A vivacious teenager with maturity beyond his years, Don Monti dreamed of being the first physician-scientist on the moon, says his mother Tita Monti, as she sits in her seventh floor office in the Don Monti Memorial Pavilion at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. Born in 1955, Don was inspired by the creation of the Kennedy Space Center and the daring adventures of manned space flight. During his junior high school days, he built accurate models of rockets.

Don Monti was diagnosed with myeloblastic leukemia in April 1971, and when he went to North Shore, a small community hospital at the time, he brought along his favorite models.

"There were things hanging in his room," says Mrs. Monti, who mirrors Don's enthusiasm as she speaks of her second child. "Don surprised his physician, Dr. Degnan, who walked smack into the Space Center."

Mrs. Monti remembers cooking meals in Don's room. "We tried to live a normal life. We thought we were keeping a secret from him, but I believe, bright and alert as he was, he was doing the same for us." Reflecting on Don's personality, she quietly recalls, "He was warm and had a gentle heart. He was into art and music, had many friends, our house was always open to his friends, and he was close to his family." By age 16, Don had battled his illness for 14 months.

"On the night he died, when I left his room - it was 10 p.m., June 21, 1972 - I walked to the nurses station and the doctors and nurses were crying. I said, what are we going to do?" On that night of the first day of summer, Mrs. Monti did two things to rekindle life from the depths of tragedy: she vowed to bring the best of care to patients suffering from this dread disease and she began her personal survival plan.

"We kept Don at North Shore because we thought he would never get better care anywhere but right here," gestures Mrs. Monti. "We had nothing," she says, describing the limited hospital facility then, and continues, "but the proper people, young people. I know that at that moment I felt we were on to something. I wanted to start something small and keep the department going."

This year, the Don Monti Memorial Research Foundation, which began in Tita Monti's heart, celebrates 32 years of raising funds for research, patient treatment, physician fellowship and education programs. "For me, it was meant to be. In the coming weeks, we established a board of directors Ühospital staff, friends, a wide variety of people who worked for my husband and I.

"I started with cancer meetings (support groups) and the idea took hold. Then we put it on paper," Mrs. Monti recalls. "In the beginning, there were tremendous contributions" made in Don's memory.

Within six months, Mrs. Monti had arranged the first annual ball, now the Foundation's biggest fundraiser, held at Monti's Town and Country on Jerusalem Avenue. In years following, the ball moved to the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, which the Monti family owns and operates. Tita and her husband Joseph promised to underwrite all the ball's expenses so that, Tita says, "the proceeds go 100% to the hospital Ü not for brick and mortar, but for patient care and research."

Mrs. Monti calculates that during these 32 years, through personal donations, Foundation underwriting expenses, the journal and fundraising efforts of the Ball, and estate donations from those whom the center has benefitted she and her family have raised over $30 million for the cancer cause. Mrs. Monti strongly believes that serious work can be done to advance cures for many diseases if more people would underwrite research, building funds and ancillary programs.

"We started with 800 people at the first ball. It's a very elegant, very formal affair, and it's all heart," comments Mrs. Monti. Recalling the major preparation work that the ball entails, Mrs. Monti compliments the staff at the Crest Hollow: "They work on committees. Members of the office staff have come to my house for planning meetings, and the ladies have handwritten invitations. They're proud to be a part of it."

Recent ball guest lists have tipped 1200.

The 2003 Don Monti Research Foundation "Ball of the Year" will be held on Thursday, December 11, at the Crest Hollow Country Club. Edward Travaglianti is serving as general chairperson.

Mrs. Monti devised programs to ease patients' lives and recognize victories along the treacherous road of the cancer experience. In the Seventies, she says, "I considered how people traveled to the hospital for treatment: they took a bus or came by private car. I thought about furnishing a car or small bus so that we could go to the homes of those who were too sick or for whom travel was uncomfortable. In 1977, we bought our first vehicle and called it the Love Van."

Manned by a doctor, a nurse and a technician, the Love Van made it possible for patients to receive chemotherapy and blood work at home. Eventually, three vans were funded by the Foundation. With changing times, insurance difficulties crept in, but with more families owning cars, doctors were able to see patients at the hospital, and the love vans became part of Foundation history.

Citing early detection in the disposition of illness and disease, Mrs. Monti enthusiastically supports Screening Day, a free service provided at the North Shore Manhasset facility. "We don't realize how many people never see a doctor," she says. In May, the hospital held its seventh annual event, made possible through the Foundation and the generous services of hospital staff, who offer their time at no charge. "The chiefs of the nine cancer divisions participate and we provide everything right down to a dentist," states Mrs. Monti.

