Steve McKinney recalls with clarity the day Terry Schanz broke up a fight for him.

A strapping kid was coming after Steve, who had defended a smaller student. Terry stepped in the middle. "You've got to go through me before you get to Steve," he said.

That was more than 30 years ago. Now, a lethal brain tumor is threatening Terry.

Steve can't block the fast-growing cancer. But he — along with the Manheim Township High School class of 1977 — is stepping up by raising money so Terry and his wife, Laura, can take a vacation in the Dominican Republic.

Also pitching in generously are Terry's co-workers at Facchina Construction Co. in LaPlata, Md.

Terry's boss and friend, Joe Poliafico, called him "an amazing person" and the kind of guy who "would do anything to help anybody."

People have been returning the favor.

Paul Facchina Sr., the company owner, has matched his employees' donations, Joe Poliafico said.

Warm wishes and money — enough to "pay for the trip and then some," according to Steve — have been pouring in from across the country. A check will be presented to the Schanzes today during a gathering in their West Hempfield Township home. They plan to leave for their vacation next week.

Time is of the essence.

The golf-ball-sized tumor was discovered in the left side of Terry's brain Dec. 17. Dr. Eddy Garrido and his Lancaster General Hospital team removed 40 percent of the malignancy. The Christmas Eve diagnosis was level four glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive disease that threatens to claim Terry's life by the end of the year and steal away his health before that.

The couple have a narrow window to savor their marriage, family and friends.

Steve said the family is facing the ordeal with inspiring grace and gratitude.

"I want to be able to help people," Terry Schanz said as he sat on the sofa with his wife of nearly 17 years. "And now ... people want to help me."

Dark journey
Life has not been perfect, Laura said, citing the loss of several family members over the years, including her parents and nephew, Joshua Powers, who was killed in Iraq in 2009, and Terry's infant son, Kyle Schanz, who died in 1987.

But life has been good. And it has long been intertwined with that of Steve.

Terry Schanz and Steve McKinney were well-known athletes at Township.

Terry made the state wrestling championships. Steve tried out for the Baltimore Orioles after high school.

They divorced and remarried about the same time. The Schanzes later helped Steve launch his Italian water ice business, Awesome Ice.

Both men lost 30 pounds last year and both have managed to keep "90 percent of our hair," noted Steve, including the thatch that has grown back over Terry's incision.

Tears glistened all around as Steve and the Schanzes reminisced in the living room.

Steve and his wife, Kim, were on hand last Aug. 15 when the Schanzes celebrated their 50th birthdays by staging the "50 is a Ball!!" fundraiser that netted $33,000 for The Mix at Arbor Place, a faith-based teen center.

It was the best year of Terry's life, the couple said. Headaches that started the first week of December were the first inkling of trouble.

Terry, the safety director for Facchina, was on the road about 10 days later when head pain and blurred vision forced him to seek help. The tumor was pressing on his brain.

"I took him to the ER right away," Laura said. "Thus the journey began."

After his operation, Terry said, he opened his eyes and saw his golfing partner, Dr. Dwight Davis. "I thought I was about to die" in the hospital. But he soon realized he would be able to return home.

"Right now," Terry said, with steroids helping ease the pressure on his brain, "I feel good."

He exercises 40 minutes a day, Laura added. "The other day I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and he was fixing the plumbing in the bathroom. ... He's the picture of health: tall, dark and handsome."

He will not return to work or drive a vehicle, however, and he has trouble with reading comprehension.

"My health will probably deteriorate in about a month's period," he said.

On the other hand, Laura said, as many as nine months of relatively high functioning are possible. But no one knows exactly.

Sen. Ted Kennedy died last year of glioblastoma multiforme. Unlike Kennedy's family, the Schanzes are electing so far to forgo chemotherapy and radiation treatments, as well as a clinical trial at Duke University.

"We're really focusing on quality of life," said Laura, who has shut down her company, Laura Schanz Consulting Associates, with the help of friends Dot and Frank Milliken.

Food has been coordinated by Beth Mellinger through CaringBridge.org , a Web site dedicated to families facing health crises.

"We have meals scheduled by friends through the end of February," Laura said.

The Schanzes recently took short getaways to the Poconos and Baltimore's Inner Harbor. When they fly next week to the Dominican Republic, they'll revisit one of their favorite vacation destinations and will stay at Casa de Campo, home of the famous Teeth of the Dog golf course.

Traveling with them will be Terry's older daughter, Tara Schanz, and Laura's oldest son, Ian Tangert.

The couple's other children, Kristin Schanz and Drew Schanz, will remain here.

"We're taking [Terry's golf] clubs and shoes," said Laura, who added that the couple is mindful of the earthquake disaster in that region.

And mindful of time.

"This is an ugly disease. The cancer's going to win," Laura said, her voice breaking. "I just can't imagine waking up without Terry."

But faith and friends are sustaining the couple, she added. So is their large extended family.

"Terry's the favorite uncle," said Linda Harnish, Terry's sister-in-law.

"That's what I tell them," Terry joked.

The next weeks and months are going to be bittersweet, Laura said.

"We know it sounds strange to say it but we feel blessed. We're not panicked. I call it a dark journey. There's a lot of days with light."