OAKLAND, Calif. -- Longtime KTVU Channel 2 reporter Faith Fancher, who inspired so many with the way she battled cancer with great courage and dignity, died Sunday of the disease.

Video

Bob MacKenzie Looks At Faith's Legacy

Friends and co-workers said that throughout her ordeal, Faith's grace and style, and especially her infectious good humor, were truly an inspiration.

If ever a person were aptly named, they said, it was Faith. Her middle name might just as easily have been joy. Even in the midst of cancer-- even in the midst of painful treatments and tiring side effects -- she lived out faith, and she spread joy.

Informed in 1997 that she had breast cancer, Faith turned her diagnosis into a crusade.

With her friend, then-KTVU anchor Elaine Corral, Faith brought the story of her own cancer to television -- not to bring attention to herself, but to encourage other women to be vigilant, to be tested, and if necessary, to be brave.

But her work didn't end with encouragement. With the help of other Bay Area TV personalities, Faith started a fund-raising organization called the Friends of Faith.

She was there every year when the Oakland A's held their annual fund-raising event for breast cancer research and treatment.

And over the past six and a half years, the projects in which Faith was involved raised funds to help other women financially-- particularly low-income women -- as they battled with breast cancer.

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH Section: All About Breast Cancer

When asked last week what she was proudest of in her work to raise money to fight breast cancer, she said it was knowing that people trusted her with their money.

Faith Fancher had already had a ten-year career when she came to KTVU in 1983, having worked for NPR and CNN. Last week, she talked about her start in the early 1970's, and the challenge of being the first African-American television reporter in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Faith said it was her mother who gave her wise advice, telling her that "sometimes you're going to have to go around people. You're going to have to go under them. But sometimes you're going to have to go right through them to get what you need. And sometimes you're going to have to say, 'I'm clearing a path here, '" said Faith.

Faith was also board member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Whenever news broke at KTVU – from the Loma Prieta earthquake to the East Bay hills fire -- co-workers always knew Faith would be among the first on the scene.

And over the years they watched her bounce back, time after time, trying one treatment after another, each time beating the odds to become a breast cancer survivor.

But talking about her battle last week, she seemed to sense the enormity of the challenge she was facing this time around.

"For the first time since I have been diagnosed, I felt in all honesty that this could take me with it," she said. "It was trying."

Faith died at her home in Oakland with family and friends at her side, early Sunday evening. A funeral service will be held Wednesday, October 22 at 10:00 a.m. at the Church of St. Leo the Great, 176 Ridgeway Ave. in Oakland, and will be open to the public.