2021 Champions for Cures and Care - Flipbook - Page 2
A Note from the Essey Family
Every year, our family participates in Champions for Cures and Care in memory of
our mother, Sheila Essey, and for the second year, our father, Richard “Dick” Essey.
Dick died in April of 2020 at the age of 97 of natural causes at his home in San
Francisco. It was his wish that his family continue his strong support of the Golden
West Chapter. We plan to fulfill that wish for years to come.
Dick was deeply invested in the Chapter’s success. In 1995, after watching his wife,
Sheila, suffer through her debilitating struggle with ALS without adequate support
services, he founded what was originally called the Greater Bay Area Chapter of
The ALS Association as a way to help people with ALS and their caregivers. Now, 25
years later, his vision and legacy are honored through our family’s continued
support of the Golden West Chapter, the largest and most successful chapter in
the country.
He also established the Sheila Essey Award for ALS Research, annually honoring
the year’s most promising researchers with a cash prize of $50,000, in association
with the Golden West Chapter of The ALS Association, the American Brain
Foundation and the American Academy of Neurology.
We salute the honorees of tonight’s virtual event and are proud to continue to
support the important mission of the Golden West Chapter.