EDMONTON -- Former Edmonton MLA and school board trustee Janice Sarich has died from cancer.

She died on Friday, only three weeks after receiving her cancer diagnosis.

Sarich, who was 62, served as the Progressive Conservative MLA for Edmonton-Decore from 2008 to 2015.

Before getting into provincial politics she was a trustee for the Edmonton Catholic School Board.

Sarich backed Jason Kenney in his bid for leader of the United Conservative Party, and on Sunday, he tweeted that he had lost a good friend.

Her former colleague in the legislature, Matt Jeneroux, remembers her as a friend, teacher, and a person who cared about her community.

“She taught me very early on about how to be a politician, how politicians speak, how to really engage with our community, which she did just tremendously well, so she certainly will be missed here in Edmonton,” he told CTV News Edmonton.

“It’s been incredibly sad to hear. I heard that she wasn’t doing well about a week ago, and then to have everything happen so quickly is incredibly, incredibly sad.”