Wendy Swails Bollinger August 14, 1964 February 23, 2014 Wendy Swails Bollin- ger, who for eight years tri-umphed in a battle with advanced ovarian cancer, died Sunday surrounded by family in her State College home. She was 49. It was for her family that Bollinger showed a breathtaking will to live throughout her fight with the disease that was diagnosed on January 13, 2006. It was a will that would come to define Bollinger for the hundreds of admirers who supported her in her courageous fight. Enduring three major surgeries and more than ten different treatment regimens, including several experimental therapies, she was unshakable in her determination and optimism, refusing to let the disease stop her from serving her family, friends and community. While the disease, at times, consumed Bollinger, it never defined her. Her focus and love enabled her husband to thrive in his career and her two children to blossom academically and athletically in spite of the challenges the family faced together. Born Wendy Sue Swails in Buffalo, N.Y. on August 14, 1964, she grew up with passions for animals, equestrian sports, running, and the beach. She was a 1982 graduate of State College Area High School, where she competed year-round in track. She enrolled at Penn State, majoring in nutrition and becoming a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. It was at Penn State where she met her husband, Joseph Martin Bollinger, Jr. The two were married in State College October 12, 1991. After graduation, the couple moved to Boston, Mass., where she enrolled in a dietetic internship program at Beth Israel Hospital. She became a Registered Dietitian, serving for five years as a clinical research dietitian at New England Deaconess Hospital, where she coordinated trials and evaluated new ways to care for critically ill patients after major surgeries. Through her work, she published extensively in the nutrition-science and medical literature. Her experience in patient care, investigational medicine, and writing would become invaluable tools in her later battle with cancer. On April 21, 1995, Bollinger gave birth to the couple's first child, Samuel (Sam)Swails Bollinger. For the next 18 years, he filled Bollinger's heart with his inquisitiveness, enthusiasm, competitiveness, and loving heart. Weeks after his birth, the family moved back to State College, where Bollinger's husband joined the faculty of Penn State. She stayed connected to her profession through freelance writing and lecturing, but her passion was motherhood. On April 26, 1999, Bollinger gave birth to their second child, Sophia (Sophie) Alyse Bollinger. Having endured the first two of her many surgeries in her determined quest to conceive a second time, Bollinger often lovingly referred to Sophie as her "miracle baby" and enjoyed teasing Sophie about her tardy arrival to the family. For her first six years, Sophie warmed Bollinger's heart with her mischievous humor and continuous expressions of love, and in the eight years of Bollinger's battle with cancer, Sophie was a constant inspiration to fight with every ounce of her strength. From the birth of her son through Bollinger's final days, her life was defined by her devotion to her children. While they were young, she reveled in her days playing with, teaching, and caring for them. She volunteered tirelessly at their schools for any activity that offered the chance to watch them learn and socialize. She spared no effort in her passion to make their birthdays and other holidays special. Her hard work and attention to detail made her home warm and nurturing. Her home-cooked meals were worthy of a master chef, and she used her expertise in nutrition to nourish Sam and Sophie into the top students and high-school athletes they became. Even in times of grave illness, she showed an awe-inspiring determination to support them through volunteer service, her presence at their recognition ceremonies and competitions, and her photography. She served as unofficial team photographer for her children's soccer teams, and it gave her great joy to share her work with other parents and the State College soccer community. She cherished her family's annual beach vacations to the Outer Banks, Saint Simon's Island, and Cape May. She took great comfort from the loving support of the pastors and congregation at Grace Lutheran Church and from her children's confirmation therein. She cherished the many friendships she maintained from all phases of her life. Bollinger is survived by her husband, Joseph Martin, Jr.; and children, Samuel and Sophia, of State College; her mother, Marilyn Mears Kurtz and stepfather, Robert Kurtz, of Clearfield; father, Richard Swails and stepmother, Louise Sandmeyer, of State College; sister, Kathryn Swails, of Salem, Mass.; sister, Megan Swails Caplan, brother-in-law, Benjamin Caplan and nephew, Matthew Caplan, of Wilmington, Mass.; brother, Brent Swails, of Johannesburg, South Africa; and aunt, Amy Clarke and uncle, Michael Clarke, of Westport, Mass. She was preceded in death by grandparents, Richard and Margaret Swails, of Linglestown and Charles and Alice Mears, of Manada Hill. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday March 1, 2014, at Grace Lutheran Church in State College. Visitation with family will begin at 9:00 a.m. Details of the celebration of her life to follow the service will be available at the church. Friends and admirers are asked not to send flowers but to make monetary contributions in Wendy's name to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, Inc. A guest book can be signed or condolences sent to the family at www.heintzelmanfuneralhome.com.