The Pope High School football community is rallying behind one of its leading figures.
Tom Stuetzer, whose sons played for the Greyhounds and who’s been active as a youth coach and official with the program’s booster club, has been diagnosed with an incurable form of dementia at the age of 51 and is facing major medical bills.
Stuetzer is battling behavioral variant frontal temporal dementia (FTD), and friends have set up a fundraiser for some of those expenses.
Stuetzer had to leave his job as the CFO of a DIY art and craft supply company last summer due to his illness, and health insurance doesn’t cover all of the expenses.
The GoFundMe campaign thus far has nearly $155,000; according to the fundraising message Stuetzer can no longer drive or be left alone for extended periods of time. The message also lays out the details of the estimated expenses for his care.
“We would love to see our football family help the Stuetzer family in this time of need,” said a message on the Pope Football Facebook page Tuesday afternoon.
“They are trying to prepare to a future of full time care. We are also asking for prayers of healing and support for Tom and his family.”
Stuetzer and his wife Kerri have athletic backgrounds. He played football at Wake Forest, and she is a member of the Dunwoody High School sports Hall of Fame.
Stuetzer has been involved in coaching in the Pope youth football feeder program and had served on the board and been president of the Pope Touchdown Club.
They are the parents of three children, Ryan (25), Katelynn (22), and John (19). The boys played football and baseball for the Greyhounds, and the youngest is currently on the baseball team at Florida State. Katelynn is a former lacrosse player at Pope who attends Clemson University.
“As the disease has progressed, the children have stepped into roles no young adults expect to carry so early,” the GoFundMe message states. “They help manage finances, schedules, appointments, research, and daily logistics. They advocate for their father, support their mother, and share responsibility for navigating the roadmap ahead, all while working and building their own lives.
Related:
- Walton Hall of Fame class includes former Little League star
- East Cobb football stars earn Touchdown Club all-state honors
- East Cobb high school athletes sign college scholarships
- Longtime Pope football coach retires after 50-year career
- Walton volleyball teams earns ‘Sweet 16’ state championship
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