Gloria Moy Petersen

Gloria Moy Petersen, Ph.D. died at age 72 on January 8, 2023 at her home in Rochester Minnesota with two sisters (Grace Maguire and Mary Ann Moy) and her husband at her side. She was discharged from Mayo Clinic on December 9, 2022 with a diagnosis of unresectable end-stage hepatocellular carcinoma. Gloria was born August 8, 1950 in Osaka, Japan where her father, Po Hong Moy, a sergeant serving with the U.S. Army occupation and reconstruction forces met, befriended, and married her mother, Sueh Chang Hsu. Gloria was the fourth of eight children born of this union. Gloria's mother shepherded her children to postings across the globe during the 1950's and 1960's: Japan, Alaska territory, Munich Germany, Washington State, Texas, Virginia and California while Gloria's father was posted to yet other places, including the Philippines and Korea. Gloria is survived by her husband of 50+ years (Wesley Petersen) and family including her sister, Virginia Stolorow, brother, William Moy, sister, Marjorie Sabnis (Ajit Sabnis), sister, Ellen Moy (Bob Crooks), brother Richard Moy (Linda), sister Grace Maguire (James) and sister, Mary Ann Moy (Rocky Laber), and brother in-law, Erik Petersen (Rose) as well as numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins in the United States, Taiwan, China, and Japan. Like her brothers and sisters, Gloria excelled in school despite being educated in different countries and states almost every three years. Gloria graduated in 1968 as salutatorian from Seaside High School in Seaside, California. In 1972, she earned her bachelor's degree in Physical Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, graduating with high honors and Phi Beta Kappa. After marrying Wes on March 25, 1972, following her last final exam a day earlier, she went on to earn a master's degree in Physical Anthropology at the University of Oregon (1975). She completed her Ph.D. in Physical Anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1980 after a nine-month stint in Kenya studying the National Geographic-featured Pumphouse Gang of baboons. She completed a postdoctoral medical genetics fellowship at Harbor UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, CA in 1983. After serving from 1983-1990 at Cedars Sinai Medical Center and as adjunct faculty at UCLA, she was offered a faculty position at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore MD where she conducted colorectal cancer research as part of a team led by Burt Vogelstein. That work resulted in breakthrough understandings of colorectal cancer genetics. She applied the same techniques to studies of lung cancer. She was then recruited, and accepted, a position as a consultant and professor in the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center with her primary appointment being the Division of Epidemiology, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences and a joint appointment in the Division of Gastroenterology. She held many important positions within the Cancer Center, including Deputy Director, and served on research committees at Mayo, the NIH/NCI, and with professional societies. She served on numerous site-review and advisory committees as well as national and state grant review committees. She was a named professor holding the Purvis and Roberta Tabor Professorship. Starting at Mayo on October 1, 1999, she stepped back from work in lung and colon cancer to focus on pancreatic cancer, using methods and skills developed in her earlier work on those diseases. She sought to reduce the devastation of this silent cancer on patients and families alike through exploration of genetics and family histories. Her stated desire was to see pancreatic cancer become a survivable disease through early detection and use of targeted gene therapies. At her death, early detection had become an increasing part of clinical practice, and targeted gene therapies are being pursued. Gloria was prolific at obtaining grant and foundation funding, being fully funded throughout her career at Mayo Clinic. She had 442 publications, including 370 research articles, 26 review articles, 22 commentaries, 12 letters, 8 editorials and 4 book chapters. Her research used genetic epidemiology methods to understand cancer etiology, especially, of pancreatic cancer and other gastrointestinal cancers. Her work included research on the early detection of pancreatic cancer, genetic and nongenetic risk factors of the disease, and bioethical issues involved in informing patients and family members with family histories of cancer. The latter resulted in guidelines to permit researchers to contact patients and families with concerning family histories. She also co-directed Mayo Clinic's Office of Health Disparities Research for many years. Gloria was compassionate and cared greatly for the families in her studies, always writing personalized notes of condolence to those who lost loved ones to pancreatic cancer. She was easily available to study participants and their families by telephone and made herself available to meet with patients or their families who were in Rochester for appointments. In this era, where genetic testing for the disease is increasingly a part of practice, her advice to "get tested" resulted in many families calling or writing to thank her after learning they carried genes making them susceptible to the disease. In numerous instances their messages were, "Thank you! You saved my [my husband/wife's, son/daughter's] life." The world of pancreatic research and patients and families with the disease lost a model of rigor, intensity, persistence, passion, enthusiasm, integrity, compassion, and