KINGMAN — The Kingman Cancer Care Unit has launched a community fundraising drive to install a commemorative bench in honor of longtime volunteer and founding member Doris Power, who passed away Nov. 18, 2025, at the age of 90.
The bench will be placed on a new cement slab outside the Kingman Cancer Care Unit to serve as a lasting tribute to one of the organization’s most dedicated leaders.
Power was the Unit’s oldest active member and served for decades as its Intake Coordinator, helping guide patients and families through some of their most difficult moments. The all‑volunteer organization, which today includes about 50 members, receives referrals from Kingman Regional Medical Center as well as private sources and serves cancer patients throughout the Kingman area.
Co‑volunteer Phyllis Eaton, who worked alongside Power for nearly 20 years, said the idea for the memorial bench grew naturally from the outpouring of affection following Power’s passing.
“Doris put a lot into the Kingman Cancer Care Unit, from its founding right up until her passing,” Eaton said. “It all started when Doris couldn’t get much help for a sister with cancer. From that experience, she went on to help hundreds, if not thousands, of people over the years.”
Power helped establish the Kingman Cancer Care Unit in 1980 after seeing firsthand how few resources were available to local families facing cancer. Her commitment never wavered. She volunteered with the Unit for 45 years, becoming one of its most recognizable and beloved figures. Word of the fundraising effort has already begun spreading through friends, former colleagues, and community members on Facebook and through personal networks.
Born in Prescott on Jan. 12, 1935, Power was the youngest of five children. Her family moved to Kingman during her childhood, and she attended Kingman schools from kindergarten through high school. She pursued nursing at the University of Arizona and later graduated from Stanford University School of Medicine. Power worked as a Registered Nurse at Kingman Hospital before becoming a school nurse at Kingman Middle School and later Kingman High School, retiring from the district in 1990.
Beyond her work with Cancer Care, she volunteered with the Mohave County Department of Public Health and was a member of the Mohave Museum of History and Arts. Friends and colleagues remember her as a woman who believed deeply in kindness, service, and treating everyone with respect.
The Kingman Cancer Care Unit hopes the memorial bench will reflect those values and provide a peaceful place for patients, families, and volunteers. Donations of any amount are welcome. Contributions may be mailed to: Cancer Care, P.O. Box 3014, Kingman, AZ 86402
Allen Scott
