In Memoriam Details

Alec Valentine
216 West Virginia Drive
Clinton MS 39056

September 4, 2019

Dear Wellesley Friends,

It is with regret and grief that I tell you that the former Kay King, your Wellesley classmate, class of 1966, has passed away. She was my wife for 35 years and we lived in Clinton, Mississippi.

I have sent this to emails on a 2015 newsletter. Perhaps you can forward the information to whoever should receive it.

Kay died on July 24. She literally had not the strength to breathe. She did not have cancer, heart disease, kidney failure or any of the usual causes. Nor was alcohol, to which she had been an adherent for over 40 years, the cause of her demise in my opinion. She did at the end have such ulcers that she could not consume food or liquid, and the ulcers were perforated to the degree that she became septic and the doctors could not combat that.

But I propose that Kay died of perfectionism. I have pieced things together and come up with this: Kay somehow picked up from her parents very early, prerationally, that they thought she was perfect, and that therefore it was incumbent upon her to live that out, to be perfect. Everyone knows they are not perfect, but Kay was very smart, beautiful, talented and charming; she became practically the high school valedictorian without studying at all (she swears); both boys and girls threw themselves at her; she sang like angel and acted on stage like a pro with nary a lesson or practice. And she felt guilty that all this success and the consequent adulation came to her so effortlessly while others had to struggle for it. So she spent her life trying to prove that she was not perfect and to throw off the yoke of the pressure to be so. Trouble was, only she bore that yoke. No one put it on her; everybody thought she was OK and a fun person besides.

Despite her great gifts, which all recognized, Kay seemed to become very self-destructive. She would not go to the doctor, would not take prescribed meds, and would not confide with doctors when she did go. Finally, it seems, she was successful in destroying herself.

Not everyone can relate to this tale, but I thought Wellesley women might find some consonance with it: the high expectations, the drive to succeed, and an outcome different from what one expected.

We have had a fulfilling marriage, full of joys and love and pains as I imagine most marriages are. Kay has written and directed plays for her church, has sung in the choir to everyone's delight, has acted in the nearby professional theater, and has earned quite a local reputation for diligence and being right among lawyers she has worked for and with. In those ways, her life has been well-spent. The obituary below bears that out.

I realize it is a time for women of the Class of 1966 both to look toward end-of-life issues, and (as always) to counsel our young friends and relatives as to their future pathways. When we do so, let us avoid those parallel dangers of too much pressure or perfectionism on one side, and low expectations or lack of direction on the other.

I would be thrilled to hear from any classmates who have comments, memories or questions about Kay and her life. It was both a fulfilling and an instructive life, as I see it.

Yours sincerely,

Alec Valentine
601-750-5592
acvalenti@yahoo.com

Kay King Valentine

Loud laughter and applause rattled Heaven when (Sarah) Kay King Valentine entered the stage there on July 24, 2019. Her parents, W. Hampton and Douglas E. King were on hand to greet her, as were the dear Harris cousins, Aunt Kay Crane, Chris Wilkes and others.

She leaves behind so many who loved her: her husband, Alec Valentine, to whom she gave 35 years of fulfilling marriage, her sister Casey Andrew, step-daughter Nacole Palmer, nephews David and Eric Andrew and niece Kari Yess, cousin Kina Drinkwater and sisters-in-law Rose Mary Ainsworth and Suzy Kolk. She was a great inspiration to Teresa, Patti and many young people. All loved and were loved by her, as were dear friends without number.

Kay was born August 6, 1944, in Jackson, MS. From a blessed childhood, she went on to become a top scholar at Murrah High School, a graduate of Wellesley College (all without studying, she swore), and a legal assistant in Jackson and Ridgeland, where she earned many friends and admirers. She lived in the Florida keys for a few years with her first husband, Joe Miklas, and she worked as a journalist in Miami. She drew attention by acting in and directing plays at Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church and singing "like an angel" in her beloved Chancel Choir, at times under the direction of Ken Roberts. She appeared at New Stage Theatre. Less known were her many acts of charity and kindness to friends and strangers alike.

Thanks go to the medical staffs at Univ. of Mississippi Medical Center and Select Specialty Hospital. A memorial service will be held at Galloway at 11 a.m. on Saturday, August 3, 2019, with visitation at 9 a.m. In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to Galloway UMC or to someone less fortunate, or to a a charity which attends to the least, the lonely. Kay would love that more.

Barbara Poore: One thing I forgot to include in the record book about Abby...I have established an Abby Marjorie Solomon fund at the Wellesley Student Aid Society. If you donate to them, you might consider adding to Abby's fund.

From the Record Book

Barbara Shepherd Poore: Abby Marjorie Solomon. Durant Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa, English Major. Abby lived in Salem, MA. She was one of the smartest, funniest people I ever knew. A whiz at Jeopardy. We roomed together in Bos-ton for a couple of years after graduation. She worked as a copywriter for a catalog company, drove a green Mustang, and made a mean chili. Mr. and Mrs. Solomon generously invited me to Sunday suppers often. As we sat on Abby’s black leather sofa in an apartment on the corner of Mass Avenue and Beacon Street, watching the terrible events of 1968: the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the police violence against protesters at the Democratic Convention, we vowed to go back to graduate school. Abby at Yale in American Studies, and me at Brown in Art History. She was the only person from Wellesley who came to my impromptu wedding in the summer of 1969 to take pictures. After Yale she moved back to the Boston area and worked as a freelance editor. The last time I saw her, I think in 1986, she had found a life partner and seemed very happy. While we lost touch over the years, I miss her.

