Healing Beyond the Hospital

Kerri Childress served as our Vice President of Communications for five years. Sadly, she lost her battle with pancreatic cancer in October 2019. Kerri was an amazing lady who brought sincerity, honesty, and love to everything she did... and every story she told. Her contributions, and her life, are an important part of the Fisher House story. We loved her and miss her presence in the Fisher House family. —Ken Fisher

This story originally ran in September 2016. It was a favorite of Kerri's. A final story by her, “Former Army Medic Donates $10,000 Award to Fisher House Foundation,” can be found on page 7.

Kerri Childress Late Vice President of Communications

The Gross and Reiff Families: Healing Beyond the Hospital

Story by Kerri Childress Photos by Craig Orsini

It is dinner time and Craig Gross is serving his fabulous BBQ to the families at the Tampa VA Fisher House. Lannay Reiff is there with her son, Air Force Veteran Daniel Reiff, who was very seriously injured in a motorcycle accident five months before, losing a leg, suffering multiple bone fractures and incurring a serious traumatic brain injury. It was his first trip off the hospital floor.

Daniel overhears that the BBQ he’s eating came from a place called Frankie’s and that it was named after the owner’s son who was killed in Afghanistan. With much agitation, Daniel insists his mom go into the kitchen and ask about Frankie’s last name. His mother returns and says, “His last name was Gross.”

Frank Gross was in Afghanistan at a forward operating base when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded under his vehicle. He died July 16, 2011. He was 25.

Toni and Craig, Frankie’s parents, were asked to come to Dover Air Force Base to be part of what the military calls “the dignified transfer of remains.” Toni remembers it like a “beautiful ballet that touched her heart.” Her daughter was there. Her sister and brother-in-law also came. All of them stayed at the new Fisher House at Dover.

Some years later, to overcome the grief of losing his son, Craig quit his job and opened the BBQ restaurant called “Frankie’s Patriot BBQ,” filled with military and Veteran keepsakes, the most important of which were photos of Frankie in uniform. Additionally, Frankie’s BBQ provided dinners at the Tampa Fisher House where Toni had been volunteering for four years, as a way to give back.

Back to the dinner. It turned out Daniel and Frankie had been good friends at a small, Christian high school in Tampa. They even spent the night at each other’s homes. As this resonated with all concerned, it brought fresh tears.

It was the first time since his injury that Daniel’s mom realized that her son’s longterm memory was still there.

Both boys had been athletes and good students; both had joined the military. Now, here they were, reunited in spirit at dinner in a Fisher House.

Toni Gross, who volunteers at the Tampa VA Fisher House, and Lannay Reiff, mother of Daniel Reiff, have become great friends since they met at the Fisher House.

A few weeks later, Toni brought Frankie’s year book to the Fisher House where she and Daniel reminisced about experiences the two boys had shared and people they both knew. She gave Daniel a dog tag with a picture of Frank on it.

For Daniel, this was inspiration to continue getting better. He had to. For Frankie.