November 1, 1938 - November 30, 2004

The picture above is of Dona Lee Conner (right) and her sister Louise at the 2004 Ovarian Awareness Walk. At that time she was a survivor. Unfortunately she lost her fight for life on November 30, 2004.

Dona Lee was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer on June, 18th 2002. She went through many surgeries and continuous chemotherapy with awful side effects. Through all of this she remained very positive that a treatment would be found that would put the cancer in remission for a few years.

Dona Lee enjoyed life to the fullest extent possible and touched everyone she came in contact with in a very positive way. Her beautiful smile never left her all through her battle for life. Her constant dream was that a cure for this dreadful disease would soon be found. She was a strong believer in the need for extended medical research into the early detection and cure of all cancer. She had a tremendous respect for the effort being put forth by the GYN Oncology team at Duke.

During the two and half year’s that Dona Lee lived with cancer, suffering from pain, humiliation, sick from the after effects of chemotherapy and the constant fear of dieing, she never lost her ability to be an inspiration to everyone she came in contact with. Our love for each other was strengthened by all of her worry and discomfort and we treasured every moment we had together.

Dona Lee I love and miss you.