Barbara Poore: Suzsnne Thomas and I roomed next door to Jane Reardon and Bunny Morse on the 4th floor of Claflin freshman year. And what a year it was! Jane was one of the funniest, sharpest, and kindest people I knew. I do remember going to her house in Peabody. What a terrible loss.

From the Record Book

Margaret Strauss Travers: "Jane Reardon Labys, 52, was a victim of the crash of Paris-bound TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996. I remember Jane Reardon’s good will, enthusiasm, and kindness to me in a brief encounter freshman year and still mourn the loss her family endured.”

Anne Robertson Spencer: Dear Jane, I was so looking forward to being near you in Switzerland with you in your beloved Habère-Poche. You were so tragically snatched away from us all, and now each time a dear friend dies, I relive that realization that you were on that fatal plane, and each time I fly over I think about you a lot and picture your so expressive face and delightful voice. My grandson says, “I no like consequences.” Well, I no like losses. Love, Anne

Weezie Knight: Jane Reardon Labys: We lost Jane in the terrible tragedy of TWA Flight 800, very shortly after our 30th reunion. She was on her way to join her husband Walt and her children in Switzerland. I lived with Jane in Claflin for 3 years and enjoyed her wry wit and great friendliness. She even played guitar for us on the roof of Claflin. Her wonderful family (I recall that her father was a renowned Massachusetts Supreme Court justice) invited us as her Claflin classmates for an escape event more than once down to her family home in Peabody, Mass.,a beautiful spot overlooking the ocean. Jane was roommates with Bunnie Reardon (Morse), and I do believe it was Jane who introduced Bunnie, our fellow ‘66’er, to Jane’s cousin Dan Reardon, and shortly after graduation made Bunnie into Jane’s cousin by marriage. Jane was a gem.

Sally Swigert Hamilton: “Jane Reardon was one of the bright lights of our class. We continue to mourn her sudden
and tragic death over the Atlantic.”

Kathy died on November 16, 2018. Here are her obituaries: http://obits.nola.com/obituaries/nola/obituary.aspx?n=katherine-kolb&pid=190811694 and https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=katherine-kolb&pid=190821310

Gabette died on October 20, 2018. Here is her obituary: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/modestobee/obituary.aspx?n=gabrielle-andres-gabette&pid=190563910

Penelope "Penny" Johnson Wartels of Stonington, CT, and Weekapaug, RI, passed away on February 13, 2015. She is survived by her husband, David E. Wartels; and her sons, Wyatt and Edward, their wives and 3 granddaughters. A memorial service was held at The Weekapaug Chapel on June 27th.

Finishing the Future: Marion spoke at the class meeting of our 45th reunion as follows:

Remarks for Wellesley 1966 Reunion Class Meeting June 5, 2011
Finishing the Future – Marion Kane

I want to start my remarks by trying to redeem myself from the talk I gave at our 20th reunion on What Makes Us Happy. I spoke about the little things in life that made me laugh including the plastic pink flamingos that adorned my front lawn and got covered with snow each winter with only their little necks sticking out. It was that image that led to the profusion of pink flamingos that have flocked to each of our reunions ever since.

I was telling this story to a friend this spring and she replied “You know, Marion, the pink flamingo is the symbol for the passage of the soul from dark into light.” “Really, I replied,” who would ever have guessed.” So I looked up pink flamingos on the web and here is what I found:

“According to many, the flamingo of East Africa might have contributed to the myth of the phoenix. This bright pink or white bird nests on salt flats that are too hot for its eggs or chicks to survive. So it builds a mound several inches tall and large enough to support its egg which it lays in that marginally cooler location. The convection currents around these mounds resemble the turbulence of a flame. In zoology, flamingos are part of the family Phoenicopteridae, from the generic name Phoenicopterus or “phoenix-winged.”
It is this image that I want us to hold in our minds as I talk about Finishing the Future.

I am sure we have all thought at some time about what we would do if we were told we only had a year left to live.
As some of you know, my husband Dan and I confronted that reality in 1994 when he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Dan spent that year in many creative ways. He gathered all of the things he had written and put them into a book for me and each of the kids and friends and family; he pulled all of our financial information together, transferred assets, closed bank accounts; he made sure all of his relationships were up to date and visited with many friends; and he continued his work as a patent lawyer – actually going to work and finishing a patent application the day before he died.

As sad as that year was for all of our family, it held many gifts as well. Dan was “finished” when he died and it started me thinking about how to live so we are finished when we die. And it was important to learn these lessons at 50 when I still had lots of time to put them into practice. I wondered how much more and better we would live if we got beyond our fear of death at 20 or 30 or 40.

In the years that followed I had and started many conversations about thinking creatively about the end of life. The more I explored the subject, the more I found that many people
never have that conversation early enough in their lives. As a result, we live out our lives without confronting and embracing death and consequently we miss many opportunities to position our selves to be “finished” when we die.

