ROSS CAROLE M. - Age 50, of Elizabeth Twp., passed away on July 17, 2007. Best friend and loving companion of Duane D. Garber Sr.; sister of Kathleen (George) Gibbs; aunt of Kelsey and Josh Gibbs; niece of Joyce Darroch, Janet (Richard) Wagner, Judy Zieler, Elaine Hutchison, and Jim Timmins. Also survived by Tiffany (Anthony) Piergrossi and Duane D. Garber Jr. Carole was involved in many Cancer Organizations. Visitation will be from 1-3 and 7-9 PM on Thursday and Friday at the JEFFERSON MEMORIAL FUNERAL HOME, INC., 301 Curry Hollow Rd., Pleasant Hills, where service will be held 10 AM on Saturday. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or Fallen Timber Animal Shelter.

[NOTE: This article does not state that Carole graduated in 1981 from the school of nursing at St. Francis Hospital. Following graduation, she obtained her BSN from Carlow College.]

Carole Ross, a Mercy Hospital nurse whose personal battle with numerous cancers equipped her with extraordinary compassion for fellow oncology patients, died last Tuesday of an infection.

She was 50 and lived in Elizabeth with her longtime companion, Duane D. Garber Sr.

Ms. Ross, manager of oncology services at the Mercy Cancer Institute, was revered because of her unusual perspective as patient and caregiver at the same institution.

Patients that she counseled as a nurse, and later as an administrator, would see her walking with an IV stand and realize she was one of them and understood their fears.

"I know how it feels to have your body betray you," she said in a 2001 interview. "Patients are comforted in knowing that where they are, I have been."

Dr. Michael Dougherty, a radiation oncologist, said Ms. Ross inspired not only patients but the staff.

"We knew very well what she went through," he said. "Honestly, it was more than any one of us could go through. But she would go through [treatment] and come back better and stronger."

Francine Stetz, lead radiation therapist, said despite Ms. Ross' illnesses, she paid attention to staffers' lives, taking time to, say, crochet an outfit for a new baby.

In addition to her official duties at the hospital, she volunteered her time, staying late or working weekends to make sure patients got the best care.

She was also Mercy Hospital's team captain for the Light the Night Walk, a charity fund-raising event, and a volunteer with the American Cancer Society's Reach to Recovery program.

A 2001 story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette captured Ms. Ross's special bond with those in her care. In 1988, when she was 31, she was working the night shift when she heard weeping and found an elderly breast cancer patient crying because she felt she could no longer take care of her husband.

"I told her that she had taken care of him for years, and that it was his turn to take care of her," she told the newspaper. "I said it was important for her to allow him to do that because this was a way for him to thank her."

The woman looked at her and said, "How can you be so young and be so wise?"

The next day, as Ms. Ross waited for radiation treatment for her own breast cancer, the elderly woman was wheeled into the room. Their eyes met. "And now I know why," the woman whispered.

For Ms. Ross, breast cancer was only one of many hurdles.

At 17, after graduating from Keystone Oaks High School and being accepted to nursing school, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease.

She took comfort in her grandmother's premonition: "God has plans for you."

She received radiation treatments and recovered, but her doctor recommended she wait five years before going to nursing school. She took his advice and worked in a hospital laboratory as a technician.

She graduated from the nursing program at Carlow College in 1981 and worked in the emergency room at St. Francis General Hospital. From there, she joined Mercy in 1986 and began to work with cancer patients.

In 1988, she was diagnosed with cancer in her right breast. After a lumpectomy and radiation, she continued working, receiving St. Francis Hospital's "Courage to Come Back" award.

In 2000, a mammogram detected a mass in her left breast. She had a bilateral mastectomy.

In addition to the breast cancers and Hodgkin's disease, she also underwent treatment over the years for thyroid, lung and skin cancer.

Most recently, she was diagnosed with lymphoma in December 2005. She had a knee replaced, too, and then had open-heart surgery last summer.

Everyone who knew her was amazed at her stamina.

"I don't know how she did it," said oncology nurse Lisa Warner. "She never complained. She never whined. That was just not in her. She would just shrug her shoulders and say, 'Well, here we go again.' "

She kept working through it all.

She never seemed to let sickness destroy her spirit.

"My philosophy is, the cancers I've had are just potholes, some bigger than others," she said in 2001. "And I just pull myself out and keep on going."

Beyond work, she enjoyed her home life with Mr. Garber, their dogs and their cat. Ms. Ross, twice divorced, had been living with Mr. Garber for about seven years, but the two chose not to marry.

Ms. Ross continued making plans despite health setbacks. She anticipated returning to Carlow for a second master's degree and had looked forward to the trip to Alaska.

That trip was supposed to be last summer, and she had her knee replaced so she'd be ready for bobsledding and other pursuits. But the open-heart surgery derailed the journey.

She and her friends had been planning it again. But her body broke down once more. On July 15, she asked Mr. Garber to call 911 because she wasn't feeling well. She died of sepsis two days later at Jefferson Regional Medical Center.

Ms. Ross is survived by her sister, Kathleen Gibbs.

Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or Fallen Timber Animal Shelter.