Donnie and Holly Faulkner are intent on turning a negative situation into a positive. The couple, who run the Oakley Rolling O store, on the midway found themselves faced with an adverse situation two weeks with the death of their child on May 24, just 30 days before his scheduled birth.

The adversity has been replaced with the formation of the Eric Blake Faulkner Foundation. 

Donnie said the Eric Blake Faulkner Foundation’s intent is to assist families who are faced with the same situation. He’s convinced the person who assisted Himself and Holly through their personal tempest was an angel.

Lynette Spruiell was that blessing in a dreadful day. 

“It was probably the worst day of my life,” Faulkner said, when told the baby had been lost. “Lynette was there for us. I am convinced she was not human. She was an angel for us. To do the job she does, she had to be.”

Donnie pointed out that Spruiell was there for them throughout it all.  

Donnie and Holly Faulkner are intent on turning a negative situation into a positive. The couple, who run the Oakley Rolling O store, on the midway found themselves faced with an adverse situation two weeks with the death of their child on May 24, just 30 days before his scheduled birth.

The adversity has been replaced with the formation of the Eric Blake Faulkner Foundation.

Donnie said the Eric Blake Faulkner Foundation’s intent is to assist families who are faced with the same situation. He’s convinced the person who assisted Himself and Holly through their personal tempest was an angel.

Lynette Spruiell was that blessing in a dreadful day.

“It was probably the worst day of my life,” Faulkner said, when told the baby had been lost. “Lynette was there for us. I am convinced she was not human. She was an angel for us. To do the job she does, she had to be.”

Donnie pointed out that Spruiell was there for them throughout it all.

“She went home and got some sleep,” Donnie said. “She came back and was there. Her dedication was instrumental in making sure every detail was handled from the time he was born and throughout our grieving process.”

Donnie and Holly’s experience opened their eyes to many details that aren’t public knowledge.

“I never knew that funeral homes bury children for free and cemetery don’t charge for the plots,” Donnie said. “Everything was free and they won’t let you pay for it. I thought to myself that these people didn’t even know us and yet they knew what we were going through and needed.

“I thought if Lynette did this every day, with the network of friends we have and the sport has, we could use that for a positive. We could make something good out of a bad deal.”

Donnie sought to find a way to relieve the daily pressures on Spruiell. He wanted to make it easier for her to serve the community. The Faulkners wanted to make it easier on others experiencing the same heartbreak.

“I felt if we could help those families upgrade to better caskets that last longer, it could ease some of our pain in the future,” Donnie said. “If we could make it where they could have the funding to get that upgrade it would be great. We knew that we were blessed to have the capacity to do that, but others might not be so fortunate.

“I don’t want someone to have to go into a room with caskets and have no options. I don’t want them to have to go through that. I want them to know that one has been donated so they don’t have to go through that same experience. It will already be taken care of.”

That’s where the Eric Blake Faulkner Foundation comes in.

“The burden of the details will be removed,” Donnie said. “That’s what matters the most.”

Spruiell, through the assistance of the foundation, will be able to go into other hospitals and train likeminded people how to handle her same duties.

“If we can raise awareness, we will have reached our first goal,” Donnie said. “We aren’t the first to experience this and we won’t be the last I’m sure.”

Donnie said a new hospital is being built close to their Little Rock, Arkansas residence which will have a bereavement area separate from the standard delivery room area. This area will be named after Eric Blake.

The Faulkners named Eric after their friend Eric Medlen, who tragically lost his life in March from a testing accident. Naming their son after an incredible individual was the ultimate way to pay homage.

“Eric was an incredible individual, and I had looked forward to the day I could tell him about the man he was named after,” Donnie said. “I wanted to keep his name alive and show people how special he was.”

Faulkner received a phone call from John Medlen offering support to the couple.

“I learned a lot from John Medlen and that helped me through,” Donnie said. “It gave me the will to be strong. I just have to believe our sons are walking hand in hand in Heaven.”

Those who know Donnie will testify that his persistence towards any project is one of his more positive attributes. That same diligence is what led to his current position within Jim Jannard’s Oakley empire.

Donnie’s admiration of Scotty Cannon in those early days inspired his visit to the initial Oakley-sponsored outing for the team.

“Me and a buddy went to California to cheer for our boy,” Faulkner said. “I met Jim and bugged him until he finally gave me a job. I was relentless and I think Jim finally gave me a job because he realized I wasn’t going to give up.”

Donnie’s persistence yielded larger dividends than he could have ever imagines. He sold his fifth pair of sunglasses ever (a detail he never forgets) to Holly. She was attending the drags with her uncle Bobby Roper, an NHRA Division 4 Stock eliminator racer.

“I had met her once before and she was kind of dating another guy at the time,” Donnie said. “I kind of took her away from him. I was going through a divorce when I met her and after it was final I made my move.”

Sometimes, Donnie says, you know when the right piece of the puzzle comes along in your life.

“I wanted to ask her that day to marry me,” Donnie said. “Easter weekend of 2000 I popped the question. We got married in December of that year. From that point, she was very instrumental in our success. Without her, there would have been no Rolling O Store. She’s the driving force behind this. She’s had the passion for this since day one.”

Holly admitted she never thought the purchase of sunglasses could render such an incredible turn of events.

“We just became friends immediately,” Holly said. “I never thought things would transpire as they did. When I told my family that I had met someone and wanted to go on the road racing, they were skeptical. My boss at the time and my family thought I was crazy.

“Donnie and I have a motto,” Holly said of their initial meeting. “Everything happens for a reason and when it’s right, it is right.”

Following the loss of Eric Blake, Chris and Maria Parker, took over the chores of running the operation to provide bereavement time.

Donnie says the Rolling O Store’s success has been the result that same relentless dedication that earned him a position within the company. He cites the combination of himself, Holly, Chris and Maria as the trailblazers who have built the Rolling O into more than just a place to buy hip sunglasses and clothing.

Donnie says it is way more than that.

“We’re kind of like the Sweden of drag racing,” Donnie said. “There’s no animocity when people come there. Immediately the lines between teams and rivals disappear. It’s a neutral territory.”

The healing of losing Eric Blake started with that sovereign nature of their trailer.

“A lot of prayers have been offered up for Holly because of that,” Donnie said. “Thousands of prayers have been offered up for us and that’s amazing.”

 Holly has drawn her strengths through a strong supporting circle of friends. Coming to the Joliet race was the first major step in the healing process.

“We knew were ready to come back out here,” Holly said. “This is the life we’ve known together. We have more friends and family out here than anyone could ever have.

“For me, to get back out on the road and see people and know how loved we are and that people are praying will be my healing, emotionally and mentally. This foundation is a new focus for our lives.

“Eric is looking down on us from Heaven. We want this to go on in his name. I’ve told people that you can crawl under a rock and be depressed and you will only hurt yourself and those around you. Donnie and I are positive people by nature and this is certainly a tragedy I’d never wish on anyone. You just have to find the good in a bad situation.

“We want this program to go on. I don’t know that we could have made it without it. It provided the closure for us.”

For more information on the Eric Blake Faulkner Foundation, contact Donnie and Holly at ERIC BLAKE FAULKNER FOUNDATION .