Lynn family all in on cancer drive

LYNN – Their heart remains in Lynn, but a local family that lost three members to cancer is boosting its efforts to fight the disease by taking part in the June 19-20 Relay for Life.The overnight American Cancer Society event in Wakefield mirrors the slightly smaller-scale Lynn Relay scheduled Saturday at Red Rock Park from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.Both events focus on raising cancer awareness, remembering lives lost to cancer, and saluting cancer survivors.Guy and Brenda Moley and his sister, Jodi Comeau, lost their mother and mother-in-law, Irene Comeau, to cancer in August 2008. They took part in their first Relay for Life in Lynn six years ago and walked late at night past the line of candles inside bags dedicated with personal messages to lives lost to cancer.?To walk along and see how many people are affected is powerful,” Moley said.This year, 6-year-old Alexis Joy Comeau hand-decorated a luminary bag in Irene Comeau?s memory with the words, “I love you gramma.”After their Relay initial experience, Moley and his family vowed to participate in additional cancer awareness events and formed a Relay team, dubbing it, “Mom?s Cancer-Fighting Angels,” in honor of Irene Comeau.The team raised more than $10,000 over the last several years to help pay for cancer research, including $1,800 raised in 2014.The team also includes Shawn and Lauren Murphy of Billerica.?It?s a way to do our part and get a cure for this terrible disease,” Jodi Comeau said.Although they supported the Lynn Relay for six years, Moley said overnight participation offered as part of the Wakefield Relay prompted them to plan to participate in the event, scheduled to start at 4 p.m. at Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School.The Wakefield Relay, like the Lynn one and others held across the country, mixes fun – including music, dancing and team competitions with poignant memories – namely the procession past the lighted luminaries often led by cancer survivors.Guy Moley?s brother-in-law, John Melanson, is also taking part in the Wakefield Relay in memory of his late mother, Patricia Hecker, and late wife, Barbara, who died of cancer.The Moley and Comeau families are sponsoring a Relay fundraising event at Fuddrucker?s in Saugus Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. with support from the restaurant owners and Route 1 Riders, a group of antique car enthusiasts.