On Sunday, when Toni Robideaux died, the sun shone bright, illuminating snowflakes glinting through powdered snow. That night the moon appeared, a globe of power and light. Toni didn't pick the crystal-clear weather Sunday or order up the stunning moon, but both had her artistic markings. The Spokane marketing professional knew how to coax forth the art hiding in everything familiar. Even the cold seemed a salute to Montana, where Toni was born 53 years ago.

Toni's vigil service -- scheduled Thursday evening at 7, and her funeral at 10 a.m. Friday, both at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in north Spokane -- are expected to be packed with mourners, despite the weather, which deteriorated as soon as Toni passed away.

Seventeen years ago she was walking at Expo '86 in Vancouver, B.C., when her leg mysteriously buckled. A diagnosis of multiple sclerosis soon followed. Then, 11 years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and soon that cancer spread, which meant Toni was never too long away from treatments -- chemo, radiation or both.

But Toni dreaded becoming known as that poor woman with MS and cancer. She knew our sound-bite culture often reduces sick people to their diagnoses. So Toni rarely talked about the cancer or the MS or the treatments. Toni's philosophy, articulated by husband John Robideaux, was this: "Don't judge me by the way I walk. Judge me by where I am walking."

In the last decade of Toni's life, she walked into her most creative work. She was named Advertising Professional of the Year for the dozens of marketing campaigns she did along with John in their firm, Robideaux Design and Marketing. Toni mentored many young people in the art of selling ideas without selling out. And she focused much of her creativity, often pro bono, on campaigns for places that help people through sickness and dying -- Hospice of Spokane, the Ronald McDonald House, the Faith and Healing Center and many breast cancer awareness projects. Her last campaign was for the new Children's Hospital at Sacred Heart Medical Center. The theme: "Anything is possible."

Toni's creativity extended far beyond public relations, however. She also walked into art of all kinds -- painting, pottery and writing. Once a week, she and John sat in Spokane coffeehouses and wrote together on issues of marriage, children and vows, through sickness and health. They had a great love for 33 years.

Above all, Toni explored spirituality the past decade, meeting every Friday morning with women friends in what they called their Sacred Circle. And she shared with others books and quotes and her unique thoughts on spirituality. My husband, who once taught Toni literature at Gonzaga University, called her "an advertiser of the spirit."

Toni was determined to pass that spirit on to her three boys -- Christopher, Andrew and Jonathan. They were young boys when she first got cancer. It made her so mad. She simply refused to die until they were older. Her youngest, Jonathan, is now 19. Toni also lived long enough to dote on 9-month-old Jordan, her grandson. Though she saw him a lot, she often drove by his house just to be near.

Toni shared her unique spirit to the end by showing many of us how to die with grace. When Toni was told she had a week to live, she and John opened up her Sacred Heart hospital room to others. Her husband, sons and daughter-in-law Stephanie were there all hours. Her father, Don Herak, and her two siblings, Donna and Jerry, also kept constant vigil. John's family stayed close, too. Cousins drove in from Montana. Nieces and nephews arrived. And the friends came and came.

Her hospital room was decorated with Toni's eye for elegance. Little lamps replaced harsh hospital lighting. Family photos filled the shelves. Sharon Murphy, Sacred Circle buddy, led prayers, while friend and harpist Catharine Drum Scherer played soothing music. Babies visited, including grandson Jordan, and Dylan D'Agostino, her friend Marti's newborn son.

On Toni's final Sunday, surrounded by family, she at last broke free of the physical struggles that never defined her, as she once worried. Instead, Toni Robideaux will be remembered for her real work among us -- beautiful advertiser of the human spirit.