The Story Continues: How Steve Gavers Carries Brian Piccolo’s Legacy Forward
This weekend’s Barndance isn’t just McHenry County’s biggest summer celebration. It’s also helping fund the next generation of cancer research at Rush University Medical Center—continuing a mission that began with Chicago Bears legend Brian Piccolo more than 50 years ago.
Every summer, physicians from Rush University Medical Center trade white lab coats for Gavers Community Cancer Foundation T-shirts. When they make the trek to Woodstock, no tuxedos or ballroom speeches await.
Instead, they find more than a thousand people gathered beneath a giant tent for live music, barbecue, raffles, and auctions during the Gavers Community Cancer Foundation Barndance, what many call the best 7 hours of summer.
To first-time visitors, it might seem like an unlikely place to support cutting-edge cancer research. But for Joy Piccolo O’Connell, widow of Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo, the connection couldn’t make more sense.
“We work closely with Dr. Melody Cobleigh at Rush, and she’s a trouper—she comes to the Barndance every year,” Joy said. “Many doctors come, and they just get a kick out of the whole experience.”
When the music ends, those physicians return to Chicago with something far more valuable than memories of a fantastic summer evening. Thanks to the generosity of Barndance sponsors, volunteers and attendees, they also return with funding that supports cancer research, clinical trials, and community education through the Brian Piccolo Fund at Rush.
For Joy, that’s exactly what Brian would have wanted.
A Promise Made Over Dinner
That partnership didn’t begin with a fundraising agreement. It began with a conversation.
When Steve Gavers was diagnosed with cancer at just 32 years old, a mutual friend (Joy’s new husband Rich) encouraged him to meet Joy Piccolo O’Connell, who had already spent decades helping families navigate cancer diagnoses after losing Brian to embryonal cell carcinoma at age 26.
The two met for dinner. Steve had questions about treatment. Joy shared what she had learned through Brian’s battle and suggested several nationally recognized cancer centers. But before the evening was over, Steve made a promise. “He told me, ‘Someday I’m going to give it back,’” Joy recalled. “And he has.”
That promise eventually grew into one of McHenry County’s most recognizable charitable traditions.
Carrying the Mission Forward
After Brian Piccolo’s death in 1970, the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund became one of the country’s best-known cancer charities, supported in large part by the NFL Foundation. Over the decades, and with the focus on advancing cancer research at Rush continuing to expand, there was a growing need to provide more philanthropic support to this work.
Rather than allowing the work to slow, Steve Gavers stepped into the gap. “The Gavers Community Cancer Foundation has been extremely generous,” Joy said. “Last year, it gave us $100,000, and it’s usually between $75,000 and $100,000 every year. I always tell Steve that he’s our new sponsor.”
All together, Gavers has donated $2.7 million to the Brian Piccolo Fund at Rush over the last 26 years. Those gifts allow the Brian Piccolo Fund to continue supporting cancer research, community awareness, and clinical trials at Rush University Medical Center. “Our fund is at Rush,” Joy said. “I sign the check, and they do all the work.”
She credits physician leaders such as Dr. Melody Cobleigh, Dr. Phil Bonomi, and Dr. Jeffrey Borgia with helping ensure every dollar is directed where it can make the greatest impact.
More Than a Shared Diagnosis
Joy believes her friendship with Steve runs deeper than the cancer that unites them. She sees something familiar. “People love Steve,” she said. “He reminds me of Brian. People gravitated to Brian just as they’re doing with Steve.”
She remembers watching Steve choose optimism instead of despair. Today, he has become the same kind of encouragement to young cancer patients that Brian continues to be for generations of families.
“He’s one of the most positive people I’ve met since Brian,” she said. “He’s an inspiration. He reaches out to young men facing cancer, stays in touch with them, and lets them know they’re not alone.”
For Joy, that’s every bit as important as the dollars raised each July.
The Story Continues
Brian Piccolo’s story has inspired millions through the movie Brian’s Song, Brian Piccolo: A Short Season, written by longtime Chicago journalist Jeannie Morris, and the generations of athletes and cancer survivors who know his name. But for Joy, the story didn’t end there.
It lives on in Woodstock through doctors who return each year to thank the community that helps fund their work.
It lives on through the neighbors who gather under a tent believing cancer research is worth supporting, and it lives on through one promise made by a young cancer survivor more than two decades ago.
“It’s amazing how the story continues,” Joy said. “And for that, I’m so grateful.”