Fox Lake woman who ran for Illinois Senate seat loses bout with cancer

Melissa Coyne, 36, a Fox Lake resident who once tried her hand at serving in the state Legislature, died Sunday after a bout with cancer.

The Democratic Party of McHenry County posted the news on its Facebook page “with a heavy heart” and said party members’ thoughts are with Coyne’s family.

In 2016, Coyne was chosen by Democratic leaders in McHenry and Lake counties to run for the state Senate against then-incumbent Sen. Pamela Althoff in the 32nd District. She ultimately fell short, receiving about
30 percent of the vote.

In 2017, Coyne was diagnosed with osteosarcoma – a form of bone cancer – which required her leg to be amputated, according to her obituary.

Although she had been on the road to recovery, she was rediagnosed in April.

A visitation will be from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Davenport Family Funeral Home, 941 S. Old Rand Road, Lake Zurich. A funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Paul United Church of Christ, 401 E. Main St., Barrington. Entombment will follow at 1 p.m. at Mount Emblem in Elmhurst.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to V Foundation for Cancer Research, a nationwide organization that has collected more than $200 million for cancer research, at www.jimmyv.org/donate.

Coyne’s family and the Democratic Party of McHenry County could not be reached for comment.