Jeannie Kauffman – Singer/Songwriter of Hope

IN MEMORIAM: Tug McGraw Foundation shares our love and admiration for Jeannie Kauffman, a courageous singer/songwriter and longtime friend, as she moves on after passing away February 7, 2008 following her courageous battle of twenty-seven-months with a brain tumor.

Thank you Jeannie, for showing us all the joy and hope that comes from a quality of life well-lived. To post a message to her guestbook, go straight to Jeannie’s Cure.

Jeannie Kauffman is a true hero, transforming her own brain cancer ordeal into an opportunity to help and inspire others through her music. 

“I have never been happier.” Jeannie had spoken those very words, reflecting on the wonderful state of her life, just days before the crushing diagnosis of a brain tumor. Her day job in sales was flourishing. Nights found her performing her songs at coffeehouses around Los Angeles, California in the hopes of making it big in the music biz. And most importantly, she was finally enjoying being a mom to daughter Berkley, after years of trying for a child with partner Jen.
 
Then, on October 25, 2005, Jeannie’s world turned upside down. An MRI revealed a golf ball-sized brain tumor as the cause of her recent headaches. Jeannie was scheduled for surgery immediately. Stunned, but determined, she pulled out a picture of her two-year-old and said, “This is what I am fighting for.” From that moment forward, Jeannie set out to be a miracle story. 

Surgery confirmed the worst. Jeannie had glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Undeterred, within days of her own surgery, she headed out to the Children’s Hospital in Long Beach, to play her songs for the young patients there … the first of many selfless occasions along Jeannie’s journey. 

Meanwhile, Jen began building the website that would launch Jeannie’s Cure, to raise money for brain cancer research. Fundraising events were planned and held. Money started to pour in. Jeannie’s long-time music idol and cancer survivor, Melissa Etheridge, even put in a call to Jeannie to show her support.