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Katie Hoffman.courtesy of the family

Katie Hoffman: Wife. Mother. Hero. Friend. Born July 31, 1967, in Toronto; died March 24, 2019, in Toronto, of metastatic breast cancer; aged 51.

Katie found humour in almost everything. Not a day went by that she did not laugh – and what a laugh she had. One of those belly aching, side ripping, convulsing laughs that makes your stomach hurt and your eyes water. She taught us all the importance of humour and laughter.

The youngest of three children, Catherine Pamela Rachel Hoffman was nicknamed “Katie” by her grandfather. From an early age, she was unafraid of anyone or anything. Her father, world renowned pediatric neurosurgeon Harold Hoffman, was an intimidating figure. But not to Katie. He told her once that she was the only person who didn’t listen to him.

When she was 19, Katie received her first of three cancer diagnoses. During her first year at McGill University, she underwent chemotherapy and radiation to combat Hodgkins’ disease. She faced it with courage and tenacity, hallmarks of her life, and managed to keep studying and graduate with her friends in 1989 with a bachelor of arts in political science. She completed her MBA in Boulder, Colo. Katie loved the snow-capped mountains, clear blue skies and crisp chill in the air – weather she would always call a "Colorado day.”

In 1994, Katie met Jordy Atin on a blind date. Katie agreed to go but insisted on a Sunday night because she didn’t want to waste her Saturday night. It would not have been a waste – Katie and Jordy married two years later and had two children, Spencer and Holly.

Katie was diagnosed with cancer a second time in 2006. This time it was breast cancer. She completed her surgery and chemotherapy with strength and positivity, then went back to living her life.

In 2011, when Holly was 6 and Spencer was 12, Katie discovered cancer had returned and spread. She was given two to three years to live, but she resolved to live life to the fullest, remain in the present and ignore future predictions.

Her doctors quickly realized what Katie knew instinctively: happiness was a key to dealing with this disease. Along with chemotherapy, joy, laughter and travel were to be her medicine. A coming trip would improve her blood results. In Chicago, on what would be her family’s final getaway, Katie went shopping with Holly. She spotted a grey suede Chloe purse and Holly encouraged her to buy it: “You deserve it, Mom.” Katie knew Jordy would balk at the price but she had a plan. She placed the receipt for her pricey new chemotherapy medication on his nightstand. Since the drugs were fully covered by insurance, she highlighted: “Patient pays $0.”

“Financially, you’re still way ahead,” she laughed when she told him about the purse.

Katie loved to give advice. At the hospital, a friend once complained about how much she hated chemotherapy. “You just don’t get it," Katie said. "You need to love this stuff and think of it as a day at the spa!”

Katie often told her family that she would not have traded her life for anyone else’s. Eight years after her last diagnosis, Katie was buried surrounded by family and hundreds of friends on a beautiful Colorado day.

Andrew and Leslie Hoffman are Katie’s brother- and sister-in-law.

To submit a Lives Lived: lives@globeandmail.com

Lives Lived celebrates the everyday, extraordinary, unheralded lives of Canadians who have recently passed. To learn how to share the story of a family member or friend, go online to tgam.ca/livesguide

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