Martha Papworth O’Neill, a Jefferson Community College journalism and reading adjunct professor, left JCC and Cazenovia College scholarships in her name when she died of metastatic renal cell carcinoma, or kidney cancer.

The inaugural Walk for Martha to raise money for the scholarships is today. Starting at 10 a.m. on JCC’s athletic fields, more than 60 people will be walking the college’s trails and enjoying live music for the cause.

Ms. O’Neill died Aug. 22, 2010. She learned she had cancer in April 2010. By the time it was discovered, it had begun spreading to vital organs. Although she had only months to live, she remained optimistic, according to her family.

Ms. O’Neill’s mother, Margot C. Jacoby, said the college also found joy in Ms. O’Neill. She received a Phi Beta Kappa award for outstanding faculty member in 2010.

Romalato’s Gourmet Delicatessen on Coffeen Street will cater sandwiches and donate salads for the event. JCC’s athletics department is providing water.

To register, sign up for the walk from 9:30 to 10 a.m. today on the athletic fields. The fee is $30.

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer