Editor's note (2026): This article was originally published on September 3, 2014, and reflects Perrie Mundy’s experience 12 years ago. It is preserved here as part of her personal and professional history and is not a current health update.
Redland's Perrie Mundy is used to constantly being on the go, but after she was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, the longtime Redlands Realtor had to take a step back.
“I have always thought, ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.’ But I have become very humbled. I have learned that I am powerless over this. It’s quite interesting,” Mundy, 70, said Thursday in her Olive Avenue office next to a pink hat embossed with the Believe Walk logo. The walk is an annual tradition in downtown whose proceeds are all spent battling cancer locally. It recognizes those diagnosed with the disease and survivors and remembers those lost. Thousands turn out annually for the affair, and Mundy will participate this year, on Oct. 5.
A self-described workaholic, Mundy’s decision to relinquish some of her duties did not come easily. But it was needed, she said.
“Even if I have the desire to do something, I cannot physically do it. I never, ever let that be a factor in my 40-year career. Now I have to sit back,” she said.
The road to diagnosis was a long one.
A full-body scan showed no cancer whatsoever, while other testing turned up negative as well.
At City of Hope in May Mundy learned she had breast cancer hiding in “the shadows,” she said.
Not one to rely on others for support, Mundy said the diagnosis was a humbling experience, especially after she learned the cancer could have killed her within six months had it not been found.
“I thought, how could this happen to me? It was very aggressive,” she said.
Mundy underwent a mastectomy. A breast augmentation of the breast was done at the same time, but it didn’t take. Mundy had to go under the knife once more three weeks later. That move delayed chemotherapy. Another round of chemo begins on Monday.
But as Mundy waits, it is business as usual as she handles deals and works with clients. A support staff, including daughter Kerry Spelman, provide support as needed.
“This has been my life. My company has been my life for 40 years. It’s hard to learn how to step back and sit back. But I thank God I have the people I do,” Mundy said.
While the road to diagnosis and treatment have been what Mundy called a “lonely journey,” it has brought her and her daughter closer.
“It is hard to see (her) going through this, especially since she is so bigger than life,” said her daughter Kerry Spelman, who lost her husband to cancer recently. “When my husband was dying, there was a time when we needed medicine, but we didn’t have the kind he needed. So my mom (went to his) doctor’s house, because he was a client of hers she knew where he lived, to get the medicine. That’s the kind of woman she is.”
Mundy admits that when she was first diagnosed she didn’t immediately feel she needed the support that others do. She thought dealing with the disease would have been a “walk in the park.” She admits she was wrong, but is quick to note the support she has received from the community and her clients has helped keep her spirits up. Work is also a welcoming distraction as treatment awaits.
“Let’s just get through it. We will get through it. That’s my mantra. The question is, who is going to come out the other end? It is so life changing and I don’t know who I am going to be. Does that sound crazy? I have no idea.”
To learn more about The Believe Walk, visit believeinlandempire.com.
