Mary Elizabeth "Mary Beth" Foley

LAWRENCE - Mary Elizabeth "Mary Beth" Foley, a Lawrence resident honored by The Sun for her work in neonatal care at Lowell General Hospital, and a dedicated runner who also raised thousands of dollars for cancer research in charity road races, died Tuesday, Jan. 18, at the family home after a fight against bile duct cancer. She was 42.

A lifetime Lawrence resident, she was a daughter of Genevieve (Killeen) Foley of Lawrence and the late Vincent P. Foley Sr. She graduated from Lawrence's St. Mary's High School in 1980, and the University of Vermont School of Nursing in 1985.

Ms. Foley was the clinical manager of the Level II nursery at the Lowell General Hospital, and was previously employed as a neonatal nurse at the Lawrence General Hospital, and Oakland Children's Hospital in California. Ms. Foley served as a secretary and president of Division 8, LAOH, and currently served as Essex County president and State vice president of the Massachusetts LAOH.

During her 19 years in neonatal nursing, Ms. Foley has been honored for her skills and leadership, both in Lowell and Lawrence. She received the President's Award at Lawrence General Hospital in 1997 and received the Heroes Award by The Sun for her work with infants at Lowell General Hospital in 2002.

Ms. Foley was a triathlete, and in recent years, spearheaded her extended family and friends to participate in the annual Feaster Five Road Race. She has raised thousands of dollars for liver cancer research in the Joseph Moakley Run and by competing in last year's Boston Marathon. She was a member of the Andover and North Andover YMCA.

Ms. Foley was an accomplished photographer. She created a Web-based retail site called Connor Pass Studios, from which she offered nature and travel photos from her extensive travels.

Besides her mother, she is survived by four sisters and three sons-in-law, Patricia Karl and her husband Russell of North Andover, Justine Croteau and her husband Robert of Andover, Barbara Jensen and her husband William of Methuen, and Cathy Foley of Salem, N.H.; and three brothers, Vincent Foley and his wife Jeanne of Hampton, N.H., Thomas of Hooksett, N.H., and Michael and his wife Beth of Walnut Creek, Calif. She also leaves 15 nieces and nephews; five grandnieces and grandnephews; and her close friends, Russ and Joan Wrigley of Andover.