Chaffee mayor being treated for kidney failure; will continue duties

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Chaffee's new mayor says she will continue her duties despite a recent hospitalization for kidney failure and the regular dialysis treatments she'll require.

Loretta Mohorc was elected mayor in April following a six-month period during which Chaffee was without an elected mayor following the resignation of Bill Cannon for health and personal reasons. During her few weeks in office, Mohorc has maintained a constant presence at city hall, putting in office hours every business day, said City Clerk Diane Eftink.

But Mohorc has been hospitalized since just after Memorial Day as doctors treated her for the kidney failure. Mohorc has suffered kidney problems for 17 years, but was able to control those problems with medication until recently.

The mayor returned home Tuesday, vowing to continue carrying on her duties as mayor while undergoing dialysis treatments and waiting for a donor kidney.

"I'm going to take this week to get acclimated to the clinical visits, and I hope to be back on duty next week if my energy allows me," Mohorc said Tuesday. The city council will have its regular meeting Monday night. Mohorc was unable to attend the last regular city council session June 4. In her absence Ward 4 Councilman Tom Cunningham served as mayor pro tem, a capacity he served in between Cannon's resignation and Mohorc's swearing into office in April.

Mohorc said she didn't wish to discuss her illness or her time in the hospital because the experience was "too fresh" in her mind. She had been released from the hospital Monday night.

Eftink said several Chaffee residents have made inquiries about the mayor's health at city hall since they heard the news of her illness. Mohorc's family set up a Web site, www.caringbridge.org/visit/rettamohorc, for those concerned with the mayor's condition to check up on her and give their wishes for a speedy recovery.

Mohorc is Chaffee's first female mayor since the mid-1970s.

msanders@semissourian.com

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