Late Mahopac Resident to be Honored at Relay For Life with Pink
Every year in May, there is a sea of white luminary bags on the track at Mahopac High School, a sign that Relay For Life has once again arrived in Putnam County.
This year, while there still may be thousands of white bags lining the track, a portion of the track will also hold pink luminary bags in honor of a passionate Mahopac resident who lost her life to cancer earlier this year.
RoseMarie Bunyea might have lost her battle to cancer, but her memory will still be on display with those pink bags this weekend when the American Cancer Society once again hosts Relay For Life, with the opening ceremony starting at noon on Saturday. The luminary ceremony will take place later at 9 p.m. and will hold special meaning for the family of Rose Bunyea.
Rose’s husband, Jeff Bunyea, said he was “in tears” when he was told by organizer Tracey Walsh that pink bags would also be used this year. He added, it “meant the world to me.”
Bunyea describes his late wife as someone who always had an upbeat outlook, even in grave times. Rose was even the honorary chair during Relay For Life in 2012
“She’d take the shirt off her back for anybody, always helping people,” he said. “When she found out she had cancer she didn’t feel sorry for herself. She fought it head on.”
Jeff Bunyea remembers how Rose walked into the infusion room when she was getting chemotherapy and “everybody would come alive. She was like the life of the party.”
“Everyone would be happy in a not so happy situation,” he added.
Rose was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer more than seven years ago, though it was later revealed to be stage 3. After a year of chemo, she was in remission for five years before it came back again. She lost her fight on January 20. Jeff Bunyea said there was a line out the door during her wake.
Walsh, who once again organized the big event, said this year’s event and the push for more people and overall awareness has been heightened with the help of numerous businesses and residents in the community.
This year, she hopes to again raise roughly $250,000 and noted in 15 years the event has raised about $4 million.
She said so many businesses have taken on the duty to help the event by donating time and resources to the cause. She said it makes her proud to go down the Route 6 and witness all the businesses with purple colored on their storefront.
The Greater Mahopac-Carmel Chambers of Commerce CEO Mike Bucci said the Mahopac community has rallied around many great causes and Relay For Life is just another example of that strong spirit.
“Every small business owner wants to belong to something,” he said. “And they want to give back whether it’s money or time and in this case you don’t have to give tons of money, you just have to relay.”
As for Walsh, who lost her father to cancer and is a cancer survivor herself, she is ready to raise money and elevate the hope of those in the community battling the deadly disease while also remembering those who lost their lives to it.
“This makes me determined to keep organizing the relay and keep raising money because these are not just names to me,” she said. “These are people that I care about.”
