Raymond and Eleanor Loyd of Louisville honored their late daughter, M. Krista Loyd, with the gift to the University of Louisville’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center, one that was celebrated March 1 with the dedication of the renamed M. Krista Loyd Cancer Resource Center.
The resource center at the Brown Cancer Center has long been a place where patients with cancer and their families can learn about the disease, relax in a comfortable setting and augment their treatment with emotional and mental healing. The Loyds – both cancer survivors themselves and former patients at the Brown Cancer Center – have helped make it possible for those services to continue to be available for the people who rely on the Brown Cancer Center for treatment and support.
“The Loyds recognize the need for patients and their families to be knowledgeable about cancer, what it means to have cancer or to have a loved one with it, and how to fight it,” UofL President James R. Ramsey said in the dedication ceremony. “They have graciously provided funding to continue the existence of our resource center so our patients and their families have access to information to gain that knowledge and better fight the fight.”
The Loyds’ ties to UofL go beyond Raymond and Eleanor’s treatment at the cancer center. Raymond Loyd, the founder of Derby Fabricating, earned his MBA from UofL in 1968. Krista Loyd earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from UofL in 1985. Raymond also serves on the board of the Regional Cancer Center Corporation, the community oversight board of the Brown Cancer Center.
Krista was a three-time patient at the Brown Cancer Center, successfully beating melanoma twice but succumbing to lung cancer at age 44 in December 2007. Raymond highlighted his daughter’s full life during the dedication ceremony.
“Krista loved and appreciated her children, Gage and Karlee, as well as music, the study of history, gardening, mountains and the outdoors,” he said. “She was a mother, daughter, sister and friend.”
The M. Krista Loyd Cancer Resource Center is located on the first floor of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center.