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Robert D. Hepburn, Jr., age 73 of Penfield, PA died Friday, September 2, 2022 at Penn Highlands DuBois Hospital.
 
Born on July 5, 1949 in Clearfield, PA, he was the son of the late Robert D. and Berna (Waite) Hepburn, Sr.
 
On October 31, 1985, he married Gloria (Lansberry) Hepburn. She survives.
 
He was a veteran of the United States Marine Corps having served in the Vietnam War.  Bob was the recipient of numerous combat ribbons and medals including a Purple Heart and the Presidential Unit Citation.
 
Bob was a fully disabled veteran and in his working years, he was a carpenter.
 
He was a member of both the George D. Montgomery American Legion Post 17 in DuBois and the John Shade American Legion Post 6 in Clearfield.   He was a life member of the Penfield Fireman’s Club, and was a member of the James J. Patterson Post 813 VFW.  He loved woodworking, collecting blue cobalt glass, and more importantly, taking care of “his girls”.
 
He is survived by 2 daughters (Tonya Scruggs & her husband Michael of Brockport, PA and Heather Hepburn of DuBois, PA) 5 grandchildren (Mercedes, Juliet, & Adrianna Hepburn, and Cody & Austin Scruggs), 3 brothers (Harry Hepburn & his wife Jackie, Jack Hepburn & his wife Deb, and Randy Hepburn & his wife Tassy), a sister (Bobbie Jo Schultz & her husband Ken) and a sister-in-law (Gina Hepburn).
 
He was preceded in death by 2 brothers (David & Kenneth Hepburn).
 
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, September 7, 2022 from 4 to 7 pm at the Baronick Funeral Home & Crematorium, Inc
 
A funeral service will be held on Thursday, September 8, 2022 at 11 am from the funeral home with Pastor Terry Felt officiating.
 
Full military honors will be accorded from the funeral home by the members of the DuBois Area Honor Guard.
 
Although flowers are appreciated, in lieu of flowers the family would like memorials to be placed with the Penfield Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 53, Penfield, PA 15849.
 
Online condolences can be made to http://baronickfuneralhome.com/obituaries

Thank you, to everyone who has followed along with Faith Marie’s journey to reach a year old!! The majority of us learned what Trisomy 18 is. We also learned that “Trisomy 18 is a Diagnosis, Not a Prognosis.” We have no idea what the future holds, we will go day by day. Everything is in God’s Hands, His plans & His time. 🙏🏻💜🙏🏻

Happy 1st birthday Faith Marie!!

Faith Marie turned 9 months today!!

Yesterday was Faith Marie’s 8th month birthday. She is 13# & 24 1/2” long. She loves most baby foods, loves to “talk”, & knows who is talking to her. She has been learning so much stuff this past month. Her appt in Pitts went well, so well in fact, the Drs said that Faith would live past her 1st birthday.  With all the prayers this little girl has in our area, state, and country, God hears them, and He has healed most of the problems she was born with! Thank you Jesus!!
 

Had Faith entered in the Most Beautiful Baby in Elk Co at the fair last week. Brandi & I took Faith to her first Fair, plus you had to be there when they announced the winners. The pic with the wings is the one that was on her can you put money in it to cast your vote. ❤️

Yes she has, isn’t it wonderful!! She is starting to eat baby food now, she loves applesauce!! The rice flakes helped put weight on her also.
Brandi said every time a hole closed in her heart, she would go through a growth spurt. The last time it happened was when she grew 2” in 1 month, but they didn’t know the hole closed!!
Faith Marie has one more hole, it usually requires surgery to close it. She is hungry a lot, wants held more, sleepy, etc. These are all the same things she did a couple months back when she had that big growth spurt. We are all praying that the last hole closed up!! We won’t know till the end of this month. 🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻

Faith is 11 1/2 # as of last Saturday night. I got a phone call an hour ago asking if I could watch her till 4. 😍 ❤️
Here are a few pics I just took.

Papa with Faith Marie,  Faith smiling,  Faith Marie imitating Muhammad Ali,  Brandi reunited with Faith after work.

Today Faith Marie is 3 months old. She is 8# & wearing 0-3 mo clothing.

Brandi took a pic of Faith Marie from about a month ago & put it side by side with her 1 month old pic. ❤️

This was her Valentine pics her mom sent us yesterday. ❤️❤️❤️

Today Faith Marie is 1 month old. ❤️ 🙏🏻 ❤️ We are told that her odds of making it to a yr old go up if she made it to a month old. I say she has the same odds as the rest of us. When God calls us home, we go.
 

As told by her mother Brandi...
So many of you have been wondering how Faith is doing. Thank you all for your thoughts prayers and support through this journey. Faith had a rough start since being brought into this world and been through more than most adults. She was born full term via c section due to being breech. Her head was under my ribs and she wouldn’t turn. When she came out she did pretty well Tuesday then on Wednesday she started having episodes of apnea. Her brain wasn’t sending signals to her lungs to breathe. She was put on a cpap then by Thursday she was placed on a ventilator. Friday we were told that she has trisomy 18, Edwards Syndrome which is a rare chromosomal defect. There is no cure, no fix, it just is. These babies have short life spans. They are lucky if they live past the first 6-9days of life. 
By Saturday the ventilator was doing all the breathing for her and Deryk and I had to make a heart breaking decision. That’s not a life living on a vent for the rest of her days. 
But our little girl wasn’t done fighting yet, she was not done living! The vent was discontinued, she opened her eyes and breathed! She was placed on monitors to track her oxygen, heart rate and respiration’s. We waited another week to see how she would do. No more episodes of apnea! We went through a week of education and learning how to care for once she came home. Our hope was restored! She would come home! Our Faith is now 2 weeks old and defying the odds! Our Faith is a true testimony that there is power in prayer! ❤️
I also have to say that the staff at Penn Highlands DuBois NICU and maternity are amazing people! We couldn’t have gotten this far without them! They went above and beyond their call of duty and made whatever accommodations for Faith, us and our family. They have been a God send for us and we are forever grateful to them. 💝