HAVE A CUP OF JOE WITH JOE – Emily (Em) Stefanczyk & The DeMarco Family Of Doctors
For this column I introduce Emily (Em) Stefanczyk (nee Lauzon), an extraordinary 82-year-old woman.
Before diving into her story, I am presenting a brief background for context on the DeMarco family, a local family of seven doctors. Their journey began with Dr. Frank G. DeMarco (1919 to 2012), a respected General Practitioner for 55 years.
Among Dr. Frank G. DeMarco’s nine children are Dr. Paul DeMarco (Dentist) and Dr. Frank S. DeMarco, a General Practitioner who also spent 22 years working in emergency rooms in Windsor’s four hospitals.
Dr. Frank S. DeMarco is married to Dr. Donna Brode, a long serving Dentist with a practice in Forest Glade. They have three children: Dr. Frank J. DeMarco, Dr. Kristen DeMarco (both of whom practice with their father at 1275 Walker Road in Windsor, while Kristen also works as a Hospitalist in Windsor’s hospitals), and Dr. Andrew DeMarco, a Dentist in practice with his mother at 3075 Forest Glade Drive.
It is against this back story of the seven DeMarco family doctors that I present Em, one of eight Lauzon children born and raised in Windsor. As a young teenager Em attended Ursuline College Chatham (better known as The Pines). In her early years she was considering a religious vocation as a nun, but by the time she completed grade 11 she decided to “kick the habit” (sorry, I could not resist!) and returned to Windsor. She applied for work at Hôtel-Dieu Hospital on Ouellette Avenue and assisted staff in the Delivery Room and then later, worked in the Fracture Room.
On a day Dr. Frank G. DeMarco was at the hospital, he offered Em a job to replace a woman in his office who was leaving. She agreed and this began her 52-year tenure with the DeMarco family spanning three
generations.
Working in Dr. Frank G. DeMarco’s practice at 929 Wyandotte Street East, an old small house converted for use as a medical office, she recalls: “I worked hard and wasn’t lazy. I loved my job. I opened the office each day, found out which patients were coming in and prepared the exam room for them and the doctor.”
In July 1979, the practice expanded with Dr. Frank S. DeMarco joining his father’s practice. Em was now working with two Dr. Frank DeMarcos!
In 1989 the practice moved to brand new office space at the northwest corner of Walker Road and Ottawa Street. Dr. Frank G. DeMarco, now in his 70s, continued practicing with his son, until his retirement. Over the following years a number of other doctors practiced here, oftentimes bringing their own staff.
Currently, there are eight doctors at DeMarco and Associates Family Medicine.
“It got to be a pretty busy place and the office was physically expanded,” Em comments.
In 2018, Dr. Frank J. DeMarco joined his father’s practice and his sister, Dr. Kristen DeMarco joined in 2020. And now Em was working with three Dr. DeMarcos!
Reflecting on her 52 years of work with the medical practice, she explains: “I loved all the patients, particularly if they were really sick. What can I do to help them? I love children and I tried to comfort them
and put them at ease. I just love and care for people.”
Em was married to Wademar “Wally” Stefanczyk for 46 years. The couple did not have any children. Wally died in 2011 after a long battle with cancer, with Em by his side at all times.
Corinne Davis, Em’s niece, offers this insight: “Auntie Em had three sisters with severe disabilities who she cared for throughout their lives — taking them to all their medical appointments, recreational outings,
and frequently having them over to her home. Em lifted their wheelchairs and loaded and unloaded them into her vehicle by herself. She just loved those girls, just loved being able to be there for them.”
I am personally blessed to have had Dr. Frank S. DeMarco as my family doctor for more than 40 years, and Em has been a huge positive influence in my life.
This woman, diminutive in physical stature, possesses an enlarged heart filled with care and love for everyone. Compassion and loving people is in her DNA. Health concerns have resulted in her retirement from the DeMarco practice. I will miss her hugs and smiles in future appointments.
As Dr. Frank S. DeMarco recounts: “Em has had a remarkably close relationship with every patient in the practice and was concerned about their well-being and welfare — every patient. She was very much a part of the DeMarco family — she worked for my father, and then with me and now with my son and daughter who are part of the practice. She has been a great asset to the practice of medicine and a great person in our lives.”
Dr. Kristen DeMarco recalls: “I remember I was bitten by a dog when I was 11 and had a big bandage and I had to come here to my father’s office to get it changed every day for two weeks. Em was so caring and
super gentle with my hair and my ear. She is such a favourite of the patients in the practice.”
And Dr. Frank J. DeMarco adds: “Everyone who comes into the office even to this day asks: ‘Where is Emily’? She was always the first one to see patients when they came in and the last one to see them as they were about to leave, and helped them on their way. She worked with so many of my grandfather’s and my father’s patients and has seen them grow up. She still visits us whenever she can and it’s wonderful that we still have her in our lives.”
On behalf of the three generations of DeMarco doctors and the countless patients Em served and cared for in the past 52 years, I conclude this tribute to her with the final two lines of Simon & Garfunkel’s 1966
hauntingly beautiful ballad, For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her . . . “Oh, I love you girl. Oh, I love you . . .”
