Angelina Jolie's Aunt Dies in Local Hospital

Angelina Jolie's aunt has died of cancer at an Escondido hospital, less than two weeks after the actress revealed her family's cancer gene had prompted her to have a double mastectomy, it was reported today.

Debbie Martin died at Palomar Medical Center, according to an interview with her surviving husband, Ron Martin, that was posted today by UT San Diego on its website.

Debbie Martin, 61, had carried the same defective BRCA2 gene as her big sister, Marcheline Bertrand, who is Jolie's mother. Bertrand died of cancer in 2007, and her ovarian cancer was blamed on BRCA2 and a second cancer-related gene, BRCA1.

UT San Diego was told by the husband that Debbie Martin had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. And he told the news site that "my wife would still be alive today if she'd had a double mastectomy before she contracted breast cancer."

Ron Martin applauded the news that Jolie has undergone the operation, which the 37-year-old actress revealed in an opinion piece she wrote for the New York Times earlier this month.

"We were so happy that she just tacked on 40 years to her life, and will be able to see her kids grow up," Martin told UT San Diego.

The couple had been married 42 years and lived in Escondido for 18 years. They own Sewing machines plus, an online retail store in San Marcos, the website reported.

She was survived by their grown sons, Chris Martin and Cory Martin. No services have been announced.

- City News Service