It’s been reported that Northwest Straits Foundation Executive Director Robyn Du Pre has lost her battle with cancer. There will be a longer obituary in the near future. But my heart goes out to her family and close circle of friends. She was a unique woman and I consider it an honor to have worked with her in the efforts of protecting the Salish Sea. Words cannot convey my sense of loss and true sadness for all of us. Goodbye Robyn. We already have missed you. We will carry on your work.
From Ginnie Broadhurst, the Executive Director of The Northwest Straits Commission
Dear Northwest Straits Commission members and MRC staff, It is with great sadness that I share news that Robyn du Pre passed away on Monday evening at home after fighting a courageous battle with cancer. Robyn served as Executive Director of the Northwest Straits Foundation from November 2012 through this past summer. She was a close friend, colleague and exemplary leader to many of us. Previous to her work at the NWS Foundation she was Exec Director at RE Sources for sustainable communities in Bellingham. She was a life-long environmental advocate, naturalist and adventurer.
I’ve attached a photo of Robyn taken just this past January as she and her husband launched a kayak that she was building. She is greatly missed.
Robyn made it very clear that she did not want a memorial service nor did she have requests for donations. For those of you who knew Robyn, I think that the best gift that we can provide to her and her family is to carry on the work that was vital to her – keeping our environment healthy for ourselves and future generations. Please join me in carrying her work and her legacy forward.
Joan Drinkwin, has been acting as Interim Director of NWS Foundation since Robyn stepped down to fight her cancer. A search is ongoing for a full term ED.
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound |
To have known her is such a special gift
Do people say “lost their battle with diabetes” or “lost their battle with heart disease”. Please stop using this demeaning and ridiculous terminology.
Well, having lost many friends and loved ones to cancer, I understand your thought, and frankly, I did give some thought to that phrase before publishing it. I don’t like the phrase either. The issue is really not mine, but the person undergoing cancer. I can state from supporting a number of cancer patients in my life, most of whom did die, that to *them* it was a battle for survival. It may seem demeaning and ridiculous to you, but it did not to them. I do believe, from what I knew of my friend Robyn’s cancer, that to her she was ‘battling’ it to stay alive. If someone can show that was not correct, I’d be glad to alter it. But just because the semantics of the issue doesn’t appeal to you, does not mean it was not an accurate assessment of the situation. Feel free to write your own blog to deal with this issue yourself. But not here.