Rendina Memorial Golf Tournament in May 2007. To honor their dad - who was a Palm Beach County Medical Society Heroes in Medicine Award winner - and benefit the foundation, the Rendina brothers staged the inaugural “Raising the B.A.R.” Bruce A. He and Marji created the Rendina Family Foundation in 1997 and after his death, the charity's primary mission became "enhanc the quality of life for families and individuals who have been affected by cancer." One of the legacies Bruce passed down to his sons was the importance of philanthropy. Sure enough, the medication improved Richard's condition enough that he could function normally again. However, shortly after Bruce's death, Richard's ulcerative colitis had worsened to the point that "Tricia and I both decided I should begin taking the medication." He and his wife Tricia, a registered nurse, initially resisted - primarily because "there was a tiny statistical chance - like 3 in 10,000" that of one of the side effects could be an increased risk for blood-borne cancers. Richard's doctors recommended he take the immunosuppressive prescription medication Remicade to lessen the disorder's severity. "It got so bad I was hospitalized a couple of times," he says. While Bruce battled brain cancer, Richard ran the company - and tried to manage his lifelong ulcerative colitis, which was exacerbated in times of stress. "And through it all, he was so incredibly upbeat - just positive he'd beat it," says Richard. He used his nationwide healthcare contacts to find the best oncologists and participate in clinical trials and experimental treatments. He lasted 17."ĭuring that time, Bruce availed himself to everything medical science had to offer. The cancer diagnosis sped up the timeline and the prognosis was dire: "Most people with Dad's cancer die within 12 months. "Dad had reached the point in his life where he was ready to step back a little from the business so he and Mom (Marji) could enjoy more time together," says Richard. When Richard, 39, joined the Jupiter family business shortly after graduating from the University of Notre Dame, the plan was for him to gradually lessen the day-to-day demands of his father's workload. That a few years after assuming the chairman/CEO mantle of Rendina Healthcare Real Estate, Richard would be fighting for his own life.
"We all had to grow up fast," Richard recalls.Īnd the family certainly had no inkling that Bruce's cancer battle would not be the only one they'd be dealing with. He just never expected to be running the firm before his 27th birthday.īut then again, no one in the tight-knit Rendina family was prepared for Bruce's devastating brain cancer diagnosis - glioblastoma - in July 2005 and subsequent death, at 52, in December 2006. Like his younger brothers Michael and David, Richard Rendina always planned to work in the real estate development company his dad, Bruce, had built into a nationwide industry leader.
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