Lillian Reid Woodward was born at 4:12pm on September 27, 2012 and due to an accident during labor, was without oxygen for too long and was pronounced brain-dead. She lived for 28 hours off life support until she finally passed at 8:35pm on September 28, 2012. Many decisions had to be made that her parents, Adam Woodward and Niki Larson, were not expecting to have to make upon going into the hospital to deliver their daughter. The cost of a Funeral Service and Burial never entered their minds. It was at the funeral home, when having to pick out a casket for a baby, that the idea for this Foundation took seed. If you've never been to a baby's funeral, the standard casket is a 12-24 in. It looked too much like a cooler to Niki and Adam. Adam asked "If their was anything more feminine that they could look at". The director said "Sure, but the price goes up considerably". Adam turned to Niki and said, "There will be no prom dresses, we won't be able to buy her a car, pay for college or a wedding...I really want her to have the prettiest casket we can find." After all the arrangements were made and on their way back to their car, Adam stated that no family should ever have to settle for something less than what they want for their child, based on cost. to help pay for this, you don't think about these things for an infant and you don't have money set aside. Through various online support groups that Niki joined, she learned how many babies have unmarked graves because the cost of a headstone is so great. Adam also witnessed this in the cemetery where Lillian is buried, he wanted to buy headstones for all the babies that didn't have one. That's when they decided to not only offer financial support for burial/cremation/memorial services, but for headstones as well. Lillian's Legacy is a Fund, set up with the Community Foundation of West Chester/Liberty that was established to help ease the emotional and financial stress that comes with burying a newborn. No parent should ever have to choose a coffin or urn for their child, but sadly this is the case for every 1 in 4 pregnancies. The goal of Lillian's Legacy is to assist parents with the financial burden of funeral and burial expenses so they may choose a coffin, urn, memorial service or headstone of their liking without worry of the cost. There will be no cars, weddings or college degree to be paid for. For these parents, this will be the last thing purchased for that child and it should be something that they truly want, not something that needs to be settled for due to cost.
