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Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will preside at the funeral March 11 for Melinda Whalon, who died Feb. 26.
“My beloved wife Melinda Whalon entered Larger Life yesterday, after another long battle in her decades-long war against cancer,” wrote the Rt. Rev. Pierre Whalon, Suffragan Bishop of the Convocation of Churches in Europe, on his Facebook page. “It did not conquer her in the end; it was an infection that she could no longer fight off.”
The burial office is scheduled for 3 p.m. March 11 in the colonial churchyard of St. George’s, Indian River Hundred, Harbeson, Delaware. The Whalons have visited Delaware each summer since 1991.
A post on Bishop Whalon’s Facebook page added:
“Bishop Pierre and daughter Marie-Noêlle are holding up. They are overwhelmed with thankfulness for the many of you who have reached out to them since the news went out yesterday. There has been an outpouring of sympathy from people from throughout the world. As you know +Pierre and Melinda are loved by so many people everywhere. And Melinda touched so many in a special way. Do continue to keep +Pierre and Marie-Noêlle in your prayers. They have very much appreciated your reaching out to them in various ways, although they are not always able to get back to everyone right away.”
A memorial celebration is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. March 29 at the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks for gifts to the AROSAT Association, which supports Dr. Thierry André’s research on digestive cancers, including those associated with Lynch Syndrome. For a tax receipt in France, visit the association’s donation webpage and add the memo Ce don en mémoire de Melinda Whalon est fléché pour le service d’oncologie du Pr André–Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Paris.
In the United States, send donations to ARCAD US, c/o Gilda Herndon, 1613 30th St. N.W., Apt 3N, Washington DC 20007, and add the memo To the memory of Melinda Whalon.