Open to all ages, guests from Queens and Long Island are screened for five different types of cancer Ü prostate, breast, colorectal, thyroid and oral. Informational displays review topics from skin cancer, children's cancer and nutrition to pain management, home care and support groups.

Mrs. Monti never dreamed that her desire to "keep the department going" would mushroom into a full-blown foundation offering a wide range of support, and she confesses, "I never thought we'd have a building." But in fact, in 1992, through contributions from the Foundation and funding from New York State, North Shore completed the Don Monti Memorial Pavilion in honor of Joe and Tita's years of dedication in the fight to overcome leukemia.

Today, North Shore University Hospital at Manhasset houses the Don Monti Division of Oncology/Hematology, the Don Monti Memorial Research Laboratory and the Don Monti Adult Bone Marrow Unit. The Division is the largest cancer patient care, medical research and education network on Long Island. In addition to Manhasset, Don Monti Cancer Care Centers have been established at several North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System affiliates: Franklin Hospital Medical Center, North Shore University Hospitals at Forest Hills, Glen Cove and Plainview, Huntington Hospital and Southside Hospital. The Centers' services to inpatients and outpatients include chemotherapy, psychosocial counseling, nutritional consultation, pain management, support care, and cancer genetic counseling.

At 83 years old, Mrs. Monti serves in a non-salaried position for the Don Monti Foundation. She usually arrives at her office at 10 a.m. and doesn't leave before four. "The day goes so quickly. There's never two days in a row that are the same," she says. "I have interviews with people in the health and cancer fields, and I visit with the patients. My door is always open." Sharing feelings with the patients is the most important part of Mrs. Monti's day.

"The first thing I see is their fright. Nothing makes sense," comments Mrs. Monti. Compassionately and humbly, she helps them begin to understand their illness. She helps patients see that many people go into remission; that there are treatments that can help them manage pain; that they can meet people, become friendly with others and attend support groups.

"I'm always providing hope. Through me, the patients are looking forward to what's coming. I'm very positive," says Mrs. Monti, who is slight in stature, yet gutsy and sincere. "And when the patients go home, they always stop to say goodbye. Do you know how I love that? That's the best part of my day. I know they're getting better. From time to time, it can be very sad, but there have been miracles."

One of Mrs. Monti's favorite events is Survivors Day. "It's a day of celebration for all our patients who are surviving." This June, over 1,000 survivors gathered under an outdoor tent at the hospital's campus, enjoying a luncheon and music, meeting others, sharing experiences. Mrs. Monti says leukemia victims are living more comfortably, and recoveries happen more often.

"I think a cure is right around the door. We're on the doorstep," Mrs. Monti emphasizes. "Our goal is a cure, so there won't be a Survivors Day anymore. It will be the end of cancer." For over 30 years, Mrs. Monti has carried on Don's battle to overcome leukemia. She finds her energy in Don: "He's the model. Although he's not here today, I'm here every day."

Before initiating the Don Monti Foundation, this feisty, charming and determined crusader found her joy in music, studying piano since age four and participating in concerts. Mrs. Monti holds a B.A. degree in elementary education from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, and taught exceptional children on the pre-school to third grade level. She raised three children, Caroline, Don and Richard, and after 59 years of marriage, which she credits to perseverance, she banters, "Joe and I are partners for life. He thinks like I do." The couple has nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Richard, currently the Executive Vice President of the Crest Hollow Country Club, serves as a trustee at North Shore University Hospital, along with his mom and sister, who are associate trustees. The Monti family members support the Foundation, with Mrs. Monti as president, Joseph Monti as chairman of the Board of Directors, and Caroline, her husband Arthur, Richard and their cousin Donald Monti serving as trustees.

Sands Point residents, Joseph and Tita often open their home to the doctors, nurses, staff, board members and their families from North Shore Hospital. Year after year, Mrs. Monti delights in hosting June parties for hundreds of people, providing food and beverages, and face painting and a carousel for the children. "I love them all. They have tender hearts," she remarks, adding, "I'm the luckiest person in the world. I'm never lonely."

"God willing, we want to keep doing what we're doing," says Mrs. Monti with a determination traceable to her Greek heritage. "No matter how horrible things may seem in our lives, it can never compare to what all these little people with leukemia are going through every day of their lives. You have to have pathos."