All of this came home to me when I was diagnosed with metastatic ovarian cancer three years ago. It was at a time when I had already announced that I would be retiring from the Barr Foundation that year and moving from Boston back to Maine. And I had made plans to do something I always wanted to do when I retired – spend the winter in New Zealand. So life went on amid surgery and chemotherapy and I had good conversations with my oncologist about my interest in quality of life, not quantity.

When I got back from New Zealand, I joined the boards of several nonprofits in Maine and the advisory committee of the local hospice. All of which have kept me busy and engaged but also given me time to think about what I need to do to finish my life.

And that is where you all come in. When I agreed to participate on this panel, I had something of an ulterior motive in the back of my mind. Perhaps my Wellesley classmates are the ones who can help jumpstart conversations about creatively embracing the end of life with their families and friends. It also occurred to me that a memorial service may be the best place to initiate that conversation. It is a supremely teachable moment. People attending a memorial service are unusually open and unguarded. And while they often hear from others about the person who has passed away, they rarely hear from the persons themselves about the experience of confronting death and the tools their life gave them to deal with it. So I have written something to be read at my memorial service and perhaps you will want to do something along these lines as well. And since most of you will not be there I wanted to share it with you now.

Reflections on a life’s journey
As many of you know, several years ago I expressed an interest in making some kind of contribution to the conversation about end of life. Having lived with Dan through his 15 month illness from ALS and death in 1995, I was profoundly moved by the thoughtful way he conducted his final journey. Walking with him on that path had many gifts for me. It taught me that you can’t measure a life in terms of time and that there is an art to being “finished” when you die. It also helped me face my worst fear – losing my life partner and best friend. I looked death in the face and in the process lost my fear of it. And together we made treatment and life choices that gave him an incredibly high quality end of life.
Since that time I have thought often about what accounted for that quality ending and here was what I observed:

1. It is important to have a philosophical context for your life. This can be a religious or spiritual framework, a belief system, or reflections on the meaning of your life.
2. The importance of living fully and doing what you want to do when you have the opportunity. Both Dan and I had adventurous lives, filled with travel and new experiences and lived with no regrets.
3. Give something back to the community. There has been tremendous satisfaction in seeing things that Dan and I helped start grow and thrive and provide value to the community.
4. Plan ahead of time for the end of life. What do you want to leave behind, what ceremonies are important to you, putting financial records in order, being clear about disposition of property, open communication
5. Make sure that your relationships are up to date. This is particularly important when you have the gift of time to spend with those you love and who have loved you.

It struck me as I planned to retire that leaving a job you have loved and a life you have loved have many similarities. If you care about a smooth transition, you plan for the transition way in advance of the event – putting systems in place and sharing everything you have learned and know with those who should have that information all along the way. I have often said that the test of a good executive director is that he/she can walk out the door and no one will notice that they are gone. Somehow I think the end of life should be that way too. This is not to diminish the grief and sadness of losing someone you love but rather the sense of closure that leaves those behind you able to carry forward with the knowledge and equipment they need to live rich, satisfying lives and to get beyond the fear of death.

Dan was a scholar of the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead who believed that when you love someone you actually physically exchange parts of yourself with them. Therefore when all of the people who loved you gather together as for a memorial service, they can physically recreate you just for that moment in time. I have actually experienced that at many memorial services and it strengthens my belief that we don’t really die but rather distribute ourselves around and are carried forward in parts by those who loved us.

I had a wonderful experience just before I left the Barr Foundation. At our last staff meeting, the staff went around the table sharing things that they had learned from our time together. One said she learned about “quantum physics”, another about “emergence,” another about systems thinking. When I left that meeting I realized that it had really been an encounter with immortality. Dan taught me all about quantum physics and systems thinking and emergence; I incorporated them into my work and the design of the Barr Foundation, and now my staff was going out into Boston and incorporating those ideas into their thinking and the way they carried out their work.

When I said I wanted to get involved in end of life issues, it wasn’t clear to me how I would engage in that conversation. That was before I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and never imagined that maybe I would engage in this conversation with my own end of life journey. And it has been a rich journey. I have not been afraid of death, nor have I lived in pain or sadness. I have had the gift of time to say goodbye to the many people I have loved and to tie up all of the loose ends of my life. I regret that I won’t see my granddaughter grow up or my children grow old but I can imagine that the gift of immortality, of all of the bits and pieces of life lessons and moments we shared and time together will be carried forward and I rest peacefully with those thoughts.

I am reminded of one of my favorite passages from The Little Prince. It is when the little prince makes friends with a fox who explains that if the little prince will just take the time to tame him it will be as if the sun came to shine on his life. The fox explains “You see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the color of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me. The grain, which is also golden will bring back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat...”

So listen for the wind in the wheat. Thank you all for the innumerable ways you have enriched my life and for coming to this celebration.

