The Eberwein family is no stranger to cancer. That’s why the Portland family is pledging $67,000 to Providence Cancer Institute to help advance research toward a cure and new treatments. Their gift means Providence reached a recent fundraising event goal of $1 million.
On warm summer evenings, Bart and Jill Eberwein can be found in their garden, tending with care to the beautiful landscape that surrounds their home. The whole Eberwein family finds comfort and solace outside, with the wind on their faces and the sun shining. Throughout their lives, appreciation of the natural world has been a constant.
When Bart and Jill became parents to twins Douglas and Hayden in 2004, they felt happy and fulfilled, caring for their boys, working in their chosen professions and serving the community in various volunteer roles.
Jill studied architecture at University of Oregon and found her professional calling in business. She was senior vice president at Marsh & McLennan before co-founding Mazama Capital Management. She serves on the boards of Moda Insurance and Ruby Jewel Ice Cream, and she loves to ski, golf and travel.
Bart, also a Duck, retired as executive vice president at Hoffman Construction in 2020, after more than 30 years. His community service includes stints at Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission, National Forest Foundation, Literary Arts and Cycle Oregon. He is Canada’s honorary consul to Oregon, and he enjoys cycling and traveling.
But the busy, community-oriented family also has endured much sorrow – more than most people can fathom – thanks to cancer’s insidious march.
Cancer makes its first appearance
In 2006, Douglas was diagnosed at age 2 with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and was treated with intensive chemotherapy. In 2007, he received a bone marrow transplant from his twin brother Hayden at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. After eight months of treatment, he achieved remission.
In 2008, Bart was diagnosed with prostate cancer, was treated at University of Washington Medical Center and reached remission.
Also in 2008, Jill was diagnosed with melanoma under her thumbnail. She was treated at OHSU, where her thumb was removed, and achieved remission.
During those 10 years, and in between cancer treatments, life went on and the boys grew. The family backpacked in the Cascades, kayaked in the Alaska fjords, surfed in Costa Rica and more. Their time together was full of exploration and admiration for nature.
New form of cancer strikes Bart
Then 2016 brought with it a new, yet familiar, challenge to the Eberwein family. Bart was diagnosed with lymphoma and was treated successfully with chemotherapy and radiation at OHSU. When his cancer returned in 2020, he came to Providence Cancer Institute and received a stem cell transplant.
With care and precision, Bryan Bell, M.D., D.D.S., and John Godwin, M.D., at Providence Cancer Institute created a plan for Bart’s care to aggressively attack his cancer. Dr. Bell serves as physician executive and director of the Surgical Oncology, Radiation Oncology and Clinical programs; and Dr. Godwin is medical director of the Hematologic Malignancies Program. Bart described Walter Urba, M.D., Ph.D., executive medical director, Providence Cancer Institute, as playing a coach-like role in his care. “His leave-it-all-on-the-field approach to curing cancer is evident,” says Bart.
Amid a pandemic, Bart spent weeks at Providence Portland Medical Center receiving chemo and a bone marrow transplant, spending the better part of 2020 separated from his family to protect his weakened immune system and to ensure the best outcome. Together with his team at Providence, Bart beat cancer again. Filled with hope, his family exhaled a sigh of relief.
Family grieves for son
Then one week after Bart’s first clear scan, Douglas’s leukemia mutated and returned as Acute Undifferentiated Leukemia (AUL), a rare and aggressive cancer. He died April 8, 2021, at OHSU’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital after nine weeks of treatment. He was 16 years old.
Through irreconcilable grief, the Eberweins remember Douglas as a kind and loving son, brother and friend. The family is creating a garden in Douglas’s name on the Catlin Gabel campus, where he was a student. They also knew they would do everything they could to help other families beat cancer.
Family donates to make a difference
Most recently, the Eberwein family pledged $67,000 to Providence Cancer Institute in honor of Dr. Bell, Dr. Godwin and “all the wonderful Providence folk” who cared for Bart.
Why $67,000? That’s what was needed to reach the recent $1 million goal for the Providence Cancer Institute’s annual Creating Hope fundraiser. “We were still too broken up by our son’s death in April to tune into Providence’s Creating Hope virtual fundraiser in May,” said Bart. “But when we got the email that Providence Cancer Institute’s generous donors raised almost a million dollars, our family started talking. We saw the gap between the total and the goal and thought, ‘We can make a difference.’”
Over the years, the Eberweins have chosen to give back, supporting research efforts at Fred Hutchinson, OHSU and Providence. They have received their cancer care at multiple health systems and believe it’s important to invest where they can truly make a difference.
“Research is the key. We chose to give to several different worthy organizations to support research because we know, with their powers combined, they are going to find a cure,” said Bart.
Sharing a vision of cancer research collaboration
Jill describes cancer as her family’s “World War III,” that calls for everyone to work together – not separately – in the battle to save lives and unlock new cures and treatments. “I think we share a vision with many Oregon cancer patients, and their loved ones, for a Manhattan Project-style approach in Portland,” she says. “Can researchers from Providence and OHSU, two of the premier cancer brain trusts in the world, work together to create better treatment, more cures, less death?”
Collaboration among colleagues is a hallmark of cancer researchers at Providence and many other world-class institutions – as everyone works together toward a common goal.
“As cancer scientists, we work with our colleagues at OHSU, Fred Hutchinson, and many other cancer centers across the country, to share the latest research, clinical trials and new strategies for combatting cancer,” said Dr. Urba. “All of us present our findings at international conferences, several Providence scientists have joint appointments at OHSU, and we collaborate often with colleagues all over the world.
“But we can always do more. Cancer is an insidious disease, as the Eberweins know all too well,” said Dr. Urba. “I think I speak for all cancer researchers when I say that it takes many experts, years of dedication and research, and collaboration among colleagues and cancer institutes to find new treatments and cures.”
Dr. Bell and Dr. Godwin both express humble gratitude for this generous gift in their honor. “Bart and Jill’s experience is such a reminder that life is fleeting. We should all take every moment to embrace the time we have with those we love,” said Dr. Bell. “I am honored and profoundly grateful for the Eberwein family’s gift, and we will work every day to deserve their confidence in our efforts toward finding better ways to treat this disease.”
Inspired by Bart’s challenge to collaborate more with OHSU, and with enthusiastic support from Dr. Urba and Knight Cancer Institute Director, Dr. Brian Druker, Dr. Bell has begun to explore deeper and more substantive collaboration between the two research institutes. “I am hopeful that we can lay the foundation for joint Specialized Programs of Research Excellence, which leverage National Institutes of Health grant funding to enable the rapid and efficient movement of basic scientific findings into a clinical setting”, says Dr. Bell.
These days the Eberweins are “shattered and still trying to cope. We lost our son to cancer,” says Jill. “We’re huge fans of the doctors and researchers at Providence. Bart walked out of there, and he’s passed the one-year mark. His nurses took care of him, body and soul, as COVID raged and everyone was stressed. We wish we could do more. Providence deserves our support.”
If you would like to join the Eberweins in supporting cancer research at Providence, please click here.
This year, warm winds bring memories of summers gone by and summers yet to come. As the Eberweins grieve together as a family, they hope the breezes stir moments of change and healing – bringing hope for a future without cancer.
Cancer is an insidious disease, as the Eberweins know all too well. I think I speak for all cancer researchers when I say that it takes many experts, years of dedication and research, and collaboration among colleagues and cancer institutes to find new treatments and cures.”
