Remembering Lisa: Help Fund Lung Cancer Research

The 10th anniversary of Lisa’s passing will be on 10/15/2024. She died from a very rare and aggressive form of a non-smoking small cell carcinoma and sarcoma lung cancer. Within 10 short months of her diagnosis she was gone.

Lisa was full of life and laughter. She married the love of her life (since 6th grade) and she loved being a mom. She was the best daughter and sister. She was everyone’s friend and always remembered birthdays and anniversaries with a mailed card. She refused to pay her bills online because she wanted to keep the post office in business. She wasn’t on social media - her social life was at their pool (known as Put-in-Benkey) or in person.

Shortly after her passing, a fundraiser was held for the American Lung Association’s Lung Force Walk in Cleveland. That first year, our team, Queenie’s Court, was the top fundraising team in Ohio (and among the top teams in the country) for non-sponsored teams, raising over $14,000! This was nothing short of a testament of love for Lisa and a desire to support research and treatment for non-smoking lung cancer.

Our donations have made a difference! The treatment for lung cancer has changed so much in these last 10 years. The experimental drug Lisa took is now the norm for patients and the side effects are much less than when Lisa took it.

When Deena and I started the fundraiser that first year we were hoping to have a team of 10 people walking who raised $100 each. What an incredible thing it was to witness a team twice that size walking and raising so much. We kept having to raise our goal! We sold t-shirts and accepted donations for 6 weeks. What a ride it was.

It is our hope to send a donation this year in memory of Lisa and in honor of all her friends and family who still miss her so much. If you can spare $10 for 10 years it will help us reach our goal.