Chiplock, Saginaw-area ALS activist, dies of disease at 40
5/5/2005, 3:04 p.m. ET
The Associated Press
Copyright 2005 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.

SAGINAW TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Deneane Chiplock, who worked to raise awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis while suffering from the disease herself, has died. She was 40.

The Saginaw Township mother of two died Wednesday night following a fight with ALS, her family said in a statement Thursday.

"She fought so hard, but has finally achieved the comfort and peace she so deserved and which has eluded her the past 18 months," the statement said.

Chiplock became the 25th person in her family in three generations diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease for the New York Yankees slugger who had it, in November 2003.

In the time since her diagnosis, Chiplock lobbied Congress to require more Medicaid and insurance coverage of home health care expenses for ALS patients, which she said would allow more of them to live out the remainder of their lives at home with their families.

While she was still able, Chiplock also spent her time organizing the family paperwork, finishing household projects and painstakingly creating "memory trunks" for her two boys, Sean and Evan, to hold things like photos, Christmas ornaments and recipes from the favorite meals she will no longer be able to make.

"All those things you say, yeah, I'm going to do because I only have a year left to live? Unless you're independently wealthy, you don't get to do that stuff," she told The Associated Press in April 2004. "You have to deal with the reality that's coming."