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Susan de Vries
April
22, 2006 - Boston Globe
Susan
Ruth (Lipsett) de Vries offered a circle of hope to North Shore residents
suffering from cancer.
''With
Sue, it was all about giving back to people. She was just warm and
friendly. People could feel so comfortable with her," a friend, Judi Karas,
said of Mrs. de Vries's support group, Sue's Circle of Hope.
 Mrs.
de Vries, the founder of breast cancer support groups and foundations,
died Thursday of breast cancer at her home in Swampscott. She was 44.
Raised in
Newton, Mrs. de Vries graduated from Newton South High School in 1979. She
earned her bachelor's degree in sociology from George Washington
University in 1984.
For 10
years, Mrs. de Vries worked as a sales manager for Charles River Apparel
and ran the company's New York showroom, said her husband of 14 years,
John. In 1992 she moved back to Newton and then moved to Marblehead a year
later. She worked as a sales manager for Charles River Apparel in Medford
until she became a homemaker in 1995.
In 2001,
when Mrs. de Vries was diagnosed with breast cancer, she saw an
opportunity to help others.
For three
consecutive years, from 2003 to 2005, she participated in the Pan Mass
Challenge, raising money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute while
undergoing cancer treatment. She trained for the race for months with a
North Shore riding group called the Cyclopaths.
 In
2004, when she moved to Swampscott and was attending therapy sessions in
Newton, Mrs. de Vries recognized the need for a closer facility for North
Shore cancer patients. The following year, she started ''Sue's Circle of
Hope," a support group that offers treatments for those living with
cancer. The group's 30 members meet weekly in the home of a cofounder,
Penny Wigglesworth.
''My goal
was: If I could help just one person through one day, that's incredible,"
Mrs. de Vries said in an interview with the Globe last month.
The group
offers therapy sessions that include yoga, polarity therapy, and chair
massages as well as guest speakers such as nutritionists and cancer
specialists. Meetings are open to anyone who in need of support, including
spouses, children, and friends of loved ones who have cancer.
''People
come with their friends or their sisters and just feel comfortable ...
just being themselves and hanging around and talking. It was almost
spa-like," Karas said.
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