Flyer connection for life
Kathleen McCarron ’05 and her Marycrest hallmates had no idea back in 2001 how instrumental the UD community they were building would be in supporting, celebrating and loving life together.
In 2018, McCarron was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurological disease that attacks the body’s nervous system and disrupts motor function. Her brother, Kevin McCarron ’99, heads up her support system of friends and family, many of which are UD alumni. Team Kathleen has been by her side well before her ALS diagnosis and continues to support her now.
Katie Whyde ’05, Laura Ramzy ’05 and Mary Popelar Rastetter ’05 met Kathleen McCarron in their freshman year at UD. All three of them ended up being roommates with her at one point during their time on campus. The trio called Kathleen the “connector” that brought them all together.
“The thread of UD has united one another,” Kevin McCarron said of the group.
After graduating in 2005, Ramzy, Kathleen McCarron and several other Flyers moved to Colorado. McCarron loves the outdoors, so she and her friends often went on hikes — and even ran the Bolder Boulder 10K together. “The Denver Project,” as they called it, brought the group even closer.
Dozens of friends on Team Kathleen took part in the Walk to Defeat ALS in 2020. Due to COVID-19, the friends walked around their own neighborhoods in eight cities to raise money and awareness in Kathleen’s name.
Jordana Gingrass, who the group calls an “honorary Flyer,” met McCarron in Colorado through a mutual friend at an ’80s-themed party where she solidified her spot on Team Kathleen. Gingrass pooled together donations for McCarron’s birthday in 2020 as a tribute to her love for nature.
“We ultimately made a collective donation to One Tree Planted for 5,115 trees — $1, one tree — in the Gunnison National Forest in Colorado in Kathleen's name. A forest!” Gingrass said. “We tried to call it hers, but of course, she calls it all of ours.”
McCarron also loves traveling. After her diagnosis in August 2018, she took several trips while she could with members of her team. Together they explored Denmark, Hawaii and New Orleans.
McCarron moved to Massachusetts in 2018 to be near her parents as her disease has progressed. She now uses technology to communicate and keep in touch with Team Kathleen, but her brother says she has shown “tremendous poise, strength and dignity” through it all. He said she lives by the mantra, "my mind is stronger than my body.”
The group knows how much of a buzzword “community” is at UD, but they said it truly is the best word for what they have built since meeting more than 20 years ago.
“Community is there when things are good, and it’s there when things are not so good.”
“Community is there when things are good, and it’s there when things are not so good,” Kevin McCarron said. “Kathleen was instrumental in making all of these relationships thrive after UD.”