Elizabeth Parcells 1951-2005
Posted by Kate Murphy on January 1st, 2006
Our dear friend Elizabeth Parcells died on December 29, 2005 at home with her family, in the way she had so very much wished. Elizabeth’s courage and sheer joy has encouraged all of us on the ACOR Colon Discussion List as she moved with grace and dignity through the last months of her life. She kept her sense of humor, her optimism, and her willingness to share both difficult times and better days.
A concert soprano, she made her last work putting her music up on a web site where it could be freely enjoyed by everyone and where she could continue her work to make people aware that colorectal cancer was preventable through screening.
In February, 2005 she returned to the concert stage at Carnegie Hall after two years of struggling with colorectal cancer. She had decided to make that performance an opportunity to spread the word about colorectal cancer. She had ordered enough blue buddy bracelets for the entire audience. Afterwards she wrote:
Before I began to sing, I made a few remarks. I thanked Pro Musicis Foundation for their faith in me over the years, and especially when they invited me to sing in spite of my cancer situation. Then I spoke directly to my audience and told them that I had a very personal message and a gift for each one of them. I asked them to be aware that colon cancer can be treated early and even prevented by a colonoscopy, that there was a buddy bracelet for each of them to remind them or a loved one of this, to get the bracelet, to wear it for me, and get the test for themselves. I added that if my initiative saved but one life, it would all be worth it.
When I came back on stage after the intermission, it was a joy to see a blue bracelet on every wrist in the hall!
Of all the triumphs I could wish for as a singer and a human being, this was the greatest moment of all.
Her family has added a memorial page to her website where stories and memories of Elizabeth can be shared. Send messages to Charlie Parcells, and he will post them there.
The funeral will be held on January 4, 2005 at the Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church in Detroit, Michigan. Calling hours are from 2 to 9 p.m. on January 3rd at the Verheyden Funeral Home, 8325 East Jefferson Avenue, Detroit.
An obituary for Elizabeth — or Betsy as she was known in the musical world — appeared in the January 8th edition of the *Boston Globe.*
