Patricia Franchi Flaherty, 53; founded cancer organization

Patricia Franchi Flaherty founded the nonprofit Ovations for a Cure in 2006.

Patricia Franchi Flaherty, who established a foundation dedicated to raising funds for research and finding a cure for ovarian cancer, died at her Natick home Monday after a nine-year battle with the disease. She was 53.

Instead of withdrawing into a shell after she was diagnosed, Mrs. Flaherty founded the nonprofit Ovations for a Cure in 2006, which has since gone national to combat the disease.

With its hard-to-detect symptoms, ovarian cancer is often misdiagnosed until it is too late, leaving its victims bewildered and hopeless.

"Patty's dream was to create a foundation that would save other women from going through what she had," said her husband, Paul, a plumbing contractor who has stepped into his wife's role in the foundation. "She saw that these women needed someone behind them. They needed people to advocate. The foundation will live through myself and others."

He said the group had raised close to $1 million so far at benefits around the region like an annual fashion show.

The money has gone to several research organizations around the country, he said, including Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Mrs. Flaherty had been a trustee at Dana-Farber since 1992.

Dr. Ursula Matulonis, Mrs. Flaherty's physician at Dana-Farber, described her as "instrumental in driving the growth of the ovarian cancer program at the institute.

"Her tireless support funded clinical research initiatives, ovarian cancer tissue banking, and seed money for ovarian cancer translational and basic research projects," Matulonis said.

"She was an inspiration to me, our staff, and women with ovarian cancer."

Joyce Kulhawik, a former WBZ arts and entertainment reporter who has twice survived ovarian cancer, said she became friends with Mrs. Flaherty at Dana-Farber.

"There is no doubt that because of Patty Franchi Flaherty lives will be saved," she said.

Paul Flaherty said his wife founded Ovations in honor of her mother, who died of ovarian cancer at 40; two of her sisters died of other cancers.

"Patty became angry that things had not progressed since her mother's death and saw there was very little money for research," he said. "Her goals were to create awareness in women so they would recognize the symptoms and to fund research for those people who are interested in curing, not treating, ovarian cancer."

On the Ovations website, Mrs. Flaherty says her wish was " to provide a fighting chance for all of us. I want to save a life."

She is most often described as inspiring by those who knew her.

"A lot of women who had it didn't want to talk about it," Paul Flaherty said. "Patty brought it to the forefront. Now people can talk about it."

He described their 16-year marriage as amazing. "I'm a better person for it," he said. "Patty taught me how to see people in a different way."

Mrs. Flaherty battled her cancer with vigor, working at her family-run Franchi Management Co. in Natick as general manager until two months ago and continuing to travel.

In June, the couple made their last trip to Bermuda with friends. The night before they left, Mrs. Flaherty had a blood transfusion, her husband said, "to give her the strength."

She inspired everyone who met her, he said, but cancer was not the only reason.

"While Patty dedicated her heart and soul to advancing ovarian cancer research and education, her life should not be defined by the disease," said Gina Vild of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. "She should be remembered for her irrepressible spirit, her megawatt smile, her unfailing generosity, and her kind heart. For those who knew her well, Patty will always be remembered for giving us what the poet Keats called 'moments big as years.' "

Mrs. Flaherty was born in Weston to Pasquale and Madeline (Corsi) Franchi.

She graduated from Weston High School in 1972 and received her business and accounting degrees from Bentley College in 1976.

Many of her friends today are those she had had since the fourth grade.

One of them, Lois Hearn of Wellesley, recalled visiting her in the hospital and finding her "walking the hallways trying to cheer other patients."

"Patty was always a giving and caring person and told us, 'Speak from your heart,' " Hearn said. "When she got sick, she told us: 'Don't be sad. Celebrate. Spread my word and keep [Ovations] going.' "

After her cancer came back in 2005, Mrs. Flaherty's friends rallied around her again.

"That's when we decided we had to do something," said Debra Soprano of Holliston, who was Mrs. Flaherty's maid of honor. "This is the deadliest of gynecological cancers. Patty was on a mission. She saw the support groups as gloom and doom."

Soprano said Mrs. Flaherty told her: "We're strong, smart women. Ovarian cancer took a back seat in science. Researchers couldn't get the money. So, we're going to make this a business. We're going to buy science. We're going to be in the business of saving women's lives."

In April, Mrs. Flaherty presided at her last benefit fashion show at the Westin Hotel in Waltham.

"I would love to save someone from going through what my friends and I have gone through," she told the audience. "My girlfriends, some of them since the fourth grade, have stood by me for the entire nine years, and they have been there for me. They are the spirit of Ovations. The spirit is the friendship, the sisterhood, the strength that we give each other while we're down."

In addition to her husband and father, Mrs. Flaherty leaves a sister, Linda Kacewicz of Warwick, R.I.; and two brothers, Louis Franchi of Newton and Michael Franchi of Sherborn.

A funeral Mass will be said today ) in St. Paul's Catholic Church in Wellesley.

Burial will be private.