Arlington Photographer Who Divulged Silver Lining Of Cancer Diagnosis Dies, 41

Rachel Hegarty, an Arlington photographer, has died after battling cancer for more than a year.

05/21/2024 3:28 p.m.

Hegarty, 41, passed away peacefully on May 1, 2024 surrounded by her family, according to her obituary on the Murphy Funeral Homes website.

Hegarty had been diagnosed with Stage 3 cervical cancer on Valentine's Day of 2023. Last year, she told Daily Voice that the silver living of her diagnosis is that it brought her closer to her fiance, Brian Kennedy.

A Calvert County, MD native, Hegarty attended northern High School and moved to Arlington after graduating from Coastal Carolina University. She worked as a program analyst for General Dynamics before branching out on her own path and starting a career in photography in 2015, her obituary says.

In an interview last year with Daily Voice, Hegarty said:

"They say if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything," Hegarty said. "But what I realized is that if you don’t have your health, you have nothing except your community. That really is all you’re left with. And that was what got me through."

Hegarty is survived by her Yorkiepoo, Milli, her fiance, Brian, her mother Elizabeth Rogers (DelVecchio); her father, Patrick Hegarty (Elaine); and her brother, Steven Rogers (Elizabeth) and their son Noah, along with her countless clients who cherished her and her work.

Click here for Rachel Hegarty's complete obituary.

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