Mary Jane Moix was active in her church and sorority, and she loved to camp and spend time with her family.
Her life changed dramatically when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in June 2013.
“I always tell people, prior to being diagnosed on June 26, she was running on the treadmill at Conway Regional Fitness Center,” said Michael Moix, one of her two sons. “She died eight months and three days later (March 2014). She never walked again after the surgery.”
Moix, who co-owns Moix RV Supercenter in Conway with his father, Frank Moix Sr., said the family wants to raise money and awareness for the aggressive cancer.
The inaugural Mary Jane Moix Memorial 5K is scheduled for Saturday in Conway. Registration and sign-in will be at 7 a.m. at Moix RV Supercenter, 1213 Collier Drive, where the chip-timed race will begin and end. Online registration at www.moix5K.com is $25 for adults and $20 for students. Registration fees will increase to $35 for adults and $30 for students on race day.
Michael Moix said door prizes will be awarded, and winners will receive medals.
“We have been looking for a way to honor her and also support the PanCAN (Pancreatic Cancer Action Network) organization,” Moix said. “We were just trying to look for a way that a lot of people would be interested in getting involved.
“You see all the support for breast cancer — pancreatic cancer, it is the deadliest one, and not a lot of attention is given to it.”
Moix said his family also supports the American Cancer Society.
“In the business we’re in, we have a lot of customers also fighting similar [cancers]. We had a customer die last Saturday of pancreatic cancer,” he said.
Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S., ahead of breast cancer, according to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, www.pancan.org. The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is only 8 percent, the organization reports.
His mother had back pain for years, Moix said, and doctors had tried everything. Her doctor ordered a CT scan and found the tumor in her pancreas. At first, they were optimistic, he said, because of the tumor’s location in the center of the organ.
She had surgery in Dallas, and the news was dire.
“[The tumor] had grown into a main blood vessel,” he said. His mother came back to Conway and underwent chemotherapy.
“She never recovered — she never even close to recovered,” he said.
Moix said he has good memories of his mother, who was 70 when she died.
“She was a redhead,” he said, laughing. “The preacher described her as feisty, and I would say that is accurate. She had a really good sense of humor, too.”
Moix said he and his wife, Mylissa, recently attended a meeting with volunteers of PanCAN to discuss the 5K, and a doctor from UAMS spoke about pancreatic cancer.
“How do you screen for it? They don’t know. By the time it creates pain, it’s too late,” Moix said.
That’s another reason money is needed for research, he said, and the race proceeds will go to the organization.
Frank Moix Sr. said he thought the 5K race was a great idea.
“Mary Jane was real active in other causes, … and there is some concern to the family about pancreatic cancer,” he said. “We hope they will continue research to find a cure for pancreatic cancer. It would help people all over the world.”
He said his wife’s brother, George Covington Sr. of Conway, “has done a whole lot to support this race.”
Frank Moix said with a laugh that what he remembers most about his wife is, “She took care of me, hand and foot.”
“I had to redefine myself after she got ill, and I started taking care of her. She taught me how to do the laundry and take care of the house,” he said, adding that it gave him a new appreciation for her.
Mary Jane Moix worked at the Arkansas Department of Human Services for 18 years, but she quit in the early ’80s to work with her husband in the family business, which Frank Moix founded in 1976. They have another son,
Dr. Frank “Martin” Moix Jr. of Conway.
For more information or to request sponsorship or volunteer information, email Moix5K@gmail.com, or call (501) 327-2255.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.