By Shealyn Miles
Special Features Editor

Oliver Heckman Elementary school’s nurse for twenty years and counting, Jeanne Drake is not only a diligent worker and a strong proponent of community service, but she is also a breast cancer survivor. Drake’s daughter, Neshaminy High School teacher and Interact adviser, Suzi Drake shares her experience.

Diagnosed in 1997, J. Drake went through a year of treatment. With a course of radiation and chemotherapy, she, like most cancer patients, lost her hair.

Despite these troubles, S. Drake describes a light- hearted, kind woman who “did not ever play the sick card.” According to S. Drake the largest annoyance for her mother was that her hair did not grow back in as curly as she had hoped. Drake believes that it was her mother’s sense of humor that really aided her in her struggle.

At the age of 72, to this day she keeps herself busy with work and church, a member of the deacon board. Students at Neshaminy high school and beyond may very well remember the same, fun nurse that remains there today.

S. Drake’s love for service can be credited to her mother. Drake explains that being “raised in a family that did community service made her the person that she is today.”

The Drake family continues to donate their time to those in need, especially breast cancer patients. Drake does the survivor walk every year, explaining that it does “make her emotional.”

Luckily, J. Drake’s illness was caught early. Suzi Drake expresses the importance of regular mammograms. With breast cancer running in her family, she is okay with the fact that she may have to travel that path one day, with thanks to early recognition and treatment.

“This month shows how strong women are,” Drake said. She describes a mother as the central element of a family, the one that holds them together, even though the tough times. It comes as no surprise that these are her thoughts, with a mother as strong as J. Drake.