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EDEN — Breast cancer didn’t take Dorothy Louise “Lou” McMichael Miracle quietly.

Miracle saw doctors in North Carolina and Texas to stave off the disease that eventually metastasized in her body, her family said.

“Nobody wanted to beat breast cancer more than Lou,” said sister Gail McMichael Drew of Durham.

Miracle died May 12, 2008, at the age of 57. But thanks to a generous donation from her family, more people in Rockingham County will have the chance to beat breast cancer.

Morehead Memorial Hospital on Oct. 15 dedicated the Lou McMichael Miracle Breast Imaging Suite inside the Wright Diagnostic Center. That suite holds a $300,000 digital mammography machine, purchased with a grant from the Dalton L. McMichael Family Foundation.

It’s equipment the hospital needed but wasn’t able to afford, said Dr. Henry Fleishman, chairman of Morehead’s cancer committee. The hospital is a nonprofit and is feeling the effects of the difficult economic times, Fleishman said.

Digital mammography has become the standard for most hospitals in detecting breast abnormalities. It allows doctors to focus on the smallest of changes in the breast, and is also more beneficial than film mammography to younger women, who have denser breast tissue, Fleishman said.

Fleishman knows the McMichael family. After Miracle’s death, he searched for a way to honor her that would also benefit the hospital. He received permission from administrators to ask the family for a donation for the digital equipment.

Instead, Fleishman said, the family foundation agreed to pick up the entire tab. The digital mammography system was installed late last year.

“They have been a very generous family who has really, I would say, exemplified what philanthropy is all about,” he said. “They’ve really stepped up during this tough time.”

Miracle’s father, Dalton L. McMichael, was a Rockingham County textile magnate and benefactor who died in 2001. Through the McMichael Family Foundation, he has shared his wealth with schools and organizations across the Piedmont Triad, including Morehead’s Smith-McMichael Cancer Center.

Those who knew Miracle best said the simplest of things made her happy: she loved animals and sipping on Wendy’s chocolate Frosties.

She also had a lot of friends and a smile that lit up a room, Fleishman said. During the dedication ceremony, many of those friends and family members packed the reception area inside the Wright Diagnostic Center to see that smile once more.

Miracle’s children, Katherine and Andrew, unveiled a portrait of their mother that will hang in the breast-imaging suite.

Drew teared up when looking at the faces who had gathered to honor her sister. “All of you were Lou’s favorites,” she told them.

Fleishman said the hospital and Rockingham County residents owe a debt of gratitude to the McMichael family.

“I feel very fortunate that we have a family like the McMichaels who have given so much back to our county,” he said.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 627-4881, Ext. 126, or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com