38. Last modified at 1:39 a.m. on Saturday, January 24, 1998 BY LENNY KOUPAL Special for the P&D Saying Goodbye To An Image Of Courage Death Of Yankton Teen Hits Hard To Those Who Came To Know Her During Her Fight With Cancer EDITOR'S NOTE: Tiffany Dutcher, age 14, died Thursday at her Yankton home of the cancer she battled almost half her life. But during the last few years, she became a source of inspiration for many people in the Yankton community with her courage and her resolve. Lenny Koupal, who was recently the city editor for the Press & Dakotan, knew Tiffany all her life. He did a story about her last September. He has written this account for the P&D: Many who knew Tiffany Dutcher now have an image of courage. It's the look of a young dancer. Her face of emerging teenhood hides years of pain behind spirit undaunted. Though her tiny body grew tired, her eyes kept the sparkle of hope. Tiffany's song of life was too short with dark undertones from the cancer that pursued and finally overtook her. Thursday, after sitting up to hug her mom goodbye, she died peacefully in her bed at her family's Yankton home. She was 14. I first recall Tiffany as the bright-eyed child with flowing blonde curls who bounded down the hallway at Mount Marty College where her mother, Jolene, and I worked. Shortly after that, Tiffany would carry few youthful memories that weren't affected by cancer. A word that terrified her as a child later became her reality when she was diagnosed with cancer at the age of eight. Her remaining years left the scars of radiation treatment. Chemotherapy stole her beautiful curls. The thrill of remission was later dashed by cancer greedy for another victim. As the battle continued, lonely summers were spent in hospital rooms far from home. Along with her parents, Jolene and Kevin, Tiffany's threadworn blanket and a tattered stuffed bunny were her constant companions. Over the years the mother-daughter bond became one of best friends. But teenhood brought new excitement to Tiffany's life. Jolene relinquished her "best friend" title to classmates who often gathered at the Dutcher home. It was some of those same friends that helped resuscitate Tiffany after her heart when into arrhythmia last fall. Many of those friends overfilled Tiffany's room in the intensive care unit at Sacred Heart Hospital. Their support helped get Tiffany back on her feet for the start of her freshman year. They helped brighten a flame of life Tiffany fought from being extinguished. And the fight was gallant. As she danced across her living room floor during our recent visit, Tiffany reminded me of an earlier memory as I watched her join the Yankton Drill Team during a halftime show at the Bucks football game. Her dancing involved her in the Yankton productions of the Nutcracker Suite and other recitals. It was that grace of a dancer that lived in her heart. Ironically, the cancer moved to Tiffany's heart where it took its final toll. Now her spirit must live in the hearts of the lives she touched. We all can learn from her demonstrated spirit of caring for others despite her own hardships and perils. Perhaps more of us can learn Tiffany's steps for dancing through life with youthful resilience and unrelenting hope. Some already have. I recently came upon an adult with cancer who looked upon Tiffany as his "hero." But hero nor martyr was what Tiffany wanted. She wanted to be a dancer. She wanted to be an average, everyday teenager. I recall Tiffany's thoughts on her cancer. She kept alive her belief that the cancer that first ravaged the right side of her youthful face was moving in a circle. It had now moved to her heart and next should move to the left side of her face. Once the circle was completed, her cancer would be gone. Her cancer had other plans. Maybe it's our task now to complete that circle so that she lives on in our minds and our actions. It's a legacy we can all benefit from. Thank you, Tiffany. Copyright 1998 The Press & Dakotan
42. Direct Mail: Feature Writing and Photography (also photography used in billboard)
43. CRAZY FOR YOU FIORELLO HONK! THE MUSICAL MAN OF LA MANCHA LEND ME A TENOR OF MICE AND MEN NUNSENSE! AMEN THE FULL MONTY ACTOR: Performed in 50+ stage productions (2001 Best Actor: South Dakota/North Dakota Actfest).
