When Dana Rochelle Heltenberg Calhoun, who died at 32 on Nov. 13, was diagnosed with brain cancer nearly four years ago, she faltered and then adopted the spirited, überorganized strategy that served her so well at home, school and work.
She researched anaplastic astrocytoma with the scrutiny that made her so successful in her work at Denver real estate marketing firm Milesbrand.
In August 2003, a month after a biopsy confirmed an inoperable stage 3 tumor on her brain stem, she began a .
Besides chronicling her MRIs and endless cycles of radiation, chemotherapy and biological therapy, her blog kept readers updated about then-boyfriend Mark Calhoun and the East High School football team he coached.
The two became nearly inseparable shortly after they began dating in April 2001. Mark Calhoun couldn’t believe his luck in finding a woman who shared his passion for following sports.
Among her most endearing qualities, he said, was the ease with which this Ann Taylor-clad advertising hotshot could blend in with his longtime crowd of football buddies.
“A lot of times, it’d be just the guys and Dana, always in the middle of the group,” he said.
Growing up in Yuma, about 145 miles northeast of Denver, Dana Heltenberg had always been a girly tomboy.
She would polish her nails, and then ruin her manicure in a zealous game of volleyball or pool. She took no prisoners when she played, whipping her future husband in a game of pool on their first date.
She also fiercely defended her youngest sister, Mandy, who is developmentally disabled, from schoolyard bullies. As an adult, she often invited Mandy to her Denver apartment for sleepovers.
At Milesbrand, she forged warm personal relationships with her clients. Following her cancer diagnosis, many of them rallied to help.
Clients, family and childhood friends walked in a Relay For Life fundraiser a few months ago. Shea Homes, one of her clients, paid for the Calhouns’ recent honeymoon trip to Costa Rica.
The two got engaged last year after tests indicated that the cancer was in remission. They planned to wed in July 2006. Then the cancer returned in force. At the doctors’ suggestion, they held the wedding in March instead. KCNC aired a couple of stories about the bittersweet nuptials.
By late September, hopes of defeating the cancer dissolved. When she went into a hospice, Calhoun found herself comforting the people too grief-stricken to comfort her.
“You have to find the blessings in each day,” she would say. “That’s how you get through.”
In addition to her husband, survivors include parents Danny and Carolyn Heltenberg of Yuma; and sisters Jodi Heltenberg and Mandy Heltenberg, both of Yuma.
Staff writer Claire Martin can be reached at 303-954-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com.
