AWSM Loses Another Member
Casey Kane, former AWSM VP of Newsletter

ANDERSON, S.C. (AP) - Kathleen "Casey" Kane, a former sports reporter and copy editor for the (Anderson) Independent-Mail, has died. She was 28.

She died Wednesday from complications of Hodgkin's disease, the newspaper said.

Originally from Holyoke, Mass., Kane went to work for the Independent-Mail in August 1999 after studying journalism at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and working as an intern at the Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton, Mass.

Kane covered University of South Carolina sports and high school sports. She held her own in the male-dominated field, joking and drawing from her endless supply of sports statistics.

After a second round of cancer treatment, she returned to the Independent-Mail in June 2002 as a copy editor. She had been home in Massachusetts since fall 2002, undergoing stem cell transplant and chemotherapy.

Casey's friends have created a web site to share their memories of her:
http://caseymemories.blogspot.com

Below is the obituary from the Anderson Independent Mail

Kathleen C. "Casey" Kane

HOLYOKE, Mass. -- Kathleen C. "Casey" Kane, 28, of Holyoke, died Wednesday, May 19, 2004, in Boston.

She was born in Springfield, daughter of William C. and Eileen A. (Lynch) Kane of Holyoke. Casey was a 1993 graduate of Holyoke High School where she was Class Salutorian and a 1999 graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. While in High School, she received twelve varsity letters for participation on the Swimming, Tennis, Soccer and Field Hockey Teams, and was also a member of the Marching Band. At UMass, Casey was Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the Umass Daily Collegian.

After College, Casey lived in Anderson, S.C. where she was a Sports Journalist at the Anderson Independent Mail Newspaper from 1999 to 2002, covering a variety of sports, including the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. She was Vice President of the Association of Women in Sports Media.

Besides her parents, Casey is survived by two brothers: W. Christopher Kane and his wife Maryka of Chelmsford and Timothy Robert Kane and his wife Grace of New York City, NY, and her two closest friends: Will Martin and Matt Vautour.

Funeral services will be held Monday at 8:45 from the Barry J. Farrell Funeral Home, 2049 Northampton St., followed by a Mass in Mont Marie Chapel at 10 a.m. Burial will be at the convenience of her family. Calling Hours will be Sunday from 3 to 7 PM. In Lieu of flowers, donations are requested, to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Div. of Development & the Jimmy Fund, 10 Brookline Place West, Floor 6, Brookline MA 02445-9924.