Steps of endurance: Family continues legacy of Gouverneur benefit walk's co-founder

Oct. 22—GOUVERNEUR — The Gouverneur Breast Cancer Walk routinely kicks off with a prayer and blessings bestowed upon those taking part, those who could not make it and for those at the annual event in spirit.

On Oct. 1, at the start of this year's 21st annual walk, Bridgette P. LaPierre hauled a heavy heart to the starting line. It was less than a month after her mom, Carolyn T. Pistolesi, a co-founder of the annual fundraiser and one of its star promoters and workers, died of ovarian cancer following a diagnosis in June.

Mrs. LaPierre, who was joined by her sister, Joey Shelly, glanced toward the stage at the Oct. 1 opening ceremony, where it was obvious to her that something was missing.

"The committee is always lined up on stage," Mrs. LaPierre said. "For the first time in 21 years, my mom wasn't there. We've been to every walk. We've been there to support her, the committee and the community. It was very hard to look at the lineup and know that she wouldn't be up there again. That was hard."

But Mrs. LaPierre takes credence in the fact that the spirit and enthusiasm her mom had for the event, and for her love of the Gouverneur community in general, will continue through the work of the organization she helped create.

"Her work will continue to touch women and their families," Mrs. LaPierre said. "And they, in turn, will help others. So it will continue. And I'm very proud of that."

Last year, at the 2021 Gouverneur Breast Cancer Walk, Mrs. LaPierre and family were coming to grips with another loss. Her dad, Joseph C. Pistolesi, who provided everything from his talents as the event's grilling chef to cheerleader, died in February 2021.

"We were missing him not being there because they were a team," Mrs. LaPierre said.

Tragedy also hit the family in August 2021 when Sgt. Ryan P. Shelly, a nearly 20-year member of the St. Lawrence County Sheriff's Office, died at the age of 45. At the end of 2020, Sgt. Shelly, husband of Joey Shelly, was diagnosed with stage 4 salivary gland cancer. He married Joey Pistolesi on April 23, 2005, at St. James Church in Gouverneur. "Not only did we lose a member of our office, the world lost an incredible father, husband and friend," Sheriff Brooks J. Bigwarfe said following Sgt. Shelly's death.

compassion for community

Joseph and Carlyn were Gouverneur High School sweethearts and wed in 1970 at St. James Catholic Church, where the couple attended weekly Mass.

"They were just the greatest people — compassionate, understanding, giving and very concerned about people in need," said longtime friend of the couple and village resident Patricia ("Patti") E. Visconti. "They have been ... were ... my best friends for over 50 years. I have a hard time putting it in past tense."

While raising their family, Joseph and Carolyn owned and operated the family business, the Clearview Restaurant, until 2003. They continued to operate the Clearview Motel until 2021.

"Both of my parents were very involved in the community," Mrs. LaPierre said. "They ran successful businesses. They were also very involved in church and other organizations."

It was that community spirit that helped spark the launch of the Gouverneur Breast Cancer Walk.

"My mom's best friend (Donna Weldon) passed away from breast cancer in early 2000," Mrs. LaPierre said. "That year, we went to a breast cancer walk in Norwood to walk in memory of Donna."

The group included Mrs. LaPierre's mom and also mother-in-law, Marilyn J. LaPierre, who at the time was president of the Gouverneur Business Women's Club, founded in 1928.

"We were riding home together and said, 'Why can't we do something like this in Gouverneur?'" Mrs. LaPierre recalled. "After seeing everything of what my mom's best friend had gone through, they were really inspired to do something in her memory."

The idea was brought to the women's club, and it was warmly received.

"They were the first group to kind of sponsor it and get it going," Mrs. LaPierre said.

In 2001, the group hosted its own walk in Gouverneur to support breast cancer victims. It raised $19,000.

"I remember thinking, 'Wow! That's so much money,'" Mrs. LaPierre said. "And this year, we're looking at $200,000. Over the course of those years as it continued to grow, they were able to reach out to sponsors outside of our community. Once people saw that it was successful and started hearing stories about the people who have been helped, it just inspires people to give more."

All money raised in the walks stays in the local community. Work is done by volunteers with no paid staff.

"The goal of the original committee that started it was to raise money and to help local women," Mrs. LaPierre said. "Obviously, you do better fighting this disease when you're not under financial stress and burden. They knew that would be helping people to reserve their energies to fight the disease — if they could help them financially with things that insurance didn't cover."

In 2003, the business women's group received its official nonprofit status. In 2014, the Gouverneur Business Women's Breast Cancer Walk Fund became the Gouverneur Breast Cancer Fund, established to provide financial assistance to those fighting breast cancer or a cancer that metastasized from that cancer. This year, the organization, to better align with its mission, changed its name to the Gouverneur Breast and Ovarian Cancer Fund. The "ovarian" was added after a young mom in the community and one of the founding committee members had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Mrs. LaPierre explained.

"It seemed like ovarian cancer was coming to light in front of them," Mrs. LaPierre said.

This year, ovarian cancer came to light for Mrs. LaPierre and her family. Mrs. Pistolesi was diagnosed at the beginning of June.

"The early symptoms that my mom had, as a woman, you just don't pay attention to them," Mrs. LaPierre said. "It can be like bloating, upset stomach and symptoms like that which you just attribute to other things. We weren't aware that those are the symptoms of ovarian cancer at the time and she was experiencing them."

A CT scan on her mom found a cancerous mass.

"She went to the ER for consistent bloating that became very uncomfortable," Mrs. LaPierre said.

"She was the picture of health," Mrs. Visconti said. "I can't wrap my head around it. I just can't. I don't understand it."

"It's a very aggressive cancer," Mrs. LaPierre said. "I'm very happy it's been added to the mission. The young mom who I was speaking about who we knew had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer also passed away this summer. As a woman, you're concerned about these things and they just seem to be so prevalent, at least in our community. Everybody is touched. Everybody knows somebody that has had breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer."

After originally assisting people in St. Lawrence County, the Gouverneur Breast Cancer Fund has spread its area of coverage to take in individuals who also live in Jefferson, Lewis and Franklin counties by providing financial assistance with household, medical, travel and living expenses during a patient's treatment of breast and ovarian cancers.

Mrs. LaPierre said she and her two sisters, Joey and Clara, hope to continue the legacy of her mom's involvement with the group by getting more involved.

"We want to continue the work she started," she said. "And we're able to do that."

"The family is very unique," Mrs. Visconti said. "They are so close. And that's what Joe and Carolyn did. They wanted their family around and they traveled a lot with their family and family's grandkids. That was really important to them and you don't see that as much anymore — that keeping the family tied together. But they thought that was incredibly important. They saw the power in it, and you can see it in their daughters and their grandkids."

The couple also realized the power and potential of what began as a simple benefit walk in a local community.

"They left a tremendous legacy for the north country," Mrs. Visconti said.

Last week, Mrs. LaPierre and her sister Joey were voted onto the planning committee of the Gouverneur Breast Cancer and Ovarian Cancer fund annual walk.

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This year's walk, with money continuing to trickle in, has raised $229,000. In its history, the nonprofit Gouverneur-based group has raised $2.4 million. For more information or to make a donation, go to gouverneurbreastcancerfund.com.