Molly McMillan’s father, Stephen, and father-in-law, Chris, have shaped her and her family’s lives through love, guidance, and memories.
Both Stephen and Chris were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and sadly passed from the disease within months of each other.
Molly has turned her and her family’s grief into fundraising and action as she prepares to honor them at her first marathon in Dublin.
A Perfect Childhood with the Perfect Dad
Molly’s dad, Stephen, was an intelligent man. He had a passion for music and loved to not only exercise his brain but also his body, as he was a big fan of running.
“He was a really cool guy,” Molly shared. “He was a really talented musician. He played pretty much every instrument, but guitar was his main passion. He was the kind of guy that could just become an expert on anything, so we could talk on the phone for hours if we wanted to.”
Molly and her dad bonded over their shared love of running, having done a couple of half marathons together. Stephen lived the last fifteen years of his life in Florida, so whenever Molly would go to visit him, they would go on a lot of runs together.
“I think about him all of the time, but definitely whenever I’m running. It helps me keep going, kind of in a way to think of him and know that he’s probably with me while I’m doing it, and he would be proud of me. It’s a way to have a conversation in my head with him because I do miss being able to call him while I’m training. He’s the one person I would want to talk to about it.”
Molly described her childhood as being as perfect as you can get, giving much credit to Stephen. Molly shared how her dad was always there to help her with her homework and encouraged her family to travel.
Another Important Figure
Molly’s father-in-law, Chris, was another great role model in Molly’s life. Chris was a huge outdoorsman who grew up very active, participating in many sports.
He lived on a lake in Massachusetts with his wife and was always outside gardening or hiking, something he really enjoyed later in his life.
“He was huge into Boy Scouts,” Molly shared. “He did a lot with kids and a lot with his grandson, my nephew, which was really nice to see.”
Molly described Chris as someone who liked to volunteer his time for others, someone who got involved with his community. Molly also described Chris as a super smart guy. “He graduated from Harvard, I think, for a business degree, and was into banking for his career.”
Stephen’s Journey
Both Stephen and Chris were important figures not only in Molly’s life but in her family. Unfortunately, they both passed in 2025, within just a few months of each other.
Stephen was diagnosed on October 2nd, 2023, with a neuroendocrine tumor, which was immediately diagnosed as stage four cancer, spreading to his liver. He had multiple lesions on his liver with one tumor on his pancreas as well.
“I don’t want anything,” Molly describes her dad saying. Stephen had a clear perspective right away. He wanted to make the most of the time he had left rather than go through the discomfort of chemotherapy.
However, as he learned more from doctors about the different palliative options, Stephen chose to do IV radiation.
“I think it was relatively new and quite expensive, so it was a little complicated, but he ended up doing it, and it actually made him feel a lot better,” Molly shared with us.
“He got maybe four rounds of it spaced out, six to eight weeks each, and he responded really well to it, which was nice,” Molly said. “He had a solid year after that treatment course where he was able to travel. We did a family trip to Nantucket the following fall, which was very nostalgic for my family.”
After that, Stephen decided he didn’t want to do treatments anymore. “He had really advocated for himself and had researched all of his options. It was part of his grieving in a way,” Molly said.
Stephen had fought a strong battle, feeling good until the summer of 2025, about August, then sadly passing on October 25th, 2025.
Chris’ Journey
Chris was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December of 2023. His diagnosis and symptoms were more common compared to Stephen’s, having had carcinoma, which was also immediately stage four cancer.
“It had spread to his back, I believe. I think he had it for a long time, but he had trouble being diagnosed, which I know is quite common with pancreatic cancer.” Molly said.
“He had back pain for maybe over a year that was misdiagnosed. I think they caught blood clots in his lungs, and that’s how it started; that’s how he got the testing to get diagnosed.”
Molly described Chris having a lot of pain pretty immediately and going into heavy palliative chemotherapy. Eventually, they made the difficult decision to stop treatment due to the physical toll it was taking.
Chris wanted to live his life as best as he could for as long as he could, so he was determined to fight a strong battle. His wife was a nurse, so she was able to be with him every second of his journey.
Of course, this was very hard for her to see, but she became a great advocate for him throughout the whole process. Chris sadly passed away in July 2025.
Family Bonding
Losing both Stephen and Chris within months of each other was very difficult for Molly and her family. At this time, Molly was pregnant with her son and expecting soon. When Chris met Molly’s son, he was already in hospice care.
“When Chris was diagnosed, he only had about seven months, so there was a short list of things he wanted to accomplish. He wanted to make it through Christmas, and he wanted to meet my son. I think that helped him pass peacefully”
Molly’s dad, Stephen, was also able to meet her son. About two months after her son was born, Molly and her husband flew down to Florida to spend more quality time with her dad.
“That was hard,” Molly said. “Having an infant and having to travel and take care of my dad on hospice was horrible, but with a supportive family we got through it, and I was honestly really lucky to be able to just be there with him. I was super grateful but grieving at the same time, so it was hard.”
The Bigger Meaning Behind This Race
Running in the Dublin Marathon will be the first marathon Molly has ever participated in, having only ever participated in half marathons.
Molly has family heritage from Ireland, so for her, Dublin was the perfect location.
“My grandmother’s parents were straight off the boat from Ireland, so that definitely makes me think of her, and also, the race is on the one-year anniversary of my dad’s death. I think when I signed up and saw that, I definitely kind of took it as a sign.”
After both her dad’s and Chris’ passing, Molly took some time to spend with her family and started to research pancreatic cancer organizations after a couple of months of digesting all of the loss.
“I went online because I just wanted to do something to help. My dad didn’t want any services or anything, so we respected his wishes with that, and so I just felt like I wanted to do something productive while I was grieving and help other people going through this situation.”
Stephen was a huge runner, having run four to five marathons himself. When Molly saw all the runs Project Purple had done, she thought it would be the perfect way to honor him while also raising money for a good cause.
“We share a bond with Ireland, and with all the research he did about pancreatic cancer and cancer in general; towards the end of his life, I think this is something that he would really love that I was a part of. Giving money towards research.”
Molly saw firsthand the financial aspect to her dad’s treatment and knew that it became a huge stressor for her parents.
“My dad thought he was going to be leaving my mom in all this debt. It’s just frustrating because my dad was having to grieve his own life; he was handed a death sentence, and I can’t imagine how that feels.”
For Molly, running has been an outlet for finding community and comfort, knowing that what she is doing will go towards helping others.
“I hope we find a cure. If not, I just hope we can make advances quickly for treatment options for patients and for financial help. I think it needs to be a priority. If we can really attack it head-on, it will change a lot of people’s lives.”
On race day, Molly will be joined by her mom, husband, and son, making it a great day for honoring Stephen and Chris as well as family bonding.
“We are going to bring some of my dad’s ashes with us so he’ll be there physically and in spirit. I can’t even speculate what I’ll feel like crossing the finish line. I’ll probably feel proud and be thinking of my dad and Chris the whole time. I know they’ll both be with me.”
If you’d like to run or participate in an event of your own for Project Purple, visit our events page.
