Jennifer "Jenn" Jane Lyon (February 27, 1972 – January 19, 2010) was an American actress and television personality best known for her appearance on '' Survivor: Palau''.

Early life

Jennifer Lyon was born in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, but grew up in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

and The Dalles, Oregon. She enjoyed hiking, playing

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, and photography. At the age of 18, Jennifer learned Spanish when she participated in the foreign exchange program around 1990. After graduating from high school, Jennifer spent a year in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and two years in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

working as a nanny. When Jennifer returned to the U.S., she attended

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

and spent a year there until she later attended

Western Oregon State College Western Oregon University (WOU) is a public university in Monmouth, Oregon. It was originally established in 1856 by Disciples of Christ pioneers as Monmouth University. Subsequent names included Oregon State Normal School, Oregon College of Ed ...

before she was sent to

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

. She later received a Bachelor of Science Degree in nutrition and food management.

''Survivor''

In 2004, Lyon was selected for '' Survivor: Palau'', the tenth overall season of ''

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: Actual survivors * *Last survivors of historical events Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Found ...

''. The season aired in Spring 2005. The game started with all 20 players on the same beach. During the tribe division, she was chosen by Gregg Carey to be on the Koror tribe. She in turn picked Coby Archa to join the tribe. Koror ended up being the dominant tribe, winning every tribal immunity challenge. During this time she developed a

showmance A showmance (sometimes show-mance), also known as show romance, is a romance that develops between two individuals in theater, or on films and television series and between reality show contestants or participants for the running period of the sho ...

with Carey. She also developed a rivalry with Ulong member Stephenie LaGrossa, who was constantly beating her in challenges. Eventually, LaGrossa, the last remaining Ulong, was absorbed into Koror, but Lyon outlasted her when LaGrossa was voted out in seventh place. At the Final Four, when Lyon was expected to be voted out, she convinced

Tom Westman Tom Westman (born January 4, 1964) is an American firefighter and television personality best known as the winner of the tenth season of the American reality show '' Survivor'', '' Survivor: Palau'' ''Survivor'' ''Palau'' At the beginning of the ...

to vote for Ian Rosenberger for thinking about betraying their alliance, while Rosenberger and Katie Gallagher, the only other players left, voted for Lyon. A re-vote was unsuccessful in breaking the tie, so Lyon was put in the first ever Final Four fire making tie-breaker challenge against Rosenberger. She lost the challenge, which caused her to be the 17th person eliminated from ''Survivor: Palau'', putting her on the jury, ultimately placing fourth in the competition. At the Final Tribal Council, she gave her vote to Westman to win the game. At the reunion show, it was revealed that her relationship with Carey only lasted on the island, although they remained friends afterwards.

Death

In 2005, while living in

Encino, California Encino (Spanish language, Spanish for "oak") is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History In 1769, the Spanish Portolá expedition, first Europeans to see inland areas of California, traveled north t ...

, Lyon was diagnosed with stage three

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

, and subsequently began blogging about her disease and treatment. Lyon got involved with the Me and My Two Friends Foundation, which focuses on the early detection and prevention of breast cancer through education and awareness. It was founded by Alisa Unger, who designed jewelry and planned to donate a portion of the proceeds to fund breast cancer education projects. In 2006, Lyon was the grand marshal for the 11th annual Walk for the Cause, a breast cancer fundraiser in

Albany, Oregon Albany is the county seat of Linn County, Oregon, and is the eleventh largest city in that state. Albany is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River in both Linn and Benton counties, just ...

. In December 2009, Lyon opened a Christmas tree lot with her boyfriend, Dion, mother and father, Larry and Jane Lyon, and her two nephews, Tyler Lyon and Mikel Lyon, and donated all the profits to the Susan Love Cancer Research Foundation. In January she moved to a spot on the Hood River in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. On January 19, 2010, Lyon died from cancer, which had come back from remission and had metastasized to the bone. She became the first former ''Survivor'' contestant to die. The special ''Surviving Survivor'', which aired Thursday, February 4, 2010, just over two weeks after her death, was dedicated to her memory. The reunion episode of '' Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains'' showed a video montage of moments from Lyon's appearance on '' Survivor: Palau''.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Jennifer Lyon biography
for '' Survivor: Palau'' at CBS.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon, Jennifer 1972 births 2010 deaths Deaths from breast cancer Deaths from cancer in Oregon People from Boulder City, Nevada People from Greater Los Angeles Survivor (American TV series) contestants Western Oregon University alumni Portland State University alumni Oregon State University alumni