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HomeNewsLocal newsAnti Cancer Program Honors Frederiksted Victim

Anti Cancer Program Honors Frederiksted Victim

Pink umbrella march honors Joann Jones Moorhead Friday at sunset. (Source photo by Susan Ellis)
Pink umbrella march honors Joann Jones Moorhead Friday at sunset. (Source photo by Susan Ellis)
Decorate umbrellas for a memorial march pay tribute to Joann Jones Moorhead, cancer victim. (Source photo by Susan Ellis)
Decorated umbrellas for a memorial march pay tribute to Joann Jones Moorhead, cancer victim. (Source photo by Susan Ellis)

A group of friends and relatives gathered in Frederiksted this weekend to pay tribute to businesswoman and spiritual mentor Joann Jones Moorhead, a cancer fighter who ultimately succumbed to the disease on July 7 at the age of 73.

Moorhead lived many years on St. Croix and owned the One of a Kind Kulcha shop in Frederiksted. She taught yoga and tai chi at her studio and held spiritual gatherings. Moorhead gave artists a place to display and sell their creations, and, according to friends who attended the Saturday event at the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts, she was a caring friend available 24/7.

Diane Hampton, leader of the Breast Cancer Project and organizer of the two-day event, said Moorhead loved her garden, plants, music and cats.

“She had a very sacred space on this end,” Hampton said.

Cassandra Dunn said Moorhead was the first person she met when she moved to St. Croix in 1974 and described her as one of a kind, a good friend and a good listener.

During the afternoon program Saturday, attendees learned about two well-known cancer victims. They viewed a movie about the tragic story of Henrietta Lacks, whose cancer cells revolutionized medical research on the disease without her knowledge or permission.

Then, Dr. Angelo Galiber and Dr. Dante Galiber paid tribute and spoke about Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall Jr., who devoted his life to the study of cancer and especially its impact on men and women in African American communities. Both Drs. Galiber studied with and under Leffall at Howard University College of Medicine where Leffall served 25 years as department chairman. He died in May of this year.

After the doctors spoke, the solemn occasion became livelier, with jazz music by Eddie Russell and the Band and refreshments. At sunset, the group marched with a police escort down Strand Street to The Fred. Hampton and others offered group toasts and a helium dove-shaped balloon was released into the evening sky.

The group reconvened at Moorhead’s studio and garden before having dinner and enjoying a reading of her poetry. An evening prayer was followed by a lantern vigil at the Frederiksted Pier. The night ended with more jazz by Eddie Russell and the Band.

And even on Sunday, Moorhead’s life was celebrated by her friends and family with brunch at her favorite restaurant, Cibone.

Hampton and the Breast Cancer Project support victims in many ways. In 2007, Hampton and Moorhead met when Moorhead was alone and needed to travel to St. Thomas for surgery. Hampton accompanied her, and the organization continued to support her thereafter.

Tags: Virgin Islands, USVI, Frederiksted, The Fred, The Breast Cancer Project, Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts, Eddie Russell, Strand Street, Prayer, Henrietta Lacks, Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr., Dr. Angelo Galiber, Dr. Dante Galiber, cancer,

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