PICKLEBALL PLAYER

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B practices every Wednesday with her Special Olympics coach at Veterans Memorial Park in Winter Garden for about an hour and 15 minutes.

“People there are wonderful, because pickleball is very hard to get a court and people are now very patient,” Karen Endre said. “They are really good with our kids, even to a point where … we’ve had some people let our athletes play in with them, rotate in. So, they are playing with them, so it’s really neat. From a Winter Garden angle, it’s just nice that the community is really embracing our athletes.”

For her first pickleball invitational, Alex Endre will be playing in the unified category — where people with and without intellectual disabilities are placed on the same team.

Special Impact

At the beginning — more than 20 years ago — Alex Endre was simply an athlete involved in Special Olympics. Today, she is an advocate and a leader within the movement.

“I’m a health messenger,” she said.

“The Special Olympics has the competition part, and they also have a leadership part,” Karen Endre said. “So, the leadership program is that Alex is a special health messenger, and she is helping spread the word around hygiene and advocating for yourself with doctors. Wearing sunscreen, I mean, some things that (may) be very simple and basic, but (her) advocating was when COVID-19 came around and people with Down syndrome were considered a high-risk category.

“So, it’s those kind of things, and really advocating for people with intellectual disabilities and getting them the care and whatever they need,” Karen Endre said.

The impact Special Olympics has made in the Endre household has been monumental, as Alex’s twin brother, Nick, has become involved and is now helping with all the logistics that make the events what they are — special for everyone who participates.

“There are so many specialneeds people (who) don’t have friends,” Karen Endre said. “It’s very difficult in this community because often parents are working and so it’s hard to find any place where your kids can go and be safe. Special Olympics is a place where they can be safe, they meet new friends. It’s really a community.” doing at home every day and then I also had a machine that I was using daily for four to six hours that was bending my knee for me.”

Friedman is truly hoping to go back to the softball field in the future, knee permitting. Despite all the physical therapy and the hospital visits however, she maintains a 4.0 GPA and keeps track of all her classes.

“She still has goals and she still has opportunities to achieve those goals,” her dad Matt Friedman said. “That’s playing Division I softball, that’s playing in an Ivy League (school). … Academically, we have no doubt she’ll be successful. Our hope is that she can get back out there on the field if that’s what she wants to do, but it’s up to her.”

Before the year started — and all the doctor appointments rolled in — Friedman had already realized she wants to become a surgeon later in life. This experience however, kind of magnified that inkling for her.

“I think it’s kind of really more of a reason that I should be a surgeon,” she said. “Because I feel like maybe I’ll be able to relate to people, especially those who have an ongoing issue that they may not be able to fix.”

National Down Syndrome Day

In 2012, the General Assembly officially declared March 21 World Down Syndrome Day to raise public awareness about it. According to the United Nations website, “The estimated incidence of Down syndrome is between 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 1,100 live births worldwide,” and approximately 3,000 to 5,000 children are born with the Down syndrome chromosome disorder.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS

According to its website, it’s a global movement “of people creating a new world of inclusion and community, where every single person is accepted and welcomed, regardless of ability or disability.”

ALEX RECOGNITIONS

Alex has won several accolades within her involvement in Special Olympics. In 2019, she competed in the Special Olympics USA Games in Seattle and won gold with her swim team and bronze in the individual category for breaststroke.

PUBLIX PACKING

Alex Endre has been a Publix employee for 10-and-one-half years. She works at the Publix located in Dr. Phillips.

DIED

James “Jim” Joseph Tramonte, 63, of Winter Garden, Florida, passed away peacefully on Thursday, March 9, 2023, at Mike Conley Hospice House, Clermont, Florida. Jim was born on Sept. 30, 1959, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, to the late Sam and Doris Ann (Godfrey) Tramonte.

Jim moved to Florida at the age of 3 years old with his parents to Merritt Island, Florida, and eventually moved to Orlando, Florida.

After graduating high school, he started working for Quality Vaults and Monuments and Metro Crematory, of Ocoee, Florida. Eventually he managed these companies for his father-in-law, Richard Boetcher, for many years.

After Richard retired, Jim became the owner of the companies and expanded into Lake Wales and DeLand. Jim was respected by his employees and industry colleagues and all who knew him.

Jim was a very giving person and made many charitable contributions to his community. Jim loved the outdoors, hiking, hunting, fishing and taking RV road trips. He enjoyed his time with his family and friends, and his loving puppies Lacy and Lily and the late Bella.

Jim is survived by his wife, Susan K. Schneider Tramonte; and children, son, Christian Schneider Tramonte, of Winter Garden, Florida, daughters, Samantha and husband Travis Stewart of Apopka, Florida, Janell Tramonte of Cocoa Beach Florida, sons, Alex Hafid of Mount Dora, Florida, and Aaron Christiansen of Orlando, Florida one brother, Jeffrey Tramonte and wife Sharon of Winter Garden, Florida; and many loving aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 24, 2023, at Winter Oak Funeral Home, 1132 E. Plant St., Winter Garden, FL; and funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 25, 2023, at People of Faith Lutheran Church, 228 Windermere Road, Winter Garden, FL 34787. Pastor Rick Kristoff will officiate the service. Burial will follow at Taylor Memorial Cemetery. Funeral arrangements are in the caring guidance of Winter Oak Funeral Home.

DAVID WAYNE MATHEWS

DIED MARCH 3, 2023.

David Wayne Mathews, 70, passed away on March 3, 2023. David was the middle child to Joe and Eva Mathews of Winter Garden, Florida, born on May 28, 1952, in Orlando, Florida. David was a graduate of Lakeview High School, Class of 1971, and of Florida Southern, Bachelor of Science, Class of 1981. He was employed by C.G. Tilden Estate Groves for 25 years. He transitioned into agriculture research for the last 20 years after the fall of citrus from the area.

David was married to Carol Farnsworth for 33 years until her passing in 2008. He remained a devote widower for the rest of his life, having met his life- long partner at Lakeview High School.

David is survived by his son, Douglas Farnsworth Mathews, and wife (Kathryn) and two beautiful granddaughters, Mary Tilden “Tilly” and Tyler Mae Mathews, who he spoiled every chance he had. He is also survived by his sisters, Sandra Chissoe and Melanie Brown, as well as his older brother, Danny Mathews. He was predeceased by his father, mother and brother Dennis.

Services for David will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, April 14, 2023, at First United Methodist Church of Winter Garden. Reception to follow in the Fellowship Hall at the church. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Doctors Without Borders, one of David’s favorite charities.