Since moving here nearly 20 years ago, Patricia Frances has volunteered on Orcas Island at the library, the elementary school, and cultural events; for homeschoolers, senior citizens and those needing editing and website services.

Now, after a spate of challenging events, she could use a little help.

Last Monday, July 14, her car was stolen from behind her Longhouse apartment on Prune Alley. Apparently joy-riders took it on a $10,000 spree in the baseball field behind the high school, before abandoning the car.

The Sheriff’s Department towed the car away, and the next morning Frances had to pay impound fees to get her car out of towing. Sheriff Bill Cumming said that, although Frances’ belongings were still in the car, the vehicle was “a total loss.”

Friends Suzanne Lyons and Patrick Downey came to her aid, with Downey putting the car together with bungee cords so that he could drive it back to the Longhouse.

Frances only had liability insurance on the vehicle.

The loss of the car might not be so bad, except that Frances is still commuting to the mainland for medical treatment, after a diagnosis of lymphomic cancer a year ago.

And though she remains fiercely determined to work so as to repay her friends and get a new vehicle, most days the greatest challenge she overcomes is the bone-tired exhaustion brought on by her cancer treatments, which she finished in May.

”I try to get out and do something – take a short walk, water the plants, have dinner – and then rest in between.

“It’s very difficult to do anything, it’s a tiredness to the bone. It’s not fatigue like, ‘I’m so tired,’ but a lot of times I’m just shaking and it feels like there’s no life force going through my body.”

Frances has a Masters Degree in Psychology and Education and in TransPersonal psychology. She worked as a resource specialist, responsible for 1,000 students in California public schools, before moving here, trying to regain her health after collapsing from chronic mononeucleosis. “I knew I had to make a big change, and lessen the stress, and when I landed on Orcas, I knew I was home.”

She has adopted Buddhist philosophy, and in regards to her health, says, “I knew I was going to be okay eventually.”

But it’s hard not working – not just financially, but emotionally and professionally – after having been “ a sought-after and successful teacher,” she says.

“This is not what I thought [retirement] would look like; that’s why I volunteer and do as much as I can.”

Being with her friends, and especially with children, brings her great joy, as does music and dancing, and her long-lost cat Dharma, who vanished several years ago from Victorian Valley and was found last year at the Animal Protection Society’s shelter. “She’s extraordinarily feisty and lovable,” says Frances.

The best way people can help her, Frances says, is “Finding a car that’s reasonable so that I can get medical help on the mainland.” Her phone number is 376-8398.

A fund has been set up for Patricia Frances at Islanders Bank. Contributions can be made to the Patricia Frances Fund, Islanders Bank, PO Box 699, Eastsound 98245.