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Mary was loved by all who met her. She was very giving; there were always
"stragglers" at holiday meals - friends of her children who didn't have a
place to go for the holidays. She never turned anyone away, and she made
everyone feel like part of the family. Mary also had sharp wit and a keen
sense of humor. After her first surgery, during which a rather large tumor
was removed, Mary named the tumor "Cornelius," saying, "After having six
children, I never left the hospital without something having a name." But
Mary was also very private. She told few people outside of her immediate
family about her cancer. She wanted neither pity nor to worry those who
loved her - including her own mother, who went to her grave just six months
before Mary did, never knowing that Mary Ann was ever sick.
When Mary Ann was diagnosed with LMS in early 1998, she immediately got to
work doing research. She was determined to beat this disease and was often
more informed about LMS and its treatments and clinical trials than her
doctors. Many times she offered suggestions to her doctors that they had
not yet heard of, and she also traveled to other hospitals in other states,
exhausting every possibility of ridding her body of this disease. Not once
did she complain in nearly nine years, even up to the end. Even towards the
end, Mary was thinking of others, donating her unused cancer medications to
hospital patients who could not afford their own. Sadly, Mary Ann lost her
fight on November 29, 2006. Two of her four daughters were with her,
holding her hands as she took her last breath.
Though Mary shirked attention and was very private, her family wanted to
honor her memory by setting up a research fund in her name so that even in
death, she could continue her fight against LMS. She is survived by her
husband, six children, four grandchildren, and one sister, as well as many
friends. Her kindness, generosity, humor, grace, and love will be missed by
all who were blessed to know her.
If you would like to make a donation in honor of Mary Ann, please click
here.
(When donating through PayPal, you can use the Designation Box to specify a Fund.)
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