By Linda Pimental

My late husband, Steve”Skip” Oades inherited Huntington’s Disease from his father, Jack Oades. Jack had three daughters from his first marriage.  All three daughters died from HD. Jack had two children from his second marriage,  Steve and Lauri.  

Steve  died from HD,  Lauri, thankfully was gene negative.  Steve and I had four daughters together. Our oldest is adopted, so to the best of my knowledge, she does not have HD. Our middle daughter, Stephany, who is 21 years old is at risk. Our youngest daughters are 19 year old identical twins with special needs. They have tested negative. 

Steve and I were both born at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Orange.   Steve went to Villa Park High School and I went to Canyon High School.  We met when I was 19 years old and he was 22  years old.  We moved to Corona after we got married at ages 24 and 27.  I was an elementary school teacher and Steve was a Project manager in construction.   A few years after we were married, we started a very successful demolition company called Westside Demolition, INC.  Steve was still busy running our business when he died in 2001.  I remarried Michael Pimental in 2003.  He has been a wonderful support to our family and has joined our commitment and dedication to finding a treatment or cure for HD.  This year, he will be running the OC Marathon for the second time as part of “Team to Cure HD.”