From the Record Book

FALMOUTH MA - Marion Meschter Kane died Aug. 20, 2012. Born in Philadelphia on Jan. 2, 1945, she was the second of three daughters to Barbara and Kyrel Meschter. After Germantown Friends School, she attended Wellesley College, graduating in 1966, with a degree in English literature. While at Wellesley, Marion met her husband Daniel H. Kane Jr. of Centerport, N.Y., and they were married in 1967. Moving to San Francisco, Marion worked for Sierra Club magazine and Dan as a patent attorney. They had two sons, Dan and Christopher. In 1972 they moved to Mount Desert Island, ME, to help start College of the Atlantic. While raising her young children, Marion worked as feature writer for the Bar Harbor Times and later became the director of public relations at College of the Atlantic. In 1983 she left the college to join former College of the Atlantic president Ed Kaelber in starting Maine Community Foundation and from 1990 to 2000 served as its president. During her time with Maine Community Foundation she played an active role in different communities across the state, giving away more than 20 million dollars in grants statewide. In 2000 Marion moved to Boston to serve as the first executive director of the Barr Foundation, a position she held until she retired in 2008. In addition to her roles with Maine Community Foundation and the Barr Foundation, Marion was active in many other charitable organizations and served on numerous boards ranging from Somes Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary and Maine Chapter of the Nature Conservancy to Dentaquest Foundation and Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence. Marion's deep love of Maine, and Mount Desert Island, was a defining part of her life. More recently she traveled extensively, spending time with the Kalahari Bushmen in Africa, living for three months in New Zealand, and exploring the jungles of Ecuador. After retiring to Falmouth she spent much of her time enjoying her young granddaughter, Tessa, gardening, and creating beautiful watercolor paintings and fabric art.
[shortened from (http:// obituaries.pressherald.com/obituaries/mainetoday-pressherald/obituary.aspx?pid=159368412)

Barbara Bryan: “Marion Meschter Kane--At the 45th reunion, she spoke with such caring and calm about our end-of-life journey and how we can help make it a rich and loving aspect of our lives. I felt she was speaking directly to me; I have often thought of how she seemed to glow with life energy, even as she contemplated her own death. I have been grateful ever since for her generosity in sharing.”

Pamela Worden: “In honor of Marion Meschter Kane I listen - as she asked us to do - I listen for the wind in the wheat ... I will never forget her grace, her courage, her generous spirit or her delicious sense of humor. I miss her.”

Diana Chapman Walsh: “Marion and I had both come to Wellesley from Philadelphia, both from families with Quaker roots, both with ties to Pocono Lake Preserve. Those were our initial bonds. We lived in the same dorm, Severance Hall, during our freshman year, and had many friends in common through the four years. Sometimes we would travel home together for vacations. One Christmas Marion had a large green book bag filled with books and materials she was taking home for a term paper she planned to finish over the holiday break (finals came afterwards in those tough-old-days). We were getting ready to board the plane, which we could see below from a window in the boarding area. Suddenly Marion bolted for the stairs and down on to the runway, where all the passengers watched with amazement and empathy as she dashed back and forth scooping up the books and papers that were flying in every direction from the book bag, which had split open. I can still see her there, the wind in her hair. This was long before TSA but I suspect even they wouldn’t have managed to stop her.

We laughed over the decades about that incident, and many more. The pink flamingo joke went on for years. The rusting junkyard birds peeking up from the piles of snow in her front yard, and Marion's impulsive rejoinder to her sons' unwillingness as teenagers to be seen in her company. Her telling of the story at our 25th reunion turned it into such a hilarious and piquant life parable that flocks of plastic pink flamingoes would reappear all over campus every five years when our class would return for another reunion. Dozens of them were stored in the garage of the president’s house while I was in residence there. Some students seemed to infer that the president had a flamingo fetish; I became the unwitting collector of an amazing array of flamingo-themed trinkets presented with a flourish by students.

When I left Wellesley and Marion left the Barr Foundation, we reconnected. Each of us was in the process of contemplating the closing chapters of the full lives we had in many ways launched together as college students and now felt so blessed to have lived. She was encouraging me to consider being her successor at Barr. I discovered in that exploration what an extraordinarily creative leader she had been there. And thus began for us an extended final conversation -- off and on through her last five years -- about the things that mattered most in our lives.

Marion had told me she wanted to make a study of what it would mean to be ready to die when the time came and she shared some of her writings on the subject. I felt enormously privileged to have had those encounters with her. When our class officers approached me about a program for our 45th reunion. I suggested that they ask Marion if she would be part of a panel discussion they were organizing. She agreed and gave a talk on that Saturday afternoon that none of the hundred plus classmates in the room will ever forget. She read us the piece she was writing about her impending death and said it would be read at her memorial service. It has been widely circulated, with Marion’s permission, and it has become a subtle, but powerful, wave front out into the world, bringing others into a new orientation toward one of the greatest fears that has gripped our secular culture and distorted our decision making.

Marion was fearless. She was brilliant and beautiful, elegant and kind. She was silly and sophisticated, intuitive and analytical, open to adventure and possibility, and so much more. Above all, though, I will remember her for her generosity of spirit. Albert Schweitzer said he would make of his life his argument. Marion did something else. She lived her values, embodied them fully, and then offered her life, gently and without the touch of vanity or coercion that accompanies an argument, to anyone who might find in that life inspiration, instruction, light. Many did. I surely do.”

