Laura Steele Evans, founder of Expedition Inspiration Fund for Breast Cancer, who was an inspiration to thousands of people with a life-threatening illness, passed away on Tuesday October 17, 2000 of a brain tumor.

Laura was born in Fulton, Missouri on January 8 1949, the second of four children of Professor Charles Steel and Eleanor Steele, and was raised in Granville, Ohio. After graduating from Granville High School, Laura received a scholarship to Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Fashion Design, coupled with minor in French.

While a student at Stephens, Laura met her future husband, Roger Evans who she married in 1971. The couple soon began an adventurous life together that included, living at various times, in Switzerland, Los Angeles, Denver, Boston, San Francisco and Sun Valley. While pursuing her professional career in clothing design over the next twenty years, Laura worked for some of America's leading skiwear and sportswear companies. In addition to her design she also expressed her lifelong interest in art through sketching, leaded glass and photography.

In 1989, Laura was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer and underwent a bone marrow transplant resulting in an inspiring recovery from this disease. As a response to her survival and her return to the mountain climbing she so loved, Laura set aside her career in clothing design and founded Expedition Inspiration, the acclaimed assault on breast cancer, in 1995, by 17 breast cancer survivors. This successful climb of Argentina's Mt. Aconcagua (23,000') the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere, was featured in a PBS documentary film showing these courageous women co-led by Laura and Peter Whittaker of Rainier Mountaineering, demonstrating the strength of breast cancer survivors while raising $2 million for medical research. Laura and her climbing team were honored at the White House in a private reception hosted by Hillary Rodham Clinton, and at a private reception at the United States Supreme Court, hosted by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a fellow survivor of breast cancer. Subsequently, Laura was selected to carry the Olympic torch on its journey to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She was also appointed to serve on the U.S. Department of Defense Commission awarding research funding to promising breast cancer research projects nationwide. In 1995, Laura was further honored by her alma mater, Stephens College, as its "National Alumnae of the Year" and delivered the college's commencement address.

In 1996, Laura's personally written, inspiring story of her recovery, "The Climb Of My Life," was published by Harper Collins and became a cherished survival handbook for countless women battling breast cancer. The book was selected as a finalist in the 1997 Books for Better Living Awards presented in New York City. That same year she was elected a member of the illustrious Explorer's Club of New York City.

Laura continued to lead the Expedition Inspiration Fund for Breast Cancer Research in its dedicated pursuit of a cure for breast cancer, and whose annual symposium of eminent breast cancer researchers has become a renowned national conference promising to deliver earlier and better treatment to overcome this dreadful disease. Laura continued to carry her message across America as a much-requested motivational speaker.

Throughout her many accomplishments, non-profit work and climbing activities, Laura's boundless passion for life and infectious enthusiasm have made her an inspiring example and endeared her to many devoted friends. She always delighted in making others happier and more fulfilled. Her greatest personal joys included the sense of peace and renewal she experienced in the high mountains of distant continents or near her beloved home in Idaho, day-hiking on the numerous trails around Sun Valley with her Bernese Mountain Dog, Brewski. She loved opportunities to practice her fluent French and always glowed at the opportunity to entertain friends and family. In her quiet, reflective moments, Laura enjoyed good books and writing in her ever-present journal.

Laura will be best remembered by friends and family for her cherished personal qualities of an always ready smile, unfailing positive outlook, boundless energy, strength, intelligence, humor, generosity, and, of course, her zeal to make the most of her second chance at life. Laura wants all women with breast cancer to know that the cancer that claimed her was separate and unrelated to her earlier bout with breast cancer, which she conquered. She would tell those women to go forward with courage, faith and the knowledge that they, too, can overcome breast cancer. In honor of her wishes, Laura's ashes were released upon the summit of Mt. Rainier, where her fervor for climbing was born.