PC: Fox 11 Online
PESHTIGO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A man who arguably has had many setbacks in life, didn’t let his physical limitations keep him from his love of the outdoors.
On Saturday, family, friends, and members of his care team gathered for a dedication of a cabin in his memory.
The man, Harvey Stank, had been a resident of the Rennes Health and Rehab Center in Peshtigo East for nearly a decade.
Although he was wheelchair-bound and burn injuries took away his fingers, he persevered; spending hours every day just north of the facility, outside.
“His typical day, I think was he’d spend a couple of hours in the morning reading his bible, prayer, and then by noon he’d want to be out in the woods,” said Harvey’s oldest son, Layne.
“Sometimes he stayed out, he says ‘I stayed out ’till dark! 9 at night!’ He’d come to the window, tap on the window, the nurse would let him in,” Layne says with a laugh.
Despite his limitations, Harvey managed to clear walking paths, build a deer feed, and even build a bridge.
His final project was to build a cabin inside the park, before he passed, Harvey had already worked to clear a space, started the footings, and worked out his plan.
Although he was unable to see his vision come to fruition, those who knew him stepped in to make his dream a reality.
“He used the woods as almost therapy for him, he was in a wheelchair, he had one leg, and he had no use of his fingers. And somehow he would come out here and adapt tools and things like that to make all this happen. It was pretty miraculous to see him do it,” says Brandon Williams with the Rennes Center.
“He definitely left a legacy of being resilient even when the worst things happen. And he somehow came through and did something amazing with what he had.”
The new area is now known as “Harvey’s Deer Park.”
It’s an area he called his own little slice of heaven.
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