Remembering Diana Lynn
Donation protected
Hello, all.
My name is Dana and I’m from Athens, Ohio. Very soon—this August—I’ll be moving across the country to Glendale, CA in the hopes of digging into my art career. However, there’s something very important I need to do before I leave my hometown.
Many years before I was born, my mom, Patty, had her first daughter, Diana Lynn McKinley with my father, Lucky. Diana was born in 1983 in Athens. My parents were so excited to have their first child after 13 years of a happy marriage together.
However, Diana developed a tumor on her spinal chord at 18 months, which began a very long and painful battle with cancer.
My parents supported her the best they could. They took her to countless appointments at Children’s Hospital in Columbus, where she’d have chemotherapy treatments and constant surgeries to remove malignant tumors.
My dad worked various jobs to try to keep up on her medical expenses, even selling possessions just to make ends meet. They tried to make her life as happy as possible, giving her the opportunity to experience as much as possible—like riding a school bus for the first time... but the prognosis was grim.
In 1986, after 3 years of fighting, Diana lost her fight with cancer. She passed away at Children’s hospital. My mom recalls her last memory: Diana weakly stated she wanted to see the fire trucks as she could hear them pass the window of her hospital room. My mom picked up her frail body as she eagerly watched the trucks rush by. When my mom laid her back into bed, she slipped away soon after.
My parents continued to struggle to pay for hospital bills and funeral expenses. They were unable to afford more than a temporary marker for her, which has since disappeared with time, almost 30 years later.
Her unmarked grave haunts my mother every day. She’s tried to save up for a down payment on a stone for as long as I could remember with my dad. But then when my father started to decline, we had to reach into those funds.
My father, Lucky, was a Vietnam Veteran. He developed Neuropathy and Ischemic Heart Disease from his service, due to Agent Orange exposure. He passed away in 2009 and my mother and I are still fighting for the VA to recognize his death was service connected.
2 years before my father died, a VA Clinic Doctor told my father that Diana’s cancer was most likely caused by my Father’s exposure to Agent Orange, which is known to cause birth defects and cancers up to the 3rd generation of the person exposed. This news devastated my father.
To honor my parents wishes, and to give my mother and father some much needed closure, I want to raise money for a tombstone for my sister. However, I want to do this as a surprise for my mom, as I know receiving help of this magnitude may be overwhelming to her. I want my mom to close this very painful chapter in her life before I leave her and move to start a new chapter on my own.
If we happen to raise more than the amount I need, I will donate the remaining money to Children’s Hospital in Columbus in Diana’s memory.
Thank you so much for your time, and for your donations—no matter how small, I hope you know how much your gift means to me and to my family. I won’t forget your kindness.
I want to thank Hughes-Moquin Funeral Home for helping me with this process. You’re a saint, Jack. I couldn’t have done any of this without you.
My name is Dana and I’m from Athens, Ohio. Very soon—this August—I’ll be moving across the country to Glendale, CA in the hopes of digging into my art career. However, there’s something very important I need to do before I leave my hometown.
Many years before I was born, my mom, Patty, had her first daughter, Diana Lynn McKinley with my father, Lucky. Diana was born in 1983 in Athens. My parents were so excited to have their first child after 13 years of a happy marriage together.
However, Diana developed a tumor on her spinal chord at 18 months, which began a very long and painful battle with cancer.
My parents supported her the best they could. They took her to countless appointments at Children’s Hospital in Columbus, where she’d have chemotherapy treatments and constant surgeries to remove malignant tumors.
My dad worked various jobs to try to keep up on her medical expenses, even selling possessions just to make ends meet. They tried to make her life as happy as possible, giving her the opportunity to experience as much as possible—like riding a school bus for the first time... but the prognosis was grim.
In 1986, after 3 years of fighting, Diana lost her fight with cancer. She passed away at Children’s hospital. My mom recalls her last memory: Diana weakly stated she wanted to see the fire trucks as she could hear them pass the window of her hospital room. My mom picked up her frail body as she eagerly watched the trucks rush by. When my mom laid her back into bed, she slipped away soon after.
My parents continued to struggle to pay for hospital bills and funeral expenses. They were unable to afford more than a temporary marker for her, which has since disappeared with time, almost 30 years later.
Her unmarked grave haunts my mother every day. She’s tried to save up for a down payment on a stone for as long as I could remember with my dad. But then when my father started to decline, we had to reach into those funds.
My father, Lucky, was a Vietnam Veteran. He developed Neuropathy and Ischemic Heart Disease from his service, due to Agent Orange exposure. He passed away in 2009 and my mother and I are still fighting for the VA to recognize his death was service connected.
2 years before my father died, a VA Clinic Doctor told my father that Diana’s cancer was most likely caused by my Father’s exposure to Agent Orange, which is known to cause birth defects and cancers up to the 3rd generation of the person exposed. This news devastated my father.
To honor my parents wishes, and to give my mother and father some much needed closure, I want to raise money for a tombstone for my sister. However, I want to do this as a surprise for my mom, as I know receiving help of this magnitude may be overwhelming to her. I want my mom to close this very painful chapter in her life before I leave her and move to start a new chapter on my own.
If we happen to raise more than the amount I need, I will donate the remaining money to Children’s Hospital in Columbus in Diana’s memory.
Thank you so much for your time, and for your donations—no matter how small, I hope you know how much your gift means to me and to my family. I won’t forget your kindness.
I want to thank Hughes-Moquin Funeral Home for helping me with this process. You’re a saint, Jack. I couldn’t have done any of this without you.
Organizer
Dana Rae McKinley
Organizer
Athens, OH