Natalie Berry could not think of enough words to describe her favorite physician, Dr. Fee.

“I don’t think Webster’s dictionary has enough adjectives – positive, good adjectives – to lay beside that lady’s name,” the Scottsville woman said.

Kela Lyons Fee, a local obstetrician/gynecologist, died Friday at age 43 after a four-year battle with cancer. The Tompkinsville native opened her medical practice in Bowling Green 10 years ago and has since become a well-known member of the community – not only through her work, but also through charitable fundraisers and numerous speeches about her illness, her faith and her positive attitude.

“She has impacted an entire community,” said the Rev. Rick Bard of Broadway United Methodist Church, where Fee was a member. “People across the country have been touched by her courage, her faith, her life.”

After being diagnosed with colon cancer in 2004, Fee started raising funds for the University of Louisville’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center.

She raised more than $200,000 for the center, through a variety of efforts. One fundraiser was Kela’s Crew, a collaboration with the Western Kentucky University volleyball team that encourages people to pledge donations based on the number of aces the team serves in a game. She also raised funds through the annual Fall Golf Classic at The Club at Olde Stone – one of the biggest fundraisers for the University of Louisville, husband Kirk Fee said.

“One thing that helped her touch so many others, in the face of a major life crisis, she showed others that you don’t necessarily have to stick your head in the sand,” he said.

Kela met Kirk while attending medical school at U of L. The two were married in 1996 and have two sons, 10-year-old Alex and 8-year-old Baxter.

“I really felt that she was my soulmate,” Kirk Fee said. “We were so often on the same page the way that we approached life, and the way that we approached other people.”

When Fee was first diagnosed with cancer, she “turned it on its heels” and used it to spread the message of her faith, Kirk Fee said. She spoke about her battle at several community events and church services – dealing with her illness through prayer and positive thinking was the focus of her speech to the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce in 2006.

“I’ve never been happier,” she said at the breakfast. “I’m more at peace. I’ve never felt better in my entire life … I don’t sweat the small stuff anymore.”

Shortly after her diagnosis, Broadway UMC held a prayer vigil attended by several hundred people. And while most patients would stay home after going through harsh treatments, Bard said, Fee attended the vigil – something he did not expect.

“She allowed us to gather around her and encourage her, lay hands on her and pray for her, and it was one of the most powerful moments of my life,” he said. “Here is a highly qualified doctor, and she was allowing people to help.”

That willingness to let people into her life – and Fee’s ability to draw people to her – were just some of the things that made her life extraordinary, Bard said.

Similarly, Berry said even though she visited Fee about once a year, she felt like Fee was more than a doctor.

“She made me feel like I was her best friend,” Berry said. “When she walked in through the door, for what usually isn’t a pleasant doctor’s visit, you immediately became at ease. She hugged you, she kissed you, she called you by name and she asked about your family. I mean, when she walked into a room, she just radiated.”

Paula Tarry of Glasgow, who knew Fee for about 30 years, said Fee could illuminate a room even at a young age.

“She was always smiling, she was giggling, laughing,” Tarry said. “And she always lit up the room whenever she walked in.”

The two met when Fee was a young 4-H member, Tarry a 4-H youth development agent. When the club offered a Japanese exchange program that allowed members to travel abroad, Fee was the first to jump at the chance.

“She was always the adventurous one and the one willing to try new things,” said Tarry, who remained friends with Fee throughout the years. “She was definitely a wonderful example for many and has left a wonderful legacy.”

That fun nature was one of the qualities Kirk Fee loved about his wife.

“You could have been in the middle of Butler County one minute and in the middle of New York the next and have fun with her either place,” he said.

After she was diagnosed, Fee began keeping a journal at CaringBridge.org – a Web site that allows patients to keep friends and family updated during a critical illness. By Saturday evening, about 200 people has posted condolences to Fee’s online guestbook; since she began keeping the journal, more than 3,000 messages have been posted.

Fee made her last journal entry on Nov. 9, writing about the family’s recent trip to New York City, as well as her illness and some treatments she was getting. And she updated readers on the 2008 Fall Golf Classic, which was looking “very, very successful,” she wrote.

“She took what was a huge obstacle and, through her faith, used it to help others,” Bard said. “She was an amazing example of what it meant to have faith in Christ. Even in the midst of her impending death, her faith became greater.”

— The funeral for Dr. Kela Fee is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday at Broadway UMC, while visitation is from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. today and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday at the church. For full obituary, see Page 6A.