Dale Ulrich Jr., Jason Lennox, honored at Relay for Life

Dale Ulrich Jr. and Jason Lennox were honored at Saturday’s Relay for Life in Owatonna as Survivor of the Year and Caregiver of the Year, respectively.

It was one day in January 2025 that Ulrich, 34, started not feeling well and felt he should go to the doctor. He had always considered himself fairly healthy and exercised daily, he said. On Monday and Tuesday, he had no symptoms and worked out. On Wednesday, he said he had some pain and on Friday he went to the Emergency Room in Owatonna. To his surprise, he found out he had Stage Four lung cancer and was immediately taken to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for treatment, he told the crowd at the Relay for Life event.

At the hospital, he said, they reduced the fluid that was causing him to have breathing problems. He was released from the hospital, he said, but a week later he was back in the hospital and the tumor, he was told, was showing aggression. He had radiation, chemo and was again out of the hospital. He then had a pulmonary embolism that sent him back to the hospital for several days. In short, much of January was spent in the hospital, Ulrich said.

Life started to turn around, he said, when he had genetic testing and it was found that he had an ALK marker. In the past few years, he said, a drug had been developed that allowed individuals with this marker to avoid extensive chemotherapy but instead take oral medication.

The ALK gene, he said, was the cause of the cancer and although he will need to take the medication for the rest of his life it allows him “to live life,” as the cancer is shrinking and he does not need to have a full dose of chemotherapy. The lung cancer, he said, is believed to be linked to burn pit exposure during his military service.

What got him through those months, he said was “Jesus and family for support.” He said he could not have gotten through it without the support of the people around him.

He said one of those who helped him through it was his older brother Jason Lennox.

“Jason took a load off my shoulders,” he said. “It made me able to focus on getting better.”

Lennox told the crowd that it is important that “we do the prework” and have a good relationship with the people in one’s life.

Second, he said, he had to have an outlet so he had someone to talk to. “I tried to keep myself in a steady place,” he said. It was important to get outside the hospital rooms and have someone to talk to outside of that circle.

Most important, he said, was to become a “student of caregiving.” That meant becoming educated on what his brother was up against and be able to be an advocate.

Lennox added his brother had always been the most consistent in his life and was always there.

He also had an aunt, he said, who had been battling her own cancer for eight years and lived in Massachusetts. When Ulrich got better, he said, he made the trip to Massachusetts to see her and she said that she was going into hospice.

He returned to Minnesota, he said, and stayed at Ulrich’s. The next morning, he learned his aunt had died.

The guidance he received from his aunt, he said, was to live well as no one knows when the last year, last month, last day or last hour will come.

He added his brother continues to improve and “he just ran a 5k last month.”

Following comments by Ulrich and Lennox was the traditional Survivors Walk and Caregivers Walk. There was also a silent auction and luminaries remembering and honoring those who have had or currently have cancer.

Relay for Life holds fundraisers throughout the year for the American Cancer Society. As of 6 p.m. Saturday, $48,722 has been raised.