 Chestnut Street, Suffern, New York 10901 John J.

Murphy, 69: Con Edison dispatcher TALE Steven Dolinsky sister, Erinn, 13, and their father, misdiagnosed for years. The situation added pressure was the from a similar, but mysterious, that were unheard of just eight months ago. She swims, skates and bicycles with her 13-year-old sister, Erinn. She will begin Farley Middle School in September, and doesn't anticipate having to miss class anymore. Taking two 80 mg pills daily even if it will be for the rest of her life is a small price to pay for normality, she said.

"I feel a lot better," Meaghan said Monday. Meaghan returns to Montefiore every three months for a checkup. Meanwhile, her cousins and other family members have been alerted to get examinations as well, because this disorder runs in families, Wolf said. In fact, Wolf said that the 11- year mystery of Debra Hanney's death can probably now be put to rest. "Our feeling is this is definitely what her mother died of," Wolf said.

"All they saw in the autopsy was she lost blood supply to the brain." rot John J. Murphy of Suffern died Tuesday, July 22, 1997, in Good Samaritan Hospital. He was 69. Mr. Murphy was born May 6, 1928, in New York City to John and Mollie Prendergast Murphy.

He married Margaret McGirr in 1952 in Corpus Christi Roman Catholic 'Church in New York City. Mr. Murphy was a dispatcher for Con Edison in New York City. A 29-year resident of Suffern, he formerly lived in the Bronx. He was a Marine Corps sergeant and a veteran of the Korean War.

Mr. Murphy is survived by his wife, Margaret; his daughter, Maureen, and four sons, John, Patrick, Michael and Daniel, all of Suffern; his brother, Eugene, of Malverne, N.Y.; his sister, Eileen Hunt, of Roseland, N.J.; and one grandchild. The wake is today at the Scarr Funeral Home on Route 202 in Suffern. A Mass of Christian burial is 10 a.m. tomorrow at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, 125 Lafayette Ave.

in Suffern. Burial follows in Ascension Cemetery in Airmont. has some fun skating I with her that causes seizures but was seizures increased but what really created mother, Debra, died unexpectedly month old. enabled him to discern between the disorders. Jimmy Hanney said that Meaghan's life was saved by the diagnoses from Wolf and pediatric cardiologist Dr.

Christine Walsh. Today, Meaghan is an active 11- year-old, aided only by beta blocker medication. She has been taking the medication, which normalizes the heart's electrical system, since Jan. 15. "This stabilizes the electricity that controls the pumping of the heart, and prevents it from getting out of rhythm," Wolf said.

Meaghan can do things today 66We were looking at her going, 'Oh my God, it's not her brain, it'sher 99 Dr. Steven Wolf, the pediatric neurologist who identified the problem Mary A. Dunko, 96: New City homemaker Mary A. Dunko of New City died Tuesday, July 22, 1997, at the Friedwald House in New City. She was 96.

Mrs. Dunko was born Oct. 26, 1900, in what is now Slovakia to Martin and Anna Fortuna Yokley. She married John Dunko in 1923 in Tuxedo Park, N.Y. A four-year resident of New City, she formerly lived in Bardonia and Tuxedo Park.

Mrs. Dunko is survived by a son, J. Anthony of Long Island; two daughters, Helen Cain of New City and Mary Lippielo of North Carolina; seven grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren. Her husband died in May 1993. The wake is tomorrow at the Higgins Funeral Home, 321 S.

Main St. in New City. A Mass of Christian burial is at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church in Nanuet.

Burial follows in the church cemetery. LIST OF DEATHS KELLY, Catherine "Kay" of New City, NY, on July 21, 1997. Beloved wife of Leo Philip Kelly. Dear mother of Margaret M. Kelly and David Kurtz, Monica A.

and Jason Rush, Marie K. and Edward Hickey, Catherine K. and Gerald Moreau, and James and Jackie Kelly. Grandmother of John Kurtz, Isis and Angus Rush, and Paul, Eric and Peter Moreau. Also survived by brother and sister-in-law, John and Elizabeth Donnelly and niece, Margaret Donnelly, Mass of Christian Burial, Friday, 11:00 AM, at St.

Augustine's Church, New City, NY. Burial, St. Anthony's Cemetery, Nanuet, NY. VISITING at HIGGIN'S FUNERAL HOME, 321 S. Main New City, NY, on THURSDAY FROM 2-4 and DONATIONS TO UNITED HOSPICE: OF ROCKLAND, 5 PARKVIEW PLAZA, POMONA, NY OR AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY, 1 EXECUTIVE BLVD, SUFFERN, NY 1901.

IN MEMORIAM BARBERA, Thomas L. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMMY We Love And Miss You Very Much. Love Always, Mom, Donna, Pamela and Elizabeth. GLEASON, Edward R. Jr.

25 years in Heaven A million times we've missed you, A million times we've cried, If love could have saved you, You never would have died. Things we feel most deeply, Are the hardest things to say, Our dearest one, we have loved you In a very special way. We often sit and think of you, And think of how you died. To think we couldn't say "goodbye" Before you closed your eyes. No one could know our loneliness And no one could see us weeping, All our tears from aching hearts, While others are still sleeping.

If we had one lifetime wish, A dream that could come true, We'd pray to God with all our hearts, For yesterday, and you. Your loving wife, Janet, son Edward, daughters Marie and Debbie MANGANARO, Beverly Miss you very much. I know it's only been three years but you were the best Mom in the whole world and the Number One Yankee Fan. Husband John, sons Bob Jack, daughter in law Pam, grandchildren Bobby Kevin and Valerie SPECIAL NOTICES NOVENA TO ST. CLARE Ask St.

Clare for 3 favors, 1 business and 2 impossible. Say 9 Hail Marys for 9 consecutive day, if you have faith or not. Pray with a lit candle. Let it burn 'til the end and on the 9th day, publish this notice. C.F.

THANK YOU ST. CLARE For answering my prayers. C.F. rot CARD OF THANKS FITZULA, Thirza Roy Sheldon (Nov 6, 1921-Jul 12, 1997) We wish to thank all our relatives and friends for their love, prayers and kindness during the recent passing of our beloved Thirza. Our family is deeply touched by the many ways you displayed your affection.

You truly showed how special she was to so many. With heartfelt appreciation, Michael Fitzula and Family LAUDER, Joan E. The children of Joan E. Lauder would to thank all the friends and neighbors for their warm and heartfelt sympathy. We wish to extend our thanks to those of you who have expressed your sympathy in SO many thoughtful ways.

Your kindness will always be remembered. Our very sincere thanks, Joan, Jackie, Carole, Lillian and Scotty.