The Anal Cancer Foundation expresses its deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Board Member Bill Schoneman, who passed away on Sunday, September 22. Bill cared deeply about making life better for people living with anal cancer.
Bill first became involved with the Foundation in 2011, a year after he lost Laura, his wife and mother of their two children, to anal cancer. Upon meeting Bill, it was immediately clear that he was committed to ending the cancer that caused Laura’s death. Bill wrote in his introductory email: "I would like to work to bring awareness and increase research so that fewer mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers die from anal cancer." He understood the stigma associated with the disease, the obstacles to obtaining new drugs, and approached our mission with compassion and love.
Bill served as a thoughtful and insightful advisor in a break-through year for the Foundation and helped to lead our efforts to raise awareness about HPV, bring hope to patients, and create new targeted therapies to ensure that future patients have more options. Ending HPV and the cancers it causes developed into a family endeavor, and participation from the Schoneman family became integral to our work.
Bill was a generous and dedicated member of the Foundation, who often approached problems with a touch of levity. We are proud of Bill's efforts to bring anal cancer into the light. We will miss him. Our hearts go out to his family, friends, and two children.
