Cancer is a dreadful disease, and nearly everyone is impacted by it at some point in their lives, both directly and indirectly. Here in Westerville, cancer leaves an indelible mark on too many.
Including everyone who knew Pat Connor, a beloved husband and father, neighbor and friend to so many in this community, who was taken too soon.
Knowing his fiercely strong and independent wife, Kacey Connor, would be reluctant to ask for support during his treatments, he asked his loved ones to stick together and offer support to her and their three young children, as well as each other.
“We recorded a video to send out to our close friends and in that video, my husband says we’re going to need the village, because this is going to be hard,” Connor says.
After a hard-fought battle, during which he never lost hope, Pat passed away in 2021, at 35 years old, from an aggressive bile duct cancer.
Assemble the Village
A close friend of the family started a Pelotonia team in 2022 in Pat’s honor, calling it Pat’s Village. The team was extremely successful in its fundraising, collecting more than $25,000 for cancer research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – the James that year.
Pat’s Village has raised $18,000 this year so far for a total of almost $45,000 raised in total during the two years the team has participated in the ride.
Though Connor has always been an avid runner, never a cyclist, she decided to get behind the handlebars in 2023 for the 37-mile New Albany Loop. While she wished that her husband was riding with her, she was encouraged by the number of people who participated and donated in Pat’s honor.
“It’s a huge community and there are thousands of people who have died and that’s why people are riding, which is a hard concept to sort of take in,” Connor says. “But if you’re going to take that tragedy or that loss and turn it into something like that, I think that speaks for the organization that Pelotonia is and the people that participated.”
Connor says the relationships Pat kept throughout his life were very important to him, so it’s no surprise Pat’s Village saw so much participation and so many donations.
“He was like, ‘I could say that I didn’t get all the years that I wanted, but I had a good life because I surrounded myself with the best people,’” Connor says.
Warmhearted Westervillians
Connor and Pat met while attending Otterbein University. Kacey was a basketball cheerleader and Pat was on the baseball team. After they graduated, they decided to stay in Westerville to raise their kids in the community they loved.
“It’s a community where you feel like they care and they do a lot of events and things to reach the community,” Connor says. “I think we just got comfortable here at college and then didn’t want to leave.”
Night of Impact
Just how much money did Pelotonia raise this year for cancer research?
As done traditionally, the grand total of charitable funds raised in 2023 will be announced during Pelotonia’s Night of Impact, held in early November.
Last year, a check for more than $258 million was presented to The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – the James.
The funds have been used for research in immunotherapy treatments, targeted therapy for aggressive brain tumors and more. Since Pelotonia’s inception, these donations have helped to fund hundreds of research projects in the fight to end cancer.
Because of Pat’s love for others, he was a source of support for many in the community and beyond. Connor says Pat was positive, caring and considerate. He touched the lives of many including his former college teammates, coworkers, family, friends and even the consulting clients he worked with at his job.
“I just had somebody tell me the other day, ‘I still can see his smile and the way that he listened,’” Connor says. “When somebody talked to him, he was actually listening and he cared about what you had to say. I don’t think that happens as much anymore.”
Even two years after his death, he hasn’t been forgotten by the people he loved and supported during his time on earth.
“I put together a birthday party for him still and we do a celebration for his arrival to heaven and we had 80 people in my backyard,” Connor says. “I think a lot of times those things happen early on, but it continues because that’s just the impact that he made on people.”
Maisie Fitzmaurice is an assistant editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at mfitzmaurice@cityscenemediagroup.com.
