Iron Works Road given the additional name: 'Edna's Hope Lane'

MONROE - Large purple balloons floated up to greet the oversized wet snowflakes falling to the ground on a cold and gray spring day on March 23, as a neighborhood gathered to remember one of its own. On that day, Iron Works Road in the Village of Monroe was dedicated in the memory of its former resident Edna Curley with a new blue sign proclaiming the road as “Edna’s Hope Lane.” Four years ago, Curley - who moved to Monroe from the Bronx in 1994 - was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, a rare, aggressive and incurable cancer. Family members have said it was her neighbors on Iron Works Road who rallied to support her and her family, providing meals and rides and offering to help the family in any way they could. On the days that Curley was not feeling well and couldn’t leave the house, “she found such joy in watching the sun through the trees from her window, right there on Ironworks Road, and smiling at her good fortune,” according to a statement from organizers who planned the afternoon. Her family said she used to call Monroe her “slice of heaven” and wouldn’t think of living anywhere else. When Curley - the mother of three and a former New York City police officer - learned there was very little awareness of leiomyosarcoma, and not much funding for research, she established Edna’s Foundation of Hope. She vowed to make it her life’s mission to work to promote awareness of this disease and to raise funds for research to find a cure. Although Curley died on Oct. 1 2009, her foundation’s work continues. Since its inception in 2007, the foundation has raised $100,000 to support the Sarcoma Project at New York University. Grants have also have also been awarded to other Orange County families affected by leiomyosarcoma. A future foundation goal is to establish tri-state area chapters which would continue funding research and supporting other families. Village of Monroe Mayor Jim Purcell said because of 911 requirements, the road is still officially known as Iron Works Road, but the additional signage gives it two identifications. - Nancy Kriz