DeeDee Jonrowe

DeeDee Ann Jonrowe (née Stout; born December 20, 1953) is an American kennel owner and dog musher who is a three-time runner up in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, and holds the fastest time ever recorded for a woman. She is a very popular figure in the sport, and her completion of the 1,049-mile+ (1,600+ km) race in 2003 just three weeks after completing chemotherapy for breast cancer received widespread publicity.

Jonrowe was born on December 20, 1953, in Frankfurt, Germany. Her father, U.S. Army officer Kenneth Oliver Stout, was stationed there at the time. She went to school in Virginia, and in 1971 her family moved to Alaska where she received a B.S. in Biological Sciences and Renewable Resources from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. In 1977, she married Mike Jonrowe.

Jonrowe has also been the spokesperson for the Winter Special Olympics, and the National Girl Scouts Council, and was awarded the Young Women's Christian Association's Alaska Woman of Achievement Award. She co-wrote the book Iditarod Dreams about prepping for the 1993 and 1994 Iditarods, with Lew Freedman.

Jonrowe lives in Willow, Alaska with her husband. She is a kennel owner, and continues racing. By 1979, she had a kennel with 25 dogs. She is a founder of Mush with P.R.I.D.E. (Providing Responsible Information on a Dog's Environment). She is active in her church.

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