Queen of the Fly
“The River has changed my life, just like the cancer has.”
-Roe Konopa, angler and cancer patient
Who is she?
Her name is Roe Konopa.
She was a fisherman.
She is the inspiration behind our fly fishing retreats.
She is there to support us on a path to FISH ON!
She is the…
The following is an excerpt for The Muskegon Chronicle
By Susan Harrison Wolffis
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The river runs through Roe Konopa’s life.
She has stepped waist-high in fly fisherman’s waders and she has changed.
She has gone after the wily brown trout in the Au Sable, Little Manistee and Pere Marquette rivers, the undisputed “Queen of the Fly of a fishing camp of women. One step into the river, and water was never the same, even though she religiously returns the fish to their natural habitat in the catch-and-release program she follows.
And she always, always thanks the river for all that it gives her, even if the day’s yield is nothing more than time away from chemotherapy treatment and doctors’ appointments that dictate her schedule and energy level.
“It doesn’t get any better than this,” she says, no matter what.
A river runs through Roe Konopa’s life, but naturally its course has changed since she picked up a fly rod.
The waters have not stood still over the years. At times they even raged.
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1994, the cancer invaded her body and her plans for the future. Within weeks of the doctor’s news, she underwent surgery and rounds of chemotherapy treatments, and she searched out ways to heal and find peace.
She went to the river and stood at its edge.
Then she waded in.
In 1997 she waded into the water in the company of women. The Reeling and Healing of Michigan retreat offered more than spiritual, emotional and recreational healing.
“The river has changed my life, just like cancer has.” And the cancer keeps returning.
After four and a half years, doctors found a malignant bone mass. Then another. In 2003 the doctors discover a mass in her liver.
Since then she has endured chemotherapy every three weeks, a regimen of pain medications and steroids, waning strength and energy.
“I’ve had to give up so many things,” she says. “There have been so many changes.”
But the river runs deep in her soul, just as deeply as the Reeling and Healing retreats she’s come to call a “passion,” and so she saves what energy she has this time of year for the river.
MORE TO COME
2 Responses to “Queen of the Fly”
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Roe is all around West Michigan in the organizations she was active in. It is well worth getting to know her.
I met Roe in 1996 at the Hackley Hospital Living With Cancer Support Group. She was involved in the support group and Camp Bluebird, always had something up her sleeve to make the two organizations a special place for cancer survivors. Her first experience with a fly fishing retreat was with Casting For Recovery, then Reeling & Healing.
Roe was a avid sports person and her cancer made all but fly fishing impossible, so she took her love of nature and people with her to every R & H retreat. She had a wicked sense of humor and the ability to instill in others the desire to carry out her antics while she smiled and said she never short sheeted a bed, put handi wrap over a toilet or sand in a bed. She remembered the name of every person she met, always wanted new friends to meet old friends and share their experiences, especially if they were zany.
She was an excellent judge of character and the very first time she spent a weekend with Cathy Sero she said there is the future of Reeling & Healing and proceeded to hand that directive to Cathy.
She led me on a wild journey from one new experience to another, we spent hours plotting and planning surprises. She never lost her sense of humor, her love of all things pertaining to nature, her fellow survivors and her commitment to make each day count to the fullest. So when you stand in the river take just a second to thank her for all her inspiration and love because if she met you, she loved you. She left those of us that knew her enough stories and laughter to cherish for a lifetime.
Roe, Queen of The Fly.