Dorothy Klemptner
Morton Grove, IL
Survivor
Charity: American Cancer Society
It is hard to pick just one catagory for my Mom to fit into as my nominee for Chicago''s Woman of the Year.
As a caregiver she is a Registered Nurse who gave years of her life working with the Chicago area Visiting Nurses association.
As an advocate she worked with the American Cancer Society and the Crusade of Mercy and help found several programs that are commonplace today, such as putting patients in touch with Doctors/Nurses who have the same medical conditions so that the patient can get comfort and information from a medical professional who shares their condition and setting up automatic payroll deductions to help forward the cause of the Cancer Society and Crusade of Mercy. Her letter writing campaigns have resulted in poor products being removed from the market, and in the case of her birthplace in Northern Wisconsin has resulted in a complete remake of the local airport making it safer for everyone who flies through it after she was involved in a crash landing at the airport.
As a civic leader she was involved with the PTA orrganization, not just while her 4 children were in school but for decades afterward on the local, regional and National level and is a past President of the organization.
And finally as a Survivor - Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a radical mastectomy in 1972. She has survived through the remissions and reoccurances of that disease for the past 35 years. She has spoke with countless other women who have found themselves with the same diagnoses and helped them come to grips with their disease and mortality. She has gone through the chemo-therapy treatments, steroid therapy that at times puffed her up to twice her normal size and radiation treatments that have taken her hair away from her on more than one occasion. After all these years the cancer is now back and spreading. She once again is sporting her "Michael Jordan Hairdo" and is fighting to stay with us for her husband, children and grandchildrens'' sake. I don't know how much longer my Maude will be with us, but while she is it would be great if she could get the public recognition that is long overdue her.
