Landmark patient set up
support group

Eleven years ago, Joan Yoder was given two months to live.

The Kailua resident had been diagnosed with auto-immune hepatitis in 1987, and six years of battling the disease had left her liver nearly destroyed. Yoder's only chance of survival was a liver transplant at a time when no hospitals in the islands were certified to perform the operation.

The gift of life For more information on organ donation, contact the Organ Donor Center of Hawaii, 900 Fort Street Mall, Suite 1140, at 599-7630 or by e-mail at odch@aol.com.

But just when it seemed there was no reason for hope, three doctors at St. Francis Medical Center were given the go-ahead to do the risky procedure.

The operation in May 1993 made Yoder the first person to undergo a liver transplant in Hawaii. It also gave her time enough to see her daughter married and her three grandchildren born.

Yoder, who helped found the Transplant Association of Hawaii, died Oct. 1 of lung cancer. She was 71.

"She was a lady who loved life," said Yoder's husband, Robert. "Although she had to battle a lot of years to survive, she never complained."

Yoder was born in Pennsylvania and worked much of her life taking care of her husband and two children. The family moved to the islands in 1971.

After her liver transplant, Yoder decided to help start an association for transplant candidates, recipients and their families. The nonprofit -- which also advocates organ donorship -- started out with 12 members in 1995. Its membership now stands at more than 400 Hawaii residents.

"There was no support group for transplant recipients when she had her surgery," Robert Yoder said. "A year or two after that (her surgery) ... she said, 'Let's do something for the other people who are waiting.'"

Yoder is survived by her husband; son Robert Dean, daughter Jo Ann Moser; three grandchildren; sister Donna Reber; and brother William Fick.

Services are set for 10 a.m. Thursday at Hawaiian Memorial Park Mortuary. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Yoder's name to the Organ Donor Center of Hawaii.