(Image: Jim Diers)
Friends and loved ones are remembering Ann Donovan. The former Capitol Hill Community Council president and activist raising awareness for metastatic breast cancer died this week, according to a Facebook group set up by her supporters.
A wife and mother, Donovan is remembered for her activism and support of the Right to Try bill in Washington to give terminally ill patients better access to experimental therapies.
A photo collage from last year’s Broadway Crossing event (Images: Jim Diers)
“Ann worked tirelessly on behalf of mbc patients and caregivers, spending her precious time and energy on more endeavors than we will ever know or imagine,” a post to her Facebook group read. “Thank you, dear friend and leader, for all you have accomplished. Your legacy will continue, as will our love for you.”
Last fall, CHS wrote about a small tribute to Donovan’s work with the community council that helped the neighborhood fight for the affordable housing development the Broadway Crossing at Broadway and Pine.
Etching on the glass of the E Pine entrance of the building now includes a quote from anthropologist Margaret Mead and a short tribute to the efforts of Donovan and others to help make the project possible:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
– Margaret Mead
The power of community is real. If not for the actions of a few members of the Capitol Hill community in 2003, you would be standing in a parking lot right now. Their action, through the Capitol Hill Community Council and under the
leadership of Ann Donovan, led to a far better solution: a multi-use building with affordable homes for families in the heart of our walkable, vibrant neighborhood.
You can learn more about Donovan’s fight with cancer and give to a fundraiser on her behalf here.
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Ann was also the founder of the award-winning graphic design company elephants & ants.
Ann has been a tireless advocate and champion for Capitol Hill for over a decade…..I am honored to have known her and being able to call her my neighbor here on the Hill. RIP Ann!!!
I knew Ann when she lived in a build I managed (on Summit and Harrison). She was a great tenant who turned into a friend. I wish her family all the best as they enter their new stage of life without their mother, wife, daughter….
Thanks to CHS for this story. I wish there was a way to give directly to the family.
Ann protested the dieselization of electric trolley bus routes by Metro managers concerned with the operating cost of the very old fleet. then State Senator Ed Murray put funds in the state budget to restore ETB operation. this was long before Metro decided to renew the ETB fleet or Murray became Mayor. the ants and elephants made for a great email address.