Judith Peller Hallett: “Her words at our 20th on the inspiration she derived from her own pink flamingos brought our class an inspirational symbol for our lives; her words at our 45th about how she would like to be remembered after her death have been inspirational in other, powerful ways. She and I came from the same Philadelphia suburb, and from the moment I met her she personified a sublime and generous grace.“

Weezie Knight: “Who of us will forget the poignant and moving narrative Marion gave at our last reunion speaking of her brave struggle with cancer and her “veiled” prediction that she might not make it to our next reunion because of her then recent diagnosis of ovarian cancer. She was a lovely person, so friendly and gracious. I will always treasure my time with her rehearsing and performing our Junior Show – Rite on Time.”

Sara Stoker: How much I miss one of our room mates - Marion Meschter Kane - all of us have her dear tacky flamingoes and here's one - if I can that Kitsy's daughter, Becky, posted. (See color photo on Marion’s page in color photos) So dear Marion, you and your sentiments on being sure to always have a sense of humor, are with us for generations!! We so love and admire you! And love to your sons.

Kitty Dibble: “My memories of Marion Meschter Kane are typically as bright and cheery as she was. My pink flamingo and its holiday costumes is a tradition that I know will be carried on by my grandchildren. Who among us will forget her reading her own “obituary” at last reunion’s class meeting? One of my earliest memories is my asking Marion to help me find a good quote to engrave on a silver dish, a gift for my soon-to-be husband’s ordination. She shared a favorite quote from 2nd Timothy, 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.” This quote has been a touchstone all my life, but I would just like to add a fourth gift, a sense of humor! Marion was a true gift to all of us.”

Ginny died on July 13, 2018. Here is her obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?n=mary-virginia-donahue-neil&pid=189703922&

Binney died on July 8, 2018. Here is her obituary: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/Binney-Miller-obituary?pid=189512254

Published in The Boston Globe on May 9, 2016:

DANIELS, Lyn (Tolkoff) Of Brookline, formerly of Brooklyn, NY on Saturday, May 7, 2016. For 40 years, she was the beloved wife of Dr. Gilbert H. Daniels. Loving mother of Seth Adam Daniels & Dao Nguyen of Boston and Jon Asher Daniels & Ann-Elizabeth Ostrager of NY. Adored grandmother of Paul Micah Daniels. Loving sister of Dr. Nina Tolkoff Rubin of Brookline, loving sister-in-law of Dr. Robert Rubin and loving aunt of Melissa Rubin. Cherished daughter of the late Paul & Mildred (Drechsler) Tolkoff. Services at Temple Emanuel, 385 Ward St., Newton on Monday, May 9 at 11:00 am. Burial in Lindwood Memorial Park, 497 North St., Randolph. Shiva immediately following the burial through 5 pm and continuing Tuesday through Thursday 1-3 pm and 7-9 pm at her late residence. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the ALS Research Fund, c/o MGH Development Office, 125 Nashua St., Suite 540, Boston, MA 02114 or to Temple Emanuel, 385 Ward St., Newton, MA 02459.

June died in Houston on March 15, 2017.

Here is her obituary: https://1966.alum.wellesley.edu/images.html?file_id=elZivhFHtF0%3D

From the Louisville Courier-Journal, July 22, 2016:

71, daughter of the late Henry and Virginia Steilberg of Sunset Road, Louisville, passed away peacefully in Lebanon, NH, on 17 July, 2016.

Educated at Atherton High School, Susan attended Wellesley College before obtaining a master's degree in international relations from the University of Chicago. In 1969, Susan married Anthony Millington, a British diplomat. They were immediately posted to the British Embassy in Tokyo, where Susan and her husband studied Japanese to interpreter level. This led to a lifetime association with Japan. For nearly 20 years, Susan was one of the executive directors of the English-Speaking Union of Japan, which has pioneered English-language parliamentary debating among Japanese university and high school students.

Susan is survived by her older brother, Alan; her husband; sons, Nicholas, vice president of product development at Sonos, a wireless speaker company, and Timothy, assistant professor of surgery at Dartmouth College; and five grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 11a.m. Monday, 25 July at Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church, 142 Crescent Ave., Louisville, KY, 40206.

The family requests no flowers but invites those who wish to remember Susan to make a donation to the Gynecological Cancer Research Fund, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Development Office, 1 Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH03756.

See more at: http://www.legacy.com/ obituaries/louisville/obituary.aspx?pid=180744143#sthash.zzXPhK5y.dpuf

From The Boston Globe, July 17, 2016:

KERR, Martha (Hammond) Passed away July 8th after a long battle with vascular dementia. Martha was born March 8th, 1945, the eldest daughter of Margaret (Webster) and Robert Hammond. Martha was raised in Worcester, Massachusetts. She attended Bancroft school and graduated from Walnut Hill School. Martha graduated from Wellesley College in 1966 with a degree in English. Martha married Andrew Philip Kerr and moved with him to Salem, OR. After moving to Portland in 1969, Martha spent her time at home raising her children, Rob and Allison. She volunteered with the Junior League of Portland and worked with the Portland Art Museum. In 1984, Martha began a 20 year career in the travel industry. In retirement, Martha loved singing with The Mello Macs of the Multnomah Athletic Club, as well as traveling with friends. She treasured most her role as fun-loving Ayah to her five grandchildren. Martha was passionate about reading and loved doing New York Times Crossword puzzles. Martha is survived by her children, Rob Kerr (Erin), Allison Kerr Bjork (Chris); grandchildren, Rory and Ella Kerr, Anders, Henry, and Geordie Bjork; sister, Louisa Garrison, and brother David Hammond. She is predeceased by her parents, her sister Margaret, and her former husband Andrew Kerr. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Martha's memory to Alzheimer's Association of Oregon, 1650 NW Naito Pkwy, #190, Portland, OR 97209. A service will be held in Portland, OR, on August 2.

