It is with great sadness that, today, we learned of the passing of Susan Butcher from leukemia. She fought a good fight. Susan was a role model for our mom, Louise. She was one of those women who broke the men-only glass ceiling in her field. Our mom met Susan when she worked for ABC Wide World of Sports when they covered the Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska. Like our mom, Susan adored her dogs. When my Mom's husky, Gypsy, was diagnosed with liver cancer, Susan refered them to her vet in Huntington Beach where they still have a state of the art cancer treatment facility for dogs and cats. Our thoughts and prayers are with her husband Dave, and her two girls, ages 10 and 5. Susan is now at rest from her greatest race.
From the ABC News website:
4-Time Iditarod Champion Susan Butcher Dies at 51 From Reoccurrence of Leukemia
By JEANNETTE J. LEE Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher, who in 1986 became the race's second female winner and brought increased national attention to its grueling competition, has died. She was 51. Butcher died Saturday in a Seattle hospital of a reoccurrence of leukemia after a recent stem-cell transplant, her doctor said.
She dominated the 1,100-mile sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome in the late 1980s. Her other victories came in 1987, '88 and '90, and she finished in the top four through 1993. "What she did is brought this race to an audience that had never been aware of it before simply because of her personality," Iditarod spokesman Chas St. George said.
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