Notes:
Grew up in Sullivan, IL
Data source is husband, Philip Richard Mumma. E-mail mummacpm@earthlink.net 2003
pmumma@mckelveyhomes.com March 2005
Sharon's obituary found in the St Louis Post-Dispatch
SHARON MUMMA DIES
SHE FOUGHT CANCER WITH CAKES, HUMOR
By JOHN M. MCGUIRE
Of the Post-Dispatch
Wednesday, Mar. 23 2005
Sharon Mumma learned in 1995 that she had breast cancer. The bad news came the
day after her best friend, Patty Brennan, died of the same disease.
She was hardly daunted. For the next decade, she was a cancer-fighting dynamo -
baking cakes and cookies for patients, raising thousands of dollars for
research, cracking up patients and staff at St. Luke's Hospital in Chesterfield
with her witty remarks and passing out ballcaps emblazoned with a particularly
pithy observation: "Chemo Sucks."
Friends say the picture from December 2003 that accompanies this story was
typical. Back then, she was smiling - nothing unusual about that - in front of
her open oven in Chesterfield, baking another cake before going off to St.
Luke's for another chemotherapy session. It became a regular part of her life -
a life that ended at St. Luke's on March 15, 2005. She was 59.
"Sharon never came empty-handed," said Lynn P. Stadnyk, a nurse and counselor
for the Breast Care Center at St. Luke's. "We always looked forward to Sharon's
checkups. By the time she left, staff and patients alike were laughing, talking
and eating whatever Sharon baked that day.
"She single-handedly made a difference in everyone's mood - just being Sharon -
the epitome of survivorship."
Over the years, Mrs. Mumma would undergo 36 radiation treatments and 64
chemotherapy sessions. Amidst all that, she formed a team of friends, t
"Patty Brennan Walkers," to raise money for AMC Cancer Research. They raised
enough money to reach the Gold Team level, and Mrs. Mumma won the grand award
as a top individual contributor. "She could be seen last fall canvassing the
neighborhood with her portable oxygen tank in tow," said her husband, Philip.
"People were struck dumb that she was campaigning for others while she was so
ill."
Sharon Mumma, a native of Sullivan, Ill., was most recently a real esta
asset management specialist for the Missouri Housing Development Commission.
She started her career in multifamily housing in 1973, as an employee for some
Midwestern property management firms. The Mummas moved from Decatur, Ill., to
Chesterfield in 1985.
In 1991, she was awarded the Property Manager of the Year by the Home Builders
Association of Greater St. Louis. In 1999, she was named the American Cancer
Society's Research to Recovery Volunteer of the Year.
Laura Signaigo, St. Luke's marketing projects manager, said that because of her
"amazing spirit," the hospital put her on the cover of its magazine and used
her in several television commercials for St. Luke's Center for Cancer Care.
But Sharon Mumma operated on many more levels. "Sharon turned strangers into
inspired and admiring friends," Stadnyk said. "She would say, 'I can bake, and
heaven knows, I can talk,'" said Stadnyk. "'There's no point in crying over
what is, you just have to make the best of it, and go on.'"
Besides her husband of 35 years, Philip Mumma, she is survived by a son, Jay
Mumma of Creve Coeur; her mother, Marjory O'Neill, and a brother, John O'Neill,
both of Sullivan.
A memorial service will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Buchholz Mortuary,
2211 Clarkson Road, Chesterfield.
The family requests that memorial donations be made to The Life & Hope Fund of
St. Luke's Hospital, 232 South Woods Mill Road, Chesterfield, Mo., 63017; or to
the Sharon Mumma Inspiration Fund, in care of Peggy Collier, 3849 Rooster Ridge
Lane, Defiance, Mo., 63341.
****************************************************
Sharon Mumma
DECATUR - Real Estate Professional, Volunteer, and Cheerleader for Cancer Patients, Sharon Mumma, Asset Management Specialist for Mo. Housing Development Commission, died Tuesday, March 15, 2005. Mumma had been battling cancer since 1995. She was 59 years old and lived in Chesterfield, Mo. Mrs. Mumma started her career in Multi-Family Housing in 1973 working for some of the Midwest's premier property management firms before joining Missouri Housing Development Corporation in 1994. Designations Mrs. Mumma held included Certified Credit Compliance Professional, Certified Assisted Housing Manager, State of Missouri Real Estate License, and Certified Property Manager. In addition, Mrs. Mumma was Secretary/Treasurer for the Downstate Illinois Accredited Resident Manager Chapter, on the Resident Advisory Board for HUD at Cochran Gardens as a member of their Problem Task Force, served on the Institute of Real Estate Management St. Louis Chapter on the Communications Committee, and was a member of the Board of Directors for the DeBaliviere Association. In 1991, Mrs. Mumma was awarded Property Manager of the Year by the Home Builders' Association of Greater St. Louis. When cancer struck in 1995, Mrs. Mumma continued her employment and began doing volunteer work, including serving on the Housing Board for the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge. She became a Reach to Recovery volunteer, a position that included calling or visiting women in the hospital who had recently undergone breast cancer surgery and acting as a support person. In 1999, Mrs. Mumma was awarded the American Cancer Society's Reach to Recovery Volunteer of the Year. In 1995, she formed a walking team to raise money for AMC Cancer Research's Walk for Women in the name of a dear friend who had died from Breast Cancer. Each year since the walking team's inception it has raised enough money to receive the Gold Plaque Award. Mrs. Mumma was asked to represent women with Breast Cancer by accepting the U.S. Postal Service Stamp Plaque for Breast Cancer presented to St. Luke's Hospital in 1995. She also participated in several television commercials for St. Luke's Center for Cancer Care. In 2004, Mrs. Mumma was featured in an article titled, "Living with Cancer," on the cover of St. Luke's Hospital's magazine, Health & Harmony. After completing her initial treatment for breast cancer 1995, Mrs. Mumma remained cancer free until 2002 when it was discovered that her cancer had reappeared. Throughout all of her chemotherapy treatments (64) she continued to work and volunteer. She was well known among patients and staff at St. Luke's Hospital for always bringing her homemade cookies and carrot cakes to share with everyone in the cancer center. In addition, Mrs. Mumma presented all new cancer patients with a "Chemo Sucks" baseball cap. Her efforts were to make chemotherapy a festive occasion and to get patients to laugh and talk about their situations to help relieve fear. She always met her goal. Mrs. Mumma leaves her loving husband, Philip of 35 years, son, Jay, her mother, Marjory O'Neill, brother, John O'Neill, uncle, Jim Singiser, and cousins, Nancy Ernst and Sandra Malone. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 26, 2005 at Buchholtz Mortuary located at Clarkson and Wilson Roads in Chesterfield, Missouri. Mrs. Mumma wishes this service be a celebration of life with friends and loved ones to impart a funny story or memory of her. The family requests donations to St. Luke's Life & Hope Fund- at St. Luke's Hospital, 230 S. Woods Mill, Chesterfield, Missouri 63017, or to AMC Cancer Research- 121 Hunter Ave. Suite 203, St. Louis - 63124, in lieu of flowers. Obituary written by Sharon Mumma
Published in the Decatur Herald & Review on 3/18/2005.
Possible living individual, birth date and location removed!