GREENSBORO, N.C. — Those who knew Leslie Deaton, can't find a negative word to say about her.
A battle that was fought hard, with a lot of special people by her side, one of them being Tracy Ervin.
Deaton and Ervin became friends a few years back. Deaton was a counselor at Northern High School. The same high school that both of Ervin's boys currently attend.
"Her job was not just her job, it was her life," Ervin said.
Ervin describes Deaton as smart, sophisticated, and selfless.
"She was a pillar of strength at Northern," Ervin said.
Their relationship went beyond the surface, as they both had been diagnosed with cancer.
Ervin beat breast cancer eight years prior to Deaton getting diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in last year.
"You don't find very many people that are going through something like that, you know, and I was a safe person [for her]," Ervin said.
Now, nearly a year later, Deaton lost her battle on Monday, August 12.
But battling cancer wasn't the only hardship Deaton dealt with in recent years.
Ervin said Deaton's son was taken from her in 2021 to a fentanyl overdose. She said Will Finch, was his moms entire world.
"She grieved, but she turned the grieving into purpose," Ervin said.
Deaton was very vocal about her son's death, holding several town halls to raise awareness of the fentanyl epidemic.
"I cannot stand the thought of somebody walking this walk, and to have knowledge is power and I have to speak for Will," Deaton said in an interview from February 2023.
Ervin said her friend always thought about others first. She said that the last text Deaton sent her proves that.
"She said she was praying for me constantly," Ervin said.
That's because Ervin was diagnosed with breast cancer again just last month.
Although there's a scary journey ahead, Ervin said it's the same journey that allowed her to walk side by side with Deaton until the very end.
Loved ones are set to lay Leslie Deaton to rest Friday afternoon at the church she attended regularly.