Lynn C. Woolsey: “I rise today to honor Andrea Fox of San Rafael, California, a talented professional planner, community volunteer…”

“I rise today to honor Andrea Fox of San Rafael, California, a talented professional planner, community volunteer, athlete and breast cancer activist, and an inspiration to everyone who knew her. Andrea Fox lost her life in a battle against breast cancer on July 2 at the age of 35, leaving a legacy of extraordinary courage and compassion. A beautiful young woman with incredible grace and dignity, Annie Fox was dedicated to finding a cure for breast cancer. Diagnosed with a particularly aggressive cancer in 1998, the former triathlete, who ate organically and exercised regularly, had none of the traditional risk factors for cancer. Undergoing a lumpectomy, she continued her athletic training and stage IV cancer seemed to disappear. But in April 2000, the cancer came back, and pursuing every treatment she could find, including non-Western, nontraditional methods, Annie appeared to have beaten it back again. Andrea focused her considerable energies on increasing public awareness and getting national attention for this serious epidemic of breast cancer in Marin County, joining the board of Marin Breast Cancer Watch. "Annie was one of our angels," said board president Roni Mentzer. Whether lobbying in Sacramento for breast cancer research or educating the community about the dangerously high rates of cancer in Marin County, Annie made a difference. She made history.…”