Pancreatic Cancer

CHRISTINE HART LOWE died March 15 after an extended illness. Born April 15, 1951, in Quincy, MA. Christine was educated at Towson University in Baltimore, MD. It was in Baltimore where she began her long and distinguished career as a teacher. Christine taught physical education at various schools in Maryland before relocating to Raleigh, NC in 1994. She renewed her enthusiasm for teaching at Ravenscroft School in north Raleigh, and taught there until her death. Christine is remembered for her passion for education, her dedication to her students, and her love for the Ravenscroft community.

On June 24, 2005, HOWARD ELWOOD WILINSON peacefully passed over in his beloved wife's and children's arms at home. Howard, 64, suffered a brief, but courageous battle against pancreatic cancer. Howard was born in Baltimore, MD, where he met his wife of 26 years, Cindy Wilkinson, now a resident of Antioch, Calif. He is also survived by his son, Kevin Wilkinson of Antioch, daughters; Jennifer Wilkinson of Seattle, Wash., Leslie Wilkinson of Antioch, Calif., and Karen Wilkinson of Ellensburg, Wash.

On Sunday, March 20, 2005, DEBORAH LEE POWELL (nee Wicker) died at home surrounded by members of her family. Mrs. Powell waged a prolonged battle against pancreatic cancer, and her bravery and stoicism will be forever admired by all who knew and loved her. Mrs. Powell is survived by her husband, John, only son and daughter-in-law Christopher and Crystal Petr, father Oscar Wicker, brothers Gregory and Keith Wicker, sisters Karen Backhaus and Sharon Georgieff,...

John deKoven Alsop, 84, a former state lawmaker who was known as one of Connecticut's most influential and colorful Republican politicians, died Thursday in Old Saybrook, Conn. He was a direct descendant of President James Monroe and the grandnephew of President Theodore Roosevelt. His brothers Joseph and Stewart Alsop gained fame as newspaper columnists. Mr. Alsop served two terms in the General Assembly in the late 1940s. He helped push through three desegregation bills submitted by the Connecticut NAACP at the end of the 1949 legislative session, outlawing racial discrimination in the National Guard, public accommodations and public housing projects.

Archbishop Spalding football coach Mike Whittles, whose inspirational 16-month battle with pancreatic cancer touched many far beyond the Severn school's community, died of the disease Thursday. He was 58. Diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer on Feb. 22, 2011, Whittles continued to coach the Cavaliers, remaining upbeat and confident that he could beat it. "This is the day that I knew was inevitable but didn't want to face," Spalding athletic director and long-time Whittles friend Lee Dove said.

Mathew J. Whelan Jr., a retired Navy captain who studied Soviet submarine and ship operations and later headed security operations for a defense contractor, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer at his Columbia home. He was 67. A cryptologist who analyzed Cold War military affairs, he was executive assistant to Adm. Bobby Ray Inman, the National Security Agency director, in the 1970s. He also headed the Navy security base at Winter Harbor, Maine, a facility in Acadia National Park, and was security director for Westinghouse, later Northrop Grumman, in Annapolis and Linthicum.

Pancreatic cancer has been in the news recently. Last month, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumor from her pancreas. That same week, actor Patrick Swayze, who was diagnosed with the disease about a year ago, wrote a letter to Congress urging increased funding for research. The pancreas is a large organ that secretes enzymes that aid digestion and hormones that help regulate the metabolism of sugars. While cancer of the pancreas is not as common as other cancers, it is particularly virulent, says Dr. Armando Sardi, director of the Institute for Cancer Care and head of surgical oncology at Mercy Medical Center.

AWARDS Dr. Jonathan Samet, professor and chairman of the department of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and director of the Institute for Global Tobacco Control, has been awarded the U.S. Surgeon General's Medallion. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona presented his department's highest award July 13. It recognized Samet's work as senior scientific editor of the Report of the Surgeon General on the Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke, which was released June 27. PROMOTIONS The Delmarva Foundation has named Dr. Christian E. Jensen to be chief executive of the nonprofit health care quality organization.

Dr. Yasmin N. Roberts, a clinical psychologist on the staff of a nonprofit psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts, died of pancreatic cancer Monday at her parents' Guilford home. She was 37. Dr. Roberts was born in Baltimore and raised in Guilford, graduating from Friends School in 1983. She earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, in 1987. After college, she took a job as a mental health care worker at Cambridge Hospital in Cambridge, Mass., and "while working with an underclass of Haitian women" there, "she found her clear calling as a psychologist," said her father, Dr. Paul F. Roberts, a Baltimore psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.

William T. Fields, 52, founder of the telecommunications company that evolved into industry giant MCI-WorldCom, died Saturday of pancreatic cancer in Tupelo, Miss. Mr. Fields was best known for his role in founding Long Distance Discount Service in June 1984. He was one of nine original investors in the company, which took advantage of AT&T's divestiture of its Bell companies in the early 1980s.Bradford Grow, 89, retired pioneer of naval aviation and decorated veteran of the Guadalcanal campaign, died Thursday in O'Fallon, Ill. He was a retired rear admiral.