To the editor:

The Feb. 3 Journal-World published a touching article about Katy Buck entitled “School nurse’s kindness remembered.” The article in the online edition included a link to a 6News story about her entitled “Nurse loses battle with cancer.” This story is also very kind and positive in remembering Katy aside from one troubling aspect: the portrayal of her as having “lost her battle with cancer.”

I’ll confess to having a particular sensitivity on this point. For reasons I still don’t completely understand I got to be her husband for 25-plus years. My training, education and experience have convinced me that one can only lose by quitting or surrendering. If one dies fighting, they do not lose.

I refer anyone who is interested to “The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors” by James D. Hornfischer. It is a well-written account of an actual World War II battle between an American naval task force and a vastly superior Imperial Japanese Navy fleet. From it, we learn that many, most, or all of a group engaged in a struggle against an enemy can perish in the fight and yet they still win the battle.

Katy was kind, nurturing, intelligent, effective and courageous. She is gone and we have lost much, but Katy never gave up. She may be finished with the battle against cancer, but Katy most definitely did not lose it.