Young Survivors Portland

This is news we like to hear! (LW)
Immunotherapy Treatments for Cancer Gain Momentum - The Wall Street Journal
https://apple.news/A-9avPbb3S6ukPXxPtDL4hAhttps://apple.news/A-9avPbb3S6ukPXxPtDL4hA

For those of you who haven't heard the news about our Chelsea's passing, here is her obituary. If you plan to attend either the memorial, the reception afterwards, or both on June 25th, would you please either let me know in the comments or message or email me at [email protected]? Thomas would like to get a ball park estimate of how many from YS will be there.

Chelsea May Harper
May 5, 1975 – May 27, 2017

Chelsea May Harper died at her home in Portland Oregon on the morning of Saturday May 27, 2017, of complications due to metastatic breast cancer. She was 42 years old.

Chelsea was a loving mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. In her professional life, Chelsea was an accomplished dance movement therapist, parent educator, and author. She was also active in supporting other young survivors of cancer. Chelsea was a longtime performer of musical theater and dance, and member of women’s choruses in Portland. Chelsea grew up in a family of sailors. As a young adult, she was a crew member on tall ship voyages around New England and the Caribbean. Chelsea also helped to guide therapeutic wilderness trips for young people and met her husband while doing that work.

In 2013, Chelsea and fellow cancer survivor Brook Irwin created a successful crowdfunding campaign -- The Storybook Project -- and published a personalized storybook to help mothers talk with their young children about breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Chelsea grew up in Yorktown, New York. She often spent summers with her extended family on Ripley Neck, near Harrington, Maine. Chelsea is remembered by friends and family from Yorktown, Brown University, the Williams Mystic Maritime Studies program, the Antioch University New England Dance Movement Therapy program, the Commonweal Cancer Help Program, and her diverse Portland community.

Chelsea leaves behind her husband Thomas Joseph Doherty III, her daughter Eva Madrone Harper Doherty, her mother Beryl Stevens Harper; her sister, brother-in-law and nephew Jessica, Claudio and Kai Santos; and many cousins. Chelsea was preceded in death by her father, James McKell “Jim” Harper.

Chelsea had a natural burial ceremony at Riverview Cemetery in Portland on Saturday June 3, 2017. A celebration of her life will take place at 11 AM on Sunday June 25th at the Riverview Cemetery Chapel, with a reception to follow at the Corbett Room at Elephant’s Deli on Corbett from 1 - 4 PM. For family and friends on the East Coast, a celebration will follow on Sunday July 16th at 11:30 AM at the Community Church of Durham, New Hampshire.

Chelsea nurtured balance and healing within herself and others and worked for justice and equity in Portland and beyond. She was a connector who sought to build bridges, literal and metaphorical, between people given our respective differences and privileges. In lieu of flowers, please consider building bridges in your own life, or contributing to activities Chelsea supported including the Storybook Project, Sabin Elementary School’s restorative justice program, and the Williams Mystic program. Details forthcoming at . — with Chelsea Harper.