Published: September 05, 2008 01:15 am         

Tragedy strikes Pioneer

Rance family deals with loss of mother Chantel

Just a couple months ago, everything was right in the world for John and Josh Rance, twin brothers on the Pioneer football team.

They were looking forward to their upcoming sports teams and in particular being starters on the football team this fall.

But early in July their mother, Chantel, began having headaches and backaches. Chantel and the rest of the Rance family had thought she had beaten breast cancer months ago and that life had returned to normality.

But when Chantel had tests done at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Indianapolis, they revealed the cancer was not gone and in fact had spread to her brain via spinal fluids. The doctors told the Rances that Chantel had just two more months to live, and this past Saturday morning she passed away at the age of 36.

“We’ve always been a real close family,” said Chantel’s husband Bob, who survives along with children Caycie, a senior at Pioneer, the twins, both juniors, and younger sister Amanda, a freshman. “[Chantel] was always into all the kids sports and was always all about the kids. She never missed one of the kids’ sporting events. [Caycie] is involved with the National Honor Society and about every student group at Pioneer, and Chantel was involved in all that. The kids just have never been without her.”

Just about a week before her death, Chantel made a monumental effort to watch the boys play their football season opener at Lewis Cass on Aug. 22.

“It was an unbelievable effort,” Bob said. “When she found out she only had two months to live, her goal was to make it to that first football game. She saw the doctor earlier that week and he told her ‘no’ and that he didn’t want her to go to the game. Then on that Wednesday she told the doctor that she had no more pain, and I think in her mind she thought, ‘OK, I’m not missing that game for anything.’ I think she kind of fibbed to the doctor just so she could go to that game.

“A lot of the people who were at the game were so impressed that she was looking at them from her wheelchair and smiling at them — just being able to smile like that. It was unbelievable.

“I told her before the game that she didn’t have to go, that with her vision the way it was she couldn’t hardly even see the game and with the condition she was in ... She said, ‘It doesn’t matter if I see the game or not. I know I’m there, the boys know I’m there, and that’s all that matters.”

The family was able to get some closure during Chantel’s last days.

“All the kids got to say their good-byes,” Bob said.

“We just told her that we loved her,” John added.

Bob added the family’s loss comes at a particular hard time with the four kids being in high school. He said Chantel’s relationships with her children included being a “best friend” to Caycie, she was the twins’ “mommy” and Amanda was her “baby.”

“Being such a young age, especially at a time like now when the kids need her even more,” Bob said, “it’s pretty rough on us.

“But between friends, family, Pioneer, I can’t say enough about Pioneer. The football moms, the whole team, the volleyball team, the golf team, the teachers, the principal ... The support we have out here, it’s like a big family of its own.”

This fall the twins are starters for the football team while Amanda is a member of the junior varsity volleyball team. John is a starting outside linebacker and also rotates in as a tight end for the Panthers while Josh starts at right offensive guard and rotates in as a defensive end.

Just like Chantel would have wanted, life goes on for the Rances. The twins, who missed last week’s home opener against Winamac, plan to suit up for tonight’s game at South Newton.

“They are two kids that we can count on who are tough, committed and they work extremely hard not only during the season but in the offseason,” Pioneer coach Mike Johnson said of Josh and John. “They were back at practice [Thursday], and I know everyone was glad to see that, the coaching staff and the players. It was good to have them back.”

Johnson added the Rances’ family tragedy helps to put things in perspective.

“This is really still just a game,” he said. “I think it’s brought our players closer together.

“We do know a team that plays together and plays for one another is a very good team. All the teams we’ve had at Pioneer that have been the most successful are unselfish teams that don’t play for personal accolades or personal awards. All the teams that have been successful enjoy playing for one another.”

Beau Wicker can be contacted at (574) 732-5113 or via e-mail at beau.wicker@pharostribune.com