Lise Palmer was known for her skill and determination during her days as a standout high school basketball player in Puyallup.
She also gained a reputation for showing kindness and encouragement off the court.
More than a year after her death at age 29, her good deeds continue to resonate. In August, a memorial run staged in her honor will raise money for one of her former teammates, who’s battling cancer.
“Lise just loved being active and running and being physically fit. And she also loved to give back to other people,” said her mother, Cathy Macadangdang.
“We decided we would do the run every year in her honor to benefit another family, another mom in need,” Macadangdang said. “We just know Lise would have wanted this.”
Her former teammate Audra Brown, 30, of Frederickson, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in December.
She’s on her eighth round of chemotherapy and likely will need a bone-marrow transplant.
Brown has medical insurance, but it won’t cover the procedure and other costs are mounting, she said. Her husband, Bobby, a real estate agent, has needed to cut back on work to be with her, and they make frequent trips to Seattle for treatment and doctor visits, she said.
The Browns have three children, Mackenzie, 10, Bobby, 4, and Rylinn, 2.
They’re close in age to Palmer’s two sons, Ray, 5, and Mac, 3. Palmer was a doting mom to her boys, and she was ecstatic when she learned she was pregnant with her third child, a daughter.
The baby was to be named Faith.
Then tragedy came. Palmer was hit by a car and killed in May 2011 while on vacation with her husband, Ryan, and their boys.
She was eight months pregnant with Faith; the baby also did not survive.
Last August, hundreds of people gathered at Heritage Recreation Center in Puyallup for the first Lise & Faith Memorial Run/Walk.
Brown helped with registration.
She’d lost touch with Palmer after they spent a season on the same AAU basketball team as teens. But Palmer made a lasting impression.
“She was so good, I thought for sure she’d (wind up) on the Seattle Storm or something,” Brown said, also recalling Palmer’s support and encouragement while they played side by side.
When Brown learned of Palmer’s death, “my husband and I – it hit us hard,” she said.
A few months after the first Lise & Faith run, Brown went to the hospital with side pain. She thought it might be a gallbladder problem.
Brown described the cancer diagnosis as a shock, saying “everybody thinks they’re bulletproof.”
The chemo has been difficult, she said, but family members and friends have stepped up with support.
She said she’s grateful for the help the memorial run – and her former teammate – will provide.
She thinks back to her time at the registration table.
“Never in a million years did I think it would be benefiting me (the next year),” she said. “I thought I’d be back there helping some other family.”
Macadangdang said Brown has become a close friend, and she knows her daughter would like that.
“Lise always felt you get back what you give. She was such a great friend. Lise never said a bad thing about anybody. She was supportive and loving and wanted to help. Maybe that’s why she had so many friends,” her mom said.
“She lived a lot in her short life, that’s for sure.”
sara.schilling@thenewstribune.com
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ABOUT THE RUN
What: Lise & Faith Memorial Run/Walk. The 1K, 5K and 10K event will raise money for Audra Brown, a Frederickson mom battling cancer.
When: Aug. 18.
Where: Heritage Recreation Center, 9010 128th St. in Puyallup.
History: The event began last year in honor of Brown’s former basketball teammate Lise Palmer, a 29-year-old Puyallup woman who was struck by a car and killed while on vacation with her family. Her unborn daughter, Faith, also died.
Registration details: www.active.com/running/puyallup-wa/lise-and-faith-memorial-run-2012.
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