Angela Marie Bedoya's Obituary
Angela Marie Bedoya passed away on October 8, 2022 at the age of 29, surrounded by her loved ones in Adrian, MI, after a courageous battle with cancer. She was born on October 20, 1992 in Muskegon to Luis Eduardo and Barbara Jane (Kops) Bedoya.
Angela graduated from Reeths-Puffer High School as valedictorian of her class in 2010, and she went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.) degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2017. Angela was then accepted into a PhD program in microbiology, immunology, and cancer biology at the University of Minnesota in 2018. She had a passion for learning and a deep interest in science and research, and she always wanted to use her knowledge and experiences to help people.
Angela was a strong fighter and an inspiration to many people, as she lived her entire life with a rare genetic disease called Fanconi Anemia (FA). As she described it, FA is a DNA repair disorder, which means that she could not repair cross-linked DNA damage properly in the cells in her body, and this put her at high risk for all types of cancers and other health problems. She was diagnosed with FA in January 1998 after being hospitalized with pneumonia, and her family was told that she would not live to be 10 years old. When she was 17, doctors discovered signs of chromosomal damage in her bone marrow and she received a rare double umbilical cord blood transplant, making her a double chimera with two different blood types. She was very proud of this unique circumstance and told people that “God blessed her with a miracle running through her veins.”
When she wasn’t in a lab doing research, Angela loved art, photography, nature, and botany. She enjoyed spending time outside taking photos of animals (especially frogs), flowers, and sunsets. She was an incredibly talented artist and combined her interests to create beautiful drawings and paintings of flowers and plants, which she regularly gave to family and friends. Angela was a huge Michigan football fan and never missed an opportunity to say “Go Blue!”. She was also an avid fan of video games and loved playing Nintendo games such as Zelda and Mario Kart with her brother, cousin, and friends.
Angela will be greatly missed by her parents, Eduardo and Barbara; her brother, Dan; her dog, Bear; many other friends and family members; and the FA Community.
A funeral service and a celebration of Angela’s life will be held on Friday, October 14, at 11:00 AM at The Lee Chapel of Sytsema Funeral and Cremation Services at 6291 S. Harvey St., Norton Shores, MI 49444. Visitation will be held on Thursday, October 13, from 5:00-7:00 PM at the funeral home. The burial will take place at the East Dalton Oakhill Cemetery. Contributions in Angela’s memory may be made to ‘Be The Match’, a nonprofit organization that helped Angela receive her bone marrow transplant in 2010.
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