Special addition to Sanford Children’s Hospital will honor Sioux Falls boy

Jodi Schwan

January 12, 2022

The last time Jud and Denise Pins had walked into Sanford Children’s Hospital was to visit their grandson, Truman.

The latest time was to honor his legacy.

Truman Pins died March 28, 2017, 13 months after he was born with, as his obituary said, “10 fingers, 10 toes, one extra chromosome and a super-wide smile.”

Family photos by Amie Hansen

A respiratory virus sent him to Sanford Children’s Hospital for the final time, though not the first time.

“He was a Down syndrome baby … and they took him to the Children’s Hospital because of respiratory issues, and it progressively got worse, and he got meningitis, and that’s what killed him,” Jud Pins said. “He was sick a lot, had a lot of surgeries, cleft palate surgery, and he battled through all of it, and we thought he would battle through one more, but he didn’t.”

The family was looking for a way to honor Truman when a conversation with the Sanford Health Foundation and a visit back to the Children’s Hospital delivered an answer.

“It was clear their hearts were eager to find a way to not only remember him but also weave him into other children’s lives in an uplifting and engaging way,” said Ashley Flynn, Sanford’s major gifts officer.

Flynn was new to the foundation and had just met with Carol Cressman, director of pediatrics, for a tour, one week before she met the Pins family.

Cressman had shared a vision to transform a storage closet – and it was fresh in Flynn’s mind.

“Carol gave Jud and Denise a tour of the space, all of these neat ideas flooded our minds, from what the closet could look like to how Truman’s sister, brother and cousins could all be involved in replenishing the closet each year,” Flynn said. “I think we all knew in that moment that this was going to be something very meaningful to all.”

Cressman, who had taken care of Truman as a patient, proposed the idea to the family: Truman’s Closet.

“You walk in these big doors, and there’s a big mirror with lights around it and hundreds of costumes kids could put on,” Jud Pins said. “And just spend an hour or two and take their mind off their sickness, and their moms and dads and brothers and sisters can take them to Truman’s Closet and try on Superman or Cinderella or Paw Patrol or Elmo and have their picture taken and just play an hour or two.”

The family agreed to establish an endowment for the closet, and construction has started.

But first, there was a surprise to share.

Truman’s mother, Andrea, works in Sanford patient experience, so the team arranged for her and husband Justin to stop by the Children’s Hospital right before Christmas.

And when she climbed the stairs, her family was waiting to unveil a handcarved sign for the closet.

“There were very happy tears, tears that Truman’s memory is going to live on,” Denise Pins said. “The whole belief behind this for Jud and I was that it was something we could do to remember Truman so he would never be forgotten. Truman’s Closet is always going to be there, and there will be a story about Truman’s short life mounted right beside the closet door so they’ll know the story of Truman.”

The hope is to have the closet ready for dress-up by spring and to continue accepting donations to supply it.

“Health care is so very personal. Each person has his or her own health care story, whether he or she is the person affected or a loved one is affected,” Flynn said.

“Every gift looks different, but they all make a huge impact. … When a person gives out of passion and conviction, it creates so much joy and continues his or her health care story in a really special way.”

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