Professor runs marathon in memory of student

Denise Hatcher, a professor at Aurora University, is running a marathon Sunday, Sept. 28, in Moline in memory of Kyle McCall of Naperville, an Aurora graduate who died in 2007 of cystic fibrosis.

It's the third marathon for Hatcher, who just turned 40, and the second she has run for cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that McCall battled all his life.

Hatcher said in an e-mail to campus employees that the marathon is a particularly personal mission for her because McCall was the son of Linda McCall, an advertising manager at Aurora University.

Kyle McCall graduated with a bachelor's degree in English from Aurora University in spring 2006 and died the following January from lung complications following pneumonia.

Checks made out to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation may be sent to Denise Hatcher, c/o of Aurora University, 347 S. Gladstone Ave., Aurora, 60506.