Elizabeth De Jong

July 3, 2023, was Elizabeth Shelly de Jong's Independence Day, a day when she broke free of a disease that she would not let define her for the last 2,482 days. She never took a back seat to her cancer diagnosis. In fact, in many ways, she embraced it. Elizabeth advocated for building awareness; she became involved in Global Lung Cancer Patient Council whose initiatives are to provide support services to those who are impacted by lung cancer. Elizabeth became focused on being the patient's voice as a consumer reviewer for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program by reading and evaluating research study applications for relevance to the patient's needs and concerns. She served as a phone buddy to countless newly diagnosed lung cancer patients to listen, provide guidance, and most importantly, provide hope. And together in 2019, Sven and Elizabeth launched libbyslungs.com to raise funds supporting research for women and lung cancer that is being conducted at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.
But her life was much more than about cancer. She served as a student affairs professional for sixteen years. She began her career at Georgia Southern University, followed by Western Carolina University, and finally as Dean of Students at Bethany College. These roles allowed her to mentor undergraduates and build lifetime bonds with her former students.
She was a member of the Alpha Xi Delta fraternity, where friendships were formed, sisterhood was celebrated, and where she was dedicated to the personal growth of women and their empowerment. Her passion for AXD turned into a professional role for ten years where she served as a major gifts officer for the Alpha Xi Delta Foundation and retired in February 2023 as the Director of Development.
Elizabeth was a loving daughter and sister. She was preceded in death by her mother, Dr. Ann C. Shelly and is survived by her husband Sven, her father, Dr. Robert Shelly, her brother, the Very Reverend Marshall (Laura) Shelly, her mother-in-law Karin de Jong, her brother-and-sister-in-law Olaf and Ellen de Jong, her aunts, cousins and friends and AXD sisters. She is also survived by all whom she helped along life's path, particularly in lung cancer patient advocacy.
Elizabeth was Sven's travel buddy from the Outer Banks to the vineyards of Napa and Sonoma. From exploring the world with trips to Canada, Mexico, Israel, Helsinki, Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Croatia, and one of her bucket list countries - Lichtenstein. Elizabeth was a tremendous partner in putting up with Sven's sense of humor, which we all know often crosses the line. They made memories every day and tried to focus their time on friends, laughter, food, and the "occasional" cocktail or two. July 15th would have marked Sven and Elizabeth's 17th wedding anniversary and July 30th her 54th birthday. Sven would like to thank the staff of the Hillman Cancer Center for the incredible care they provided to her. In particular, Sven wishes to thank Daniel Petro, M.D., and Stephanie Kaiser, M.S.N., CRNP, AOCNP who treated and cared for Elizabeth for almost seven years and developed a true bond and deep friendship.
Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday, August 5, 2023, at 2:00 pm at the Duquesne Club, 325 Sixth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to continue the research funding for women and lung cancer:
University of Pittsburgh (Libby's Lungs in the memo line), Mailing address: UPMC Cancer Pavilion, Suite 1B c/o Emily Beyer 5150 Center Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15232, or online Libby's Lungs.