“The motive to build Jill's house, a facility to house cancer patients being treated at the Midwest Proton Institute (MPRI) in Bloomington , Indiana , began in the fall of 1969,” explained Peg Howard. Her son, Steve, was diagnosed with osteo-sarcoma (bone cancer) of the right femur. His leg was amputated to the hip a week later, and their fight to save his life began. He was a senior in high school and returned to class and graduated in June 1970.

Shortly thereafter, the cancer returned, and the Howard's began a very difficult journey. Steve's surgeon requested his parents take him to New York 's Memorial Sloan/Kettering Cancer Center where he was put on a protocol funded by the American Cancer Society (ACS).

“Steve and I spent three weeks in New York on two separate occasions. He had further surgery and treatment there. He lost his battle one year to the day of his amputation. It was a difficult return home,” said Mrs. Howard.

During the year of his struggle, Steve lived each day to the fullest. He water-skied, played touch football and was always surrounded by friends. His big regret was that he wanted his life to have meaning, to make a difference and prove his worth as a man. It was not to be. “I made him a promise that I would take up the battle that was over for him, to wage war with cancer and to make a difference,” pledged Mrs. Howard.

Shortly after Steve's death, Mrs. Howard became a volunteer with ACS and served many years on both the county and state level, working in all areas, education, patient services, fund-raising, etc. She served two years as President of the Marion County unit and served on the Executive Board of the Indiana Division. In early 1980 she was asked to facilitate a support group for cancer patients at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis . She ran this program for over ten years. She was provided an office on the Oncology floor and was also a member of their Oncology Board.

“After my husband, Bud, retired in 1991, we both put our energies in Hope Lodge, a residential facility for cancer patients in Indianapolis , supported by ACS. We were volunteers there for over seven years,” said Mrs. Howard. Much of Jill's House is based on their experiences with Hope Lodge.

When MPRI began building, Peg and Bud Howard were asked to plan a facility to provide housing for the patients that they will be treating. The name, Jill's House, was chosen in memory of Jill Behrman, an IU student and Bloomington resident, who was abducted in May 2000. She was 19 years old. Her remains were finally discovered nearly three years later, in a remote wooded area miles from Bloomington . She had been murdered. “We are friends of the Behrmans,” explained Mrs. Howard. “We felt their pain. Our hope is that both they and the Bloomington community will find Jill's House a place of comfort and healing. In remembering Jill, others will find comfort and support at Jill's House. This house would not be built without the memory of both Steve and Jill. While their lives ended much too soon, their memories will live on at Jill's House.”