Bone cancer didn't dim Streamwood woman's zest for life

Darleen Felten packed a lot into her young life.

From her active involvement at Streamwood High School and later Elgin Community College, to her embrace of her faith community New Hope Community, hers was a full life.

Her mother, Debra Kirkman, laughs when she thinks about her daughter's familiar response whenever she asked her to do something, "I can't now, gotta go."

"She always had places to go," Kirkman says. "She was always busy."

Not even a diagnosis of Ewing's sarcoma, a rare pediatric bone cancer, could slow her down. In the end, however, complications from the disease claimed her life last Friday. The Streamwood resident was 20.

Nearly 500 people packed the chapel Monday at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington for her services - far more than Park Place in Streamwood, where New Hope congregation members meet, could accommodate.

"That was a testament to how special a person she was," says Matt Armstrong, New Hope pastor.

It was during her senior year at Streamwood High that Ms. Felten first noticed the pain in her leg. It came during a year in which she had been voted homecoming queen, and even "mayor for a day" by classmates in her student government class.

Her world turned upside down, however, with the cancer diagnosis. It would lead to two rounds of chemotherapy, surgeries on her leg and later on her lung to remove nodules where the cancer had spread, and ultimately a bone-marrow transplant.

Still, her spirits remained bright, thanks in large part, her parents say, to the strength she found within the New Hope congregation, whose mission is to offer worshipers "an abundant, joy-filled life."

Even in August, her hopes soared, as she joined other young congregation members on a memorable sky diving adventure.

Ms. Felten not only sought comfort from the faith community, she actively participated in it. Every week, she led a group of elementary school-aged girls in the church's after-school Crossroads Kids Club in Hanover Park.

"Those girls loved her," Armstrong adds. "But that was the thing about Darleen - she had this way of making every person feel like they were the center of the world."

Besides her mother, Ms. Felten is survived by her father, Kenneth Felten; stepfather, John Kirkman; brother, Derek; and grandmother. Lucille Beldger.