This year in the Bike MS ride, I will be riding for my Uncle Roland who passed away in 2009 after a 40+ year battle with MS. Below is a little bit about his life. I am incredibly honored to be able to represent my Uncle as well as my Aunt and family members that were on the journey with him. Please help support my fundraising efforts by clicking here.
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Roland Dalton was born November 29, 1940, in Circleville, Utah. He married Maurine Robinson, August 21, 1959 in Circleville, Utah. Roland and Maurine have three (3) children Roland Lee Dalton, Greg Dalton and Claudia Ann Merino, 8 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren.
He was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (M.S.) when he was 27 years old. Roland was diagnosed with M.S. in the 1960’s prior to all of the medications they have today to treat the symptoms for M.S. After a courageous battle with M.S., Roland passed away on July 31, 2009. Roland dealt with the unpredictable and disabling M.S. disease for 40 plus years.
He did not let the disease get in his way of living his life. He stayed active as much as he could before the disease completely paralyzed him. He enjoyed riding horses, snowmobiling, boating, fishing, and hunting before the disease took his mobility away from him. His pride and joy was his family who surrounded him with love throughout his life. His greatest joy was spending time with his kids and grandkids. Being surrounded by his loving family brought happiness and purpose to his life. His second greatest love was watching sports. His favorite teams were the Colorado Rockies, Utah Jazz, BYU Cougars and the Utah Ute’s.
M.S. is a disease of the central nervous system that interrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body parts it does not send the messages to move the body parts. Millions of people are affected by MS and the challenges of living with its unpredictable symptoms. It not only affects the person with M.S. but also the family members. Roland’s wife was his caretaker for 40 plus years. She did an amazing job in taking care of Roland. His family is forever grateful to Maurine for her many years of taking care of Roland even though it was not easy on her mentally or physically.
We are grateful to Elaine for riding in M.S. bike ride to raise funds to change the world for everyone affected by M.S. M.S. is an unpredictable disease, while science has come a long way in understanding and treating MS, there is still so much more to do. Thankfully, scientists and physicians are hard at work researching treatments and searching for a cure. Every step matters to the people with the disease and their family members. Every dollar counts. Every person makes a difference. THANK YOU!
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Elaine Lewis, LMT 