Another Happy Couple

And Congratulations to newlyweds Judy Madura and Tom Kendra. Looks like fate had plans for this couple who first met in Phoenix, discovering they grew up a mile apart in their native Chicago! So the bond between the two and their families, with so much in common, was instant.

Judy, a very skilled nurse and senior clinical manager at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center’s Wound Care Program and Tom, a medical dosimetrist (part of the radiation oncology team) at Scottsdale Healthcare, are pictured above at this weekend’s fundraising concert for Andrea’s Closet. They were among the many medical community professionals who turned out for jazz concert at Kerr Cultural Center in Scottsdale.

The jazzy evening of straight ahead jazz, blues, soul, funk and gospel, featured the Royce Murray Jazz Ensemble. And friends of jazz guitarist Mike Howard (who’s performed with Marvin Gaye, Donnie Hathaway and Peggy Lee and performed in the mini-TV series “Roots: The Next Generations” with Irene Cara) applauded Mike’s return to the stage.

Mike’s wife Debi, and his family and friends have been rallied around him for the last year and a half after he became seriously ill and diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. The talented artist with a strong spirit underwent a miraculous stem cell transplant and also received a new prosthesis (as he lost his legs in his medical battle) is pictured above with his wife Debi and Barbara and Jack Kavanagh of the Arizona Myeloma Network (the 501c3 cancer charity helping Myeloma patients and families and also doing free cancer workshops and programs for all cancers, and currently the Navajo Nation at Ft. Defiance). Jack, a 17- year Myeloma survivor and his wife Barbara were instrumental in getting Mike immediate chemotherapy treatment and the stem cell transplant at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale. One of the Myeloma Network’s next fundraisers will be Sept. 20 at the Diamondbacks vs. Rockies game)

Originally Mike was scheduled to play at Judy and Tom’s wedding. However that’s when Mike was still at recovering from the transplant. In Mike’s honor Judy and Tom had Mike’s CD playing at their wedding.

Andrea’s Closet is named for Andrea Brunk who lost her battle in 2002 to acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia just before her 10th birthday. The closets in over 30 Arizona hospitals are filled with toys and laptops for hospitalized children. Andrea’s parents, Traci and Kenny Brunk were also at the jazz concert.

Kathy Shayna Shocket is a Phoenix based writer. If you have a good item for The AZ Insider, you can email her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .