Saskatoon DJ Lisa Rendall is Dead

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Saskatoon DJ Lisa Rendall is Dead

Postby jon » Fri Apr 15, 2011 9:47 pm

Long-time Saskatoon radio personality Lisa Rendall dies of cancer
By Lori Coolican, The StarPhoenix
Saskatoon
April 15, 2011

A widely popular former Saskatoon radio personality who fought a courageous and very public battle with cancer for more than a decade has died of the disease.

Lisa Rendall, 45, inspired thousands of people by sharing her story after she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2000.

She announced it on the C95 morning show where she worked as a host and immediately started efforts to raise money for breast cancer research.

That year, the station launched what has become an annual radio marathon, raising almost $2.5 million to date. A golf tournament in Rendall's name started in 2001 and has continued every year since, raising more than $400,000 for breast cancer research.

Numerous awards and accolades followed, and earlier this year Rendall was named the 2010 CTV Saskatoon Citizen of the Year.

"When you have cancer, there's nothing you can do. This is my way of doing something," she told The StarPhoenix in a January interview.

Rendall was initially told the survival rate for her type of cancer was less than three years, but she proved that prediction wrong. After years of stability, the disease began to grow again in 2010, prompting further rounds of chemotherapy.

Rendall was known as a cancer fighter and philanthropist, but not to be forgotten is what a great broadcaster she was, says Dave Scharf, who worked with her from 1997 until her diagnosis. Hers was a bigger-than-life personality, he recalled in an interview Thursday.

"I've never met someone who connected so immediately to listeners," he said. "On the radio, you felt like you knew her very quickly."

The station aired a brief memorial segment about Rendall Thursday morning, but it was restrained, according to her wishes, Scharf said.

"Lisa had a great hand in everything that had to do with her passing. We know she didn't want a big trumpet-and-banners tribute."

By sharing her own story and inspiring other women to do the same, Rendall made a big difference for the breast cancer community in her home province, said Dr. Svein Carlsen, vice-president of research for the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.

The money raised by her golf tournament and the radio marathons she inspired enabled the agency to greatly expand the level of breast cancer research carried out in Saskatchewan, he said.

"For example, when this first started 10 years ago, I was the only one that was strictly doing breast cancer research in our group here and now we have four researchers that are actively involved in breast cancer research."

The money has been used to start new projects and encourage other researchers to get involved in the breast cancer field, and has led to the agency receiving several external national grants, as well as paying for new equipment and training of new researchers, Carlsen said.

The City of Saskatoon named a park in Hampton Village after Rendall two weeks ago.

Her death is a tremendous loss to the community, said Coun. Tiffany Paulsen.

"She did more than fundraise. Part of her mission was to increase awareness among women about their own personal breast health and make sure people weren't going to suffer the way she did. She was an inspiration to everybody. She turned her cancer into a positive."

Rendall was born and raised in smalltown Saskatchewan, starting her radio career in Estevan in 1984 followed by stints at CKIT and CKCK in Regina, CJWW in Saskatoon and CISS FM in Toronto. She returned to Regina in 1996, working at Z99 before moving to the C95 morning show in Saskatoon in 1997.

She is survived by her husband Will Deck. Her funeral is scheduled for Monday in Strongfield,120 kilometres south of Saskatoon near her hometown of Loreburn.

ref. - http://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/Lo ... story.html
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jon
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Re: Saskatoon DJ Lisa Rendall is Dead

Postby hagopian » Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:04 am

A class act - and showed the power of courage from day one.

Condolences to her Family, friends, and radio pals.

Inspiring, and sad, too.
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