7-year-old cancer patient treated in Spokane dies

Danielle Perkins, a 7-year-old who spent most of the last year in pediatric oncology units at Deaconess and Sacred Heart medical centers, died Sunday afternoon in Dickinson, N.D.

A horse-lover and Barbie fan, Danielle quickly made friends in Spokane. Her family was living in Butte, Mont., at the time of her diagnosis, and stayed at the Ronald McDonald House during her treatment in Spokane.

Her parents recently moved her to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Dickinson, N.D., so that she could be cared for closer to their new home.

Danielle was diagnosed with Wilms’ tumor in January 2004.

She was born May 25, 1998, in Billings, Mont., and, on Sept. 18, was the subject of a column in The Spokesman-Review’s IN Life section.

She is survived by her parents, Bill and Misti Perkins, and her sister, Ashley Perkins, all of Bowman, N.D.; her grandparents, Leslie and Rusty Momberg of Boulevard, Calif., and Bill and Jeannie Perkins of Roundup, Mont.; her great-grandparents, Lyla Anders of Butte, Mont., and Arlee Momberg of Mesa, Ariz.; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

Her funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the Bowman Lutheran Church. Krebsbach Funeral Service in Bowman will handle arrangements.