OMAHA, Neb. -- Kimball Lauritzen, a longtime Omaha civic leader and well-known humanitarian for Nebraska, died Monday evening after a nine-year battle with a rare and aggressive cancer of the fallopian tube. She was 63.

Lauritzen was a wife and a mother in the family that owns Nebraska’s oldest financial institution, First National Bank. Her name, along with that of her husband, Bruce, is tied to many visible civic improvements and projects, especially in the downtown area.

But she was also known for her other leadership positions, in which she worked to advance numerous causes.

She was a board member and major fundraiser for Lauritzen Gardens. She was also the chairwoman of the Nebraska Community Foundation and the director of numerous boards, including the Omaha Community Playhouse, Omaha Public Schools Foundation and Nebraskans for Public Television.

On Nov. 5, she and Bruce were recognized by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., where the two received the Omaha Award for Corporate Citizenship.

When diagnosed with the cancer in 1999, Lauritzen was given a 15 percent chance of living five years. She underwent 28 cycles of chemotherapy.

She received the Star of Courage Award for her struggle with cancer and for turning that struggle into a message of inspiration and perseverance for citizens from coast to coast.

Lauritzen was born on Feb. 6, 1944, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

She is survived by her mother, husband, daughters and sons-in-law Margaret and N.P. Dodge III, of Omaha, Blair and Matt Gogel of Kansas City, Kan.; and son and daughter-in-law Clark and Emily, of Omaha; six grandchildren; and her brothers Bowlman Tarleton Bowles, Jr., of Richmond, Va., and Dr. Robert Bowles, of Charleston, S.C.