By SUSAN BLOWER
Indiana Correspondent

BROWNSTOWN, Ind. — Some people run in marathons or wear ribbons to raise awareness. For Wilbur Lee and Ann Hoevener, a more farm-related memorial was appropriate for the farmer’s daughter, Lisa, 25, who they lost to cancer 12 years ago.

They purchased a 1949 Super M Tractor and hired their nephew, Brad Hoevener, to paint the tractor a bright, cheerful pink.
“We’re just doing what we do. Keeping (Lisa and cancer awareness) in the forefront helps us with our grieving process, but it was tough for me fair week,” said Lisa’s mother, Ann.

This year’s county fair was the tractor’s debut week, and Wilbur Lee and Ann were both there to discuss the significance of their tractor with passers-by.

Though Wilbur tended to talk about the tractor and its fine paint job, Ann was moved by the personal stories shared by others.
They have a book, which was signed by strangers and friends, who left messages intensely personal for her.

“We asked people to give us their thoughts on the pink tractor. Several people really opened up their hearts to us. The book is a very moving book which you cannot read with dry eyes,” Ann said.
“Some wrote about their mother, their sister who battled breast cancer, their dad and his prostate cancer – amazing stories.”

Lisa died in 1997 of liver cancer, which has an official color of yellow. “We decided to go with pink because it is more recognizable as a color that represents cancer. All the little girls love it,” Ann said.

She had the idea two years ago when she saw a tractor the color of Pepto Bismol with no trim. She thought it could be done better. The rest of the family, including Lisa’s younger sister, Wendy Shaw, was skeptical in the beginning.

“When Mom first mentioned (a pink tractor), we all looked at her like she was crazy. But it took my breath away when I saw it – when anyone sees it,” Shaw said.

“When people see it, they take a double look, they get out their cameras, their phones, they want pictures of it and with it.
“My sister’s smiling down on what my parents have done,” Shaw said, adding that she is pleased that they have channeled their grief into something positive.

Other people, in fact a crew, have rallied around the family’s cause. They wear pink T-shirts calling themselves the “Pink Tractor Crew” and hand out ribbons, pink duckies, candy, and leaflets on early detection.

Shaw said she left last week’s parade in their hometown of Brownstown, Ind., featuring the pink tractor and the crew handing out candy and leaflets with cameras clicking, and she thought, “We could have saved a life today.”

Awareness

The family’s new purpose is cancer awareness and early detection.
“We’ve been so touched by this awful disease. People who haven’t watched a family member suffer with cancer don’t know – it’s hell to watch. We may be able to prevent someone from going through that,” Shaw said.

Shaw lives in Indianapolis, works as a probation officer and organizes a team each year in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

“My sister would love (the pink tractor). We were close, but we were opposites. She was a farm girl, and I am a city girl. If she were still alive, she’d still be living next to Mom and Dad. She’d be proud of her dad. They were close.”

Shaw was in her last year of college when Lisa died; she managed to finish in the following spring, 1998. “She had a tough way to go, but she graduated on time,” said her mother.

Shaw said that she did it at Lisa’s request.

“When they’re sick there’s so much you can’t do for them, only so many times you can fluff their pillow. When I asked what I could do, she would always say, ‘stay in school.’ She was always thinking of someone else. She was amazingly strong,” Shaw said.

The Hoeveners plan to display their tractor at several events in October: Oct. 3, Seymour’s Oktoberfest parade; Oct. 17, Vallonia, Ind., parade, and Oct. 31, Women’s Health Fair display in Seymour.

Seymour’s Cancer Center, built since Lisa’s death, has requested the tractor for October since it is National Breast Cancer Month and pink is the official color for breast cancer. However, Wilbur Lee has reservations about setting the tractor out in the open during bad weather.

“He would set me out in the rain before he’d set that tractor,” quipped Ann.

Published on Sept. 30, 2009