Polycythemia vera patient-activist passes, furthers research even in death

When U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter convenes a meeting with local polycythemia vera patients and their advocates on Monday, an outspoken leader in the effort to get public officials to recognize the problem will be missing from the room -- but she and her work will not be forgotten.

Betty Kester passed away last month at the age of 80. After Kester and her husband, Lester, were diagnosed with the rare blood cancer, she played a key role in drawing attention to the alarming number of cases of the disease along Ben Titus Road where they lived. Lester Kester died earlier this year at the age of 84. The couple had been married for 59 years.

Even in death, though, Kester will continue to play a key role in advancing understanding of the disease and why it's occurring at such a high rate in the area around Hometown. Before her passing, Kester asked that samples of her body tissues be collected post mortem for future testing -- and that wish was carried out with the important help of her friend, Hometown resident and public health advocate Joe Murphy, as well as Dr. Vince Seaman with the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

To learn more about Kester's life, read her obituaries published here and here.

(Photo of Betty Kester from her Morning Call obituary)