Ledger-Dispatch

By Scott Thomas Anderson (sanderson@ledger-dispatch.c= om)=20

Anne Conrardy, a wife and mother of = five who=20 became widely known throughout the community as a public = spokesperson for=20 early detection of breast cancer, lost her own four-year battle = with the=20 disease last week.

Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger=20 Dispatch
The woman who inspired a = community with=20 her forceful battle with cancer and her assured approach to dealing with = its=20 devastating grip passed away Thursday morning, leaving a humbled and = grateful=20 community in mourning.

Anne Elizabeth Conrardy's long journey = through the=20 travails of bone cancer ended quietly in her home in Sutter Creek = surrounded by=20 family. Conrardy was a wife, a full-time mother of five children and an = advocate=20 for early cancer detection, especially among women. A benefit that was = held in=20 May 2007, meant to assist with Conrardy's treatments, drew hundreds of = people=20 and thrust her family into the public spotlight.

Since then, = Conrardy's=20 commitment to be the best mother possible in the face of a worsening = diagnosis,=20 and her determination to find what greater good could emerge from her = struggle,=20 left many in awe.

"Something positive will come out of this," = Conrardy=20 said of her illness during a conversation with the Ledger Dispatch in = October=20 2007. "My children have seen the incredible generosity of this community = and how=20 unbelievably kind people really can be, even when it comes to helping = somebody=20 they don't know. Going through this ordeal, my kids have already learned = what=20 kind of adults they want to become; and our community - which has done = nothing=20 but give and give to my family - will see them again during someone = else's=20 moment of crisis. And that brings me some peace."

That sentiment = is=20 shared by Conrardy's husband of 18 years, Craig, who, together with = their=20 children, started Operation Pay it Forward - an effort to take the = lessons the=20 Conrardy family has learned about caring for others in the community and = apply=20 them to people in need.

Throughout the time she lived with = cancer,=20 Conrardy was very open about the fact that earlier detection might have = changed=20 her prognosis. It was in September 2005 that the mother, who'd just = adopted her=20 youngest daughter, Maggie, first discovered a lump in her breast. It was = already=20 sizable. Conrardy's treatments came too late to prevent the tumor from = becoming=20 metastasized bone cancer.

"If I had found it sooner," she told = the Ledger=20 Dispatch last year, "my story might have been very = different."

Conrardy=20 often stressed that message to local women.

"She stood up at = Bunco for=20 Breast Cancer and told her story to the hundreds of women who were = there," said=20 Ginger Rolf, a friend of Conrardy and volunteer director of the = nonprofit cancer=20 service organization, Amador STARS.

"I think that it meant a lot = coming=20 from her," Rolf, a longtime advocate for cancer patients, added. "I = think it=20 really got the message across to everyone about how important it is for = women to=20 check themselves."

Even as Conrardy's condition declined and her = physical=20 discomfort climbed to intolerable levels - three of the vertebrae in her = spine=20 were crushed by the cancer itself - she didn't shy from the reality she = was=20 facing. It was this grace and dogged perseverance that continued to = prompt=20 admiration from many.

"She had such a compulsion to beat this," = said=20 Virginia Marney, a close friend of Anne's. "She took 12 chemotherapies, = which is=20 really a lot for any patient. But that's how badly she wanted to be = there for=20 her family and children. She was so courageous through the whole thing. = In=20 addition to what she taught us all, she was simply a wonderful person - = a=20 wonderful wife, a wonderful mother and a wonderful = daughter."

Rolf agreed=20 and echoed the belief that the community of Amador is better for having = met the=20 young mother: "Anne was one of the most inspirational and amazing women = I have=20 ever known. And she had that effect on a lot of people. She lived life = to the=20 fullest in the short time she had, and made an impact on every person = she met=20 along the way."

Scott Thomas = Anderson