Burlington Educator Who Died of Cancer Being Honored by Family, Friends

Family, friends and loved ones of a Burlington educator who succumbed to cancer are honoring her memory with a fundraising walk and is seeking support from the community. 

"Pam Speck was special education teacher in Burlington, Mass., a loving mother, a devoted wife, and the eldest of four sisters," a notice from Katie Stinchon of Breathe Deep Boston 5k Walk states. "When family and friends get together to remember the petite 5 foot woman, the words 'feisty, fearless, and funny' are often a part of the conversation."

Speck was diagnosed with lung cancer in Sept. 2007 and succumbed to the disease 10 months later. She was 43 years old.

Since her passing, the family started a new annual tradition, gathering the first Saturday of every November to participate in and raise money for the LUNGevity Foundation’s Breathe Deep Boston 5K Walk, the release states. They band together under the name “PAMS TEAM” sporting royal blue t-shirts with the team’s name displayed across the chest in white letters. Speck’s little sister, Tewksbury resident, Jennifer Sovie is at the helm as team captain. 

“We were told we had at least a year, we feel like we were robbed of those three months with my sister,” says Sovie. “She was the matriarch of our family -- the oldest sister and cousin and always rose to the occasion as our social events coordinator. Here she is, five years after her death still getting us together to honor and remember her.  She meant a lot to a lot of people.”

With the final months that Speck did have, she lived them to the fullest, Sovie added. Speck proudly checked things off of her bucket list like visiting Hawaii and purchasing a Winnebago and traveling across country. The week of her death, she was riding rollercoasters at Hershey Park in Pennsylvania.

Sovie recalls trick-or-treating with Speck and their children while she was in the midst of her chemotherapy treatments and with every stroke of her hair it began to fall out. Speck took the moment in stride and roared with laughter, proclaiming that she didn’t even need a costume that year. They held a wig party soon after to add further humor to the situation. 

"Despite the grueling treatments and radiation, Speck never lost her sense of humor and fighting spirit," Sovie said. "She was an older sister to look up to until the very end." 

On Saturday, Nov. 2 at the DCR’s Mother’s Rest Area at Carson Beach in South Boston, PAM’s TEAM will walk 50 members strong, alongside 2,000 participants in the LUNGevity Foundation’s eighth annual Breathe Deep Boston 5K Walk. 
The team hopes to raise an additional $2,500 for the cause.

Those interested in supporting PAM’s TEAM can visit lungevity.org/boston, click on the “donate to this event” button and enter the name Pam’s Team to contribute to Sovie’s fundraising efforts.
 
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, claiming approximately 160,000 lives every year. It can afflict anyone, regardless of smoking history, gender, or ethnicity. Currently, only 16 percent of people diagnosed with lung cancer survive five years post-diagnosis. With early detection, there is hope of long-term survivorship.
 
“Our goal is to be able to give someone just one more day, to breathe or finish their bucket list,” says Sovie. “Lung cancer hit us where it hurts, this is our cancer and now we want to do something to fight it.” 
 
The Breathe Deep Boston 5K Walk is one of more than 80 LUNGeveity events that take place annually across the country.  Founded in 2006, the Breathe Deep Boston 5K Walk has alone raised more than $1 million. The 2013 fundraising goal is $250,000.
 
To register for the Breathe Deep Boston 5K Walk, On Nov. 2 or to support a walker, visit lungevity.org/boston or call (312) 407-6100. Participants may enter discount code BREATHE for $5 off the registration fee. November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month.