Since losing his wife in 2010, a Parsippany father has struggled to give his children what they need and now faces what may be his toughest fight.
By Natalie Davis
A Lake Parsippany family that includes three special needs children needs a miracle.
Richard L'Ecuyer, 49, adopted the children more than a decade ago with his wife Pamela, who was a nurse. The situation was ever-challenging for the pair, he told Patch. Pamela would work taking care of geriatric patients until early in the morning, and he would leave for work when she came home. When not on the job, each would focus on the children.
With love, patience and hard work, L'Ecuyer said he and his wife were able to deal with the physical and emotional difficulties and to get their kids what they needed in terms of their health and education.
Their commitment to the children they adopted through the state Department of Children and Families did not go unnoticed. Pamela and Richard L'Ecuyer were presented with three state awards commending them for a job well done.
Then came February 2010, when Pamela died suddenly.
"It was the worst thing I could imagine," L'Ecuyer said. "But I had to go on for the kids's sake. Now I am a single dad. It's rewarding, and they are great kids. But this is is so tough."
L'Ecuyer appears terribly proud of his children.
David, the oldest, is 17, severely autistic. While he does attend a special-education school, the Regional Day School in Morris Township, according to his father, the boy remains unable to communicate beyond clapping his hands and making unintelligible sounds.