careful, incremental research. The greater world, her friends, and church family lost one of the most humble, attentive, curious, well-read, joy-filled, loving people God ever created. Her husband lost the love of his life and his inspiration for embarking on projects she thought foolish . . . until they worked out. Then she would say, with pride in her husband, "That was worth every penny." How he longs to hear that concern and affirmation again. Gloria said for many years that she planned to retire within "the next couple of years." However long the next two years were to ultimately be, she looked forward to living full time in the retirement house in Wisconsin with the lake out the front door and the tenth fairway in the back. It was her dream home: close to town but not in town, good roads and access to medical care, the lake life of boating and fishing that she greatly enjoyed, and the wide-open spaces that her husband appreciated. We did many "dry runs" to the retirement home and she had started "feathering the nest" with her favorite things: cookbooks, photo albums, dinner ware, and an office desk for future remote work. Sadly, for those of us left behind, God had a different plan for this time. Recognizing His grace and supremacy, she was serene about her coming death and confident that her spirit would be with God. In her last month, she repeatedly read and talked about Ecclesiastes and recognized that all effort for material gain or prestige are meaningless at death, but life itself is a gift of God to be well-lived and appreciated, with Christ in the center. Those who so live, live on eternally and joyfully in God's presence. She also was drawn to the play, Our Town which in part is about appreciating the little things that make up the whole of life and give life its texture and meaning. She understood that each little thing comes from the same Creator that created her. In the scope of creation, she too was a little thing and, thus, to be appreciated. She loved all of life and gave back to this world and those she encountered as much as she was physically and intellectually able. She did it all with joy and for God's greater glory. We have many to thank. We thank Gloria's primary care physician, Dr. Ericka Tung for her regular care of Gloria and her compassion and support for her and the family during Gloria's brief illness. We also thank the many specialists who consulted on Gloria's case. Many worked with her professionally and knew her as a colleague, so her illness and passing were personal for them. We are grateful to Gloria's research team, colleagues, and her administrative assistants (Susan Ernst, Erin Martin, and Michelle Pearson) who supported and encouraged her and continue to support her team and Wes in so many ways. We thank Ann Nicometo for providing her time and essential home care equipment and materials, and shopping for the family. There are so many hundreds we would like to name who contributed emails, phone calls, flowers and plants, and to the kudoboard. These outpourings were greatly appreciated by Gloria and by the family during her last weeks. We likewise are grateful to dear friends from around the country and the world who have reached out to us with encouraging words, sympathy, and prayers. Thank you! We are exceptionally grateful to Trinity Presbyterian Church for the support of pastors Chris Harper and Steve Johnson, the elders, deacons, the Mercy Committee, and the wonderful congregation. Offers of emotional, spiritual support, help with daily life, and prayers have been unwavering since the start of Gloria's illness and since her passing. The family thanks Ranfranz and Vine of Rochester for their services and assistance in helping us prepare for this day. Gloria's memorial service will be held May 26, 2023 at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 2577 Schaeffer Lane, NE, Rochester, MN 55906. Visitation will begin at 12:30. The Memorial Service will start at 2:30 p.m. A Reception Meal will be provided at 4:00 p.m. On Saturday, May 27th, the family will gather at Union Cemetery in Trade Lake, Wisconsin to view the monument where she and her husband's remains will be interred. Gloria's remains will be interred there at a later time. Guests are welcome to join the family at the cemetery at 11:00 a.m. weather permitting. The reception meal will be provided by Terza Ristorante of Rochester, with a generous donation for the catering provided by Karen and Phil Walther, dear friends from Monterey, CA. Gloria specifically named Terza as a provider for this meal. Gloria was a strong voice and advocate for increasing funding for pancreatic cancer research through her volunteer work with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) where she hosted booths at fund raisers, met with families and advocates in-person or virtually during COVID, and for years went annually with many PanCAN advocates to Washington, DC to advocate to Representatives and Senators. (You can hear a wonderfully understandable talk to fellow advocates by Gloria here: https://www.facebook.com/jeanneandsteve/videos/10223131078499429/?idorvanity=1778358578914264). To honor Gloria's commitment to pancreatic cancer research and to ensure the legacy of her work continues, the family will partner with PanCAN to support promising research. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a gift to PanCAN to honor the memory of Dr. Gloria Moy Petersen and support the work she dedicated her career to advancing. You may go to this link to donate: https://secure.pancan.org/site/Donation2?df_id=2681&mfc_pref=T&2681.donation=form.