Diane Beaudin Sheahan

Diane Beaudin Sheahan, 52, an organizer and president of the Greater Washington Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, died of complications of ovarian cancer June 27, 1994, at Sibley Memorial hospital She had lived in Washington since 1960.

Mrs. Sheahan, a public relations consultant who was formerly an administrator of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, helped found the coalition in the late 1980s. The organization gives support to cancer patients and works to end discrimination faced by people who have cancer.

She published a newsletter for patients, ran a survivor hot line, organized coalition events and was a frequent public speaker. She testified before Congress, a Canadian Parliament committee and medical conventions and was. a consultant to the National Cancer Institute. She was associate editor of the Networker, a national publication for cancer survivors of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS).

Mrs. Sheahan was a native of Bronson, Mich. and a graduate of Dunbarton College. In addition to her work for the Kennedy Foundation, she was a public relations consultant for political campaigns and public service organizations. At the end of the 1980s, she was director of information for the Congressional Task Force on Women, Minorities and the Handicapped in Science and Technology.

She was a member of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission in American University Park for 10 years and chaired ANC 3E there in 1987. She led an effort to redesign traffic patterns in the area and to preserve the Spring Valley shopping area.

She was a eucharistic minister and teacher at the Catholic Church of the Annunciation in Washington and a master gardener for the Agricultural Extension Service. She was a genealogist and historical researcher whose work was used by the Army. She served on the boards of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces Family Organization and the Dunbarton College Alumnae Associ-ation.

Mrs. Sheahan was named a Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian magazine in 1992 and Survivor of the Year by the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. She was honored by the D.C. Council with a resolution recognizing her ANC work and with a Distinguished Service Award. She was given an award by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Com-merce for her work to improve public understanding of mental retardation.

Survivors include her husband of 29 years, John P. Sheahan, four children and two brothers.

1992 Washingtonians of the Year
Washingtonian Magazine Online
Washingtonian of the Year
Diane Beaudin Sheahan - Pictures 1