Shirley Walker Peltz 1930-1972
After an eighteen-month battle with ovarian cancer, Shirley passed away in May 1972. She was 42 years old. Neither her doctors nor her family were aware that she had ovarian cancer as scientific knowledge was primitive at that time, and the specific form of cancer was discovered posthumously. Not one day has passed that she has not been in our hearts and minds. Shirley was a person who truly enjoyed her life, which included her three sons, her husband and family. She saw life as an opportunity to laugh and experience the joys it brought, including being a better softball player than her brother. Her enthusiasm and intensity lives on through her sons, their careers and families.
She chose to deal with her illness in a most private way and with the courage that she exhibited throughout her life. To say that her medical team was shooting arrows in the dark in their efforts to deal with her cancer is only to paraphrase the doctor’s own words. In retrospect, the lack of knowledge regarding the specific nature of her illness is all the more frustrating because of the small, though significant, steps science has taken in dealing with ovarian cancer since 1972. This Memorial Fund is our small way of supporting research as well as efforts to deal with ovarian cancer and its impact on sufferers and their loved ones.