See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx? pid=180696518#sthash.JdUSkxp4.dpuf

Elizabeth Quigg: What a remarkable and joyful woman Barb was. She had so much energy and even at reunion she greeted us with enthusiasm.

From The New York Times, October 23, 2016:

BRYAN--Barbara.
Aged 72, a nonprofit leader in New York from 1975-2003, died October 17th of metastatic colon cancer. A graduate of Wellesley College with an M.A. from New York University, Barbara began her career as a teacher in the Peace Corps in Turkey, then became a community college English teacher. In 1973, she moved to New York and was employed at the Russell Sage Foundation, Institute for Community Design Analysis, and Safe Horizon, then known as Victim Services Agency, where she headed the Brooklyn and Staten Island Court operations for five years. In 1985, she became the second executive director (later president) of the five- year-old New York Regional Association of Grantmakers (NYRAG), now Philanthropy New York. Over the next 18 years, Barbara guided and grew the membership organization of private foundations, community foundations, and corporate giving programs. Under her leadership, NYRAG encouraged greater inclusiveness and diversity in the philanthropic sector; emphasized greater openness and accountability toward nonprofit grantseeking organizations; and participated in efforts to increase philanthropy in the region. Barbara Bryan is survived by her husband, Will Freeman; her mother, Betty Bryan; an aunt, June Bair; sisters Carolyn Young (widow of J. Michael Young), Susan Bryan (Cindy White), and Jean Bryan (Thom Clark); brother, Frederick (Betty Holmes); stepsons, Toby Freeman (Celia) and Eben Freeman (Rekha Menon); grandchildren, Kiran Menon Freeman and Maya Menon Freeman; three nephews; two nieces; and numerous grandnephews, grandnieces, and cousins. Services will be held at 2:00pm on October 30 at Manhattan's Middle Collegiate Church (50 East 7th Street). The family requests that in lieu of flowers, a donation be made to a charitable organization of your choice.

I am very saddened to read the news of Ali's death. Having lost touch with her, I was unaware of this until reading this post just prior to our Class of 1966 50th reunion. Ali roomed near me in Cazenove during our sophomore year. She was a bright spirit who exuded drama and a positive outlook. Her energy was infectious. There's no doubt that she will be missed by many.
Lynn Harrison '66

Ali Brunell graduated in 1967, but she began Wellesley in our class and her friends wish her to be included here.

From the Record Book
Alison Fisher Brunell, 69, died on July 21, 2013 in Brooklyn, NY. She was the daughter of Abbot V. and Anita F. Brunell of Springfield, Massachusetts. Alison grew up in Springfield attending Classical High School and graduating from the MacDuffie School for Girls. She earned a BA in English from Wellesley College, an MA from Tufts University and an MFA from Boston University. She also studied at George Washington University and NYU where she received a certificate in Drama Therapy. Ali was "on stage" since her teenage days. Her credits include off-Broadway productions, showcases, summer theatre and film work. She was an Equity Actor and a member of SAG and AFTRA. For the last 20 years, Ali was a favorite professor in the Theatre and English Departments of the College of Staten Island. Much loved by her students, she was an exemplary teacher, coach, and mentor to these young people. Ali was a member of Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope where she lived for nearly 40 years. Very active in all events at the synagogue, she was especially involved in the choir and the torah study group. She also attended the Ethical Culture Society of New York and the study rup at Sinai Temple, Springfield. Ali's friends and family all agree that this beautiful "free spirit" added great joy to all gatherings. A sympathetic friend and colleague, she will be greatly missed. Alison leaves her sister, Geraldine Brunell of Longmeadow, a niece, Stephanie Justine of Stowe, VT and a nephew, Ephraim J. Fink and his wife Michele of Stamford, CT. In addition, she leaves two grandnephews, Schuyler Barg and Max Fink and a grandniece, Sadie Fink. She also leaves her cousins, Leonard and Nancy Fisher of New Jersey, Judith Plotkin of Longmeadow and Ruth Nirenstein of Springfield and their families. A memorial service is planned for later in the year. Contributions in Alison's name may be made to Sinai Temple, Springfield.
[Source: http://obits.masslive.com/obituaries/masslive/obituary.aspx?pid=166456025]

Ellen Jaffe: “Fond memories of Ali Brunell, who started out in the Class of 1966 but finished in the Class of 1967. She stayed close to several members of the class of ’66, and her vibrancy, deep caring, and perceptive mind are missed by all of us, after her sudden and too-soon death.”

Susan Crystal Kohn: “I remember daily my dear friend Allison Brunell. She was a force of nature and very loyal and supportive.”

Karen Watson-Etsell : I'll miss seeing Leslie Williams at our 50th Class Reunion. We met at St. Paul's School where we both attended the summertime Advanced Studies Program. At Wellesley we shared transportation to and from our shared home state of New Hampshire. She was a special light in the world. We lost touch with each other after graduation but I still have a warm spot in my memory bank for her. Karen Watson-ETsell

From the Record Book

WILLIAMS--Leslie R. Teachers College, Columbia University mourns the passing of Professor Leslie R. Williams, a stellar and much-loved member of our Curriculum and Teaching faculty for the past three decades. In her work in multicultural and early childhood education, Leslie was a powerful advocate for inclusion, which she defined as ''a dialogue between self and other'' in which both adults and children move ''from initial identification of others like oneself, to acknowledgement and acceptance of differences, and finally to a deeper recognition of fundamental human similarities without denial of differences.'' It was a view she formed in part through her work with native American children, and it was a gospel that she spread worldwide through her scholarship, publication, teaching, mentorship and work to promote educational exchange. Leslie Williams exemplified all that is best about Teachers College, and she will be sorely missed.” President Susan H. Fuhrman and the Community of Teachers College, Columbia University [Source: http:// query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9902E0D9173AF93BA15752C1A9619C8B63]

Barbara Bryan: Barbara, your academic duties, and your dedication to your students, prevented your attending most of our reunions. You always said you would come to our 50th. I know your spirit will be with us at this time, as memories of your warmth, caring, and wit have been with me all these years. Barbara Bryan

From the Record Book

Dr. Barbara M. Goff Assistant Dean of Academic Programs at Cook College died Sunday June 25, 2006, at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital, New Brunswick. She was 61.

Dr. Goff received her bachelor’s degree in English from Wellesley College and a Ph.D. in Victorian Literature from Rutgers University. She was Assistant Dean of Academic Programs at Cook College, New Brunswick, where she worked for the past 33 years. She co-founded the four year honors program in 1980 and she was continually active in the program, serving as director since 2002. She served for many years as curriculum coordinator for Communications and Journalism and coordinator of the George H. Cook senior honors program. She was twice named Professor of the Year, most recently 2006.

Dr. Goff loved her work as a teacher and felt that through it she contributed to the improvement of the world. In 2006 she wrote: “I’ve had a hand in the making of many doctors and veterinarians. But I am as proud, if not prouder, of the university professors, high school teachers and math teachers, environmental lawyers, organic farmers, environmental and community activists etc. Without any children of my own, they are a legacy I can feel good about.” [Source: http://cookalumni.rutgers.edu/goff.htm]

Pam Price: “Barbara Munson was blond and bawdy, with unexpected observations and comments on life around her. I was in awe of her wit, creativity, and capacity for work. I haven’t met anyone quite like Barbara since our paths parted. I felt privileged to be your friend, deal soul.”

Molly Milner: Marilyn Ruff was so much fun to be with. I loved the way she made the word "oil" into a three-syllable word. I loved the way she never stressed about academics; in fact, pretty much ignored them. I loved the way she appreciated how close we were to Harvard with all its attractions. A group of us including Meg Carde and Weezie Cole would put on the Beatles on Sunday mornings and "rock and roll" for hours. She helped me get through my first year of homesickness. I missed her greatly when she left after two years. She was one of the reasons I married a Southerner.

From the Record Book

Died: December 14, 2015
Diane Stewart-Pollard, was born to Dr. Elric G. Stewart and Clara Bayton Stewart in Tappahannock, Virginia on October 31, 1944. She received her undergraduate degree from Wellesley college in Massachusetts. She married Scott Pollard in Chicago in 1970. Their union produced two children, Amina and Almasi. She received her Phd in Educational Psychology from the university of Chicago in 1972. She taught years at Roosevelt University-Chicago, then 32 years at the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. A member of Alpha Kappa alpha and Eta Phi Beta Sororities, she was also an active member of Incarnation Lutheran Church. She also served o the board for the Milwaukee LGBT Community.
[Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on December 20, 2015.]

From the Record Book

Heather Symmes Canon
November 21, 1944 - September 8, 2015
Heather Symmes Cannon passed away peacefully on September 8, 2015, after a six-month journey with pancreatic cancer. With her characteristic constancy, Heather spent her final months hosting family and friends, completing family history projects, writing, painting, and landscaping.

Heather was born on November 21, 1944, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where her father was stationed with the military. The family returned home to Chicago in 1945, then settled in Evanston, IL in 1947 where she spent her childhood with her parents William and Irene (Opal) Symmes, her older sister Holly, and her younger sister Susan. Heather's childhood was punctuated by boating, skiing, summer exploration of America's west, elaborate holiday parties, and family visits.

Heather attended Wellesley College, graduating with a degree in political science in 1967. She married Rowland Cannon in 1965. Children soon followed as Hilary, Mason, Ethan, and Zachary joined the family. Two months after his birth, Mason died in his sleep. His loss brought lasting grief, but also introduced Heather to the Mormon faith, leading to her baptism in 1973 and a lifelong relationship with the church.
[Source: http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/ dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Heather-Cannon&lc=7162&pid=175781879&mid=6586479]

Mary Ann Adzarito Bursk: “Heather Symmes Cannon was my friend and supporter during my Freshman year in Davis when I often felt overwhelmed. Her laughter and smile encouraged me. We continued to be friends at Wellesley and beyond. I always admired her adventurous and giving spirit.”

Diane Drobnis Rosenberg: “My friend Heather Symmes Cannon, died last fall from pancreatic cancer. We had been friends since 8th grade, but I regret to say our adult contacts were infrequent. She was exceedingly determined and was able to overcome many obstacles that would have defeat- ed most people. She suffered a difficult mother, a complex marriage that ended, and raised three children on her own while working full time. We had some wonderful talks at the end of her life about things we had shared. I wish we had had more time.”

From the Record Book

BONNIE BARON MAYER-SOMMER
On Thursday, March 26, 2015, Bonnie Baron Mayer-Sommer of Potomac, Maryland. Beloved wife of Alan Mayer-Sommer. Devoted mother of David and Laura. Sister of Tobye Karl of West Hartford, Connecticut and Linda Baron of Washington, DC.
(source: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/ obituary.aspx?pid=174509227)

From the Record Book


GOLDSTONE--Susan, of Little Compton, RI, died on Wednesday, February 11th, 2015, in New York City at age 70. Susan was the beloved wife of Arthur, the cherished mother of Andrew and Thomas, the revered "second mother" to daughters-in-law Shanna and Jennifer, the much adored grandmother of Max, Oliver and Charles, and the darling sister of Cynthia. Susan was a graduate of the Kent Place School in Summit, NJ, and Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA. Arthur and Susan were married on June 9th, 1966, in New York City, where they also raised their children. Her family was her first devotion and the members of her family became her muses for her artistic passion: photography. Susan felt truly "at home" in her two favorite places - Little Compton, Rhode Island, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. In lieu of flowers, Susan requested that donations be made to the Susan T. Goldstone Fund at The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, 555 Long Wharf Drive, New Haven, CT 06511.
(Source: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?pid=174141363)

Carol Ann Brogan Hayes: “While at Wellesley, Susan Titus Goldstone always dreamed of being a grandmother. And for many years before her death this year, she was a devoted one for her three grandsons.”

Jane Burlington Coutts: “Our classmate Susan Titus Goldstone died on February 11th, 2015, of ovarian cancer. Reserved and unassuming, Susan lived three years in Freeman Hall. After our junior year she returned to New Jersey to be with her mother, who also died of cancer, during her final months. Susan re-enrolled in Wellesley decades later and earned her degree in geography in 1993.

Susan was an award-winning photographer with both a keen artistic eye for the shot and the sharp technical skills to produce beautiful images. Whether the photos were macros of flowers in her garden in Rhode Island, landscapes of the mountains above her home in Santa Fe or intimate portraits that captured the essence of boyhood in her cherished grandsons, Susan leaves a photographic legacy of what she most valued. What her friends most valued in her was her quiet dignity, her constant loyalty and her gentle spirit. We shall miss her.

Susan and Arthur Goldstone have two sons, Andrew and Thomas, and three grandsons— Max, Charlie and Oliver—all in New York City.”

From the Record Book

Jalynn Bennett, pioneering female executive, dies at 71
Jacquie McNish, The Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Jan. 26, 2015 12:18PM EST Last updated Monday, Jan. 26, 2015 12:47PM EST
Jalynn Bennett, a prominent Canadian director and pioneering female executive, has died. A spokesperson for the Ontario Coroner’s Office confirmed Ms. Bennett, 71, died in her Toronto home on Saturday. The cause was not disclosed.

Ms. Bennett’s death leaves vacancies on a number of public and private boards including Vancouver-based Teck Resources Ltd. and Toronto real estate developer Cadillac Fairview Corp. Teck’s chairman Norman Keevil said the company’s directors are “deeply saddened by the passing of our dear colleague and friend.”
He said Ms. Bennett “was a pioneer and a leader in both the public and private sectors, contributing strong guidance and good advice to a range of organizations, corporations and government bodies over her career. We were very fortunate to have had the benefit of her counsel for 10 years on the board of Teck. Jalynn leaves an enduring legacy of good governance across Canada, and we will all miss her wisdom, good humour and warm personality in equal measure.”

Over the years, Ms. Bennett has served as a director at many major companies including Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Ontario Power Generation Inc. and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board. Jim Leech, former chief executive officer of Ontario Teachers, described Ms. Bennett as his “go-to board member for advice” when the pension fund was expanding its portfolio of private company investments. “Jalynn’s breadth of experiences, practical approach and ability to connect and inspire others made her a very effective board member who worked tirelessly for the teachers and taxpayers of Ontario,” he said.

Ms. Bennett spent most of her career with Manulife Financial. After graduating with an economics degree she was hired by the insurer to answer phones in the insurer’s investment division. Her financial expertise and problem-solving skills earned her increasingly senior roles at a time when financial institutions rarely elevated women to senior positions. Like many successful female executives of her generation, Ms. Bennett was a modest pioneer who was uncomfortable drawing attention to her success.
In the early 1990s when the Toronto Club and York Club lifted their male-only membership rules to welcome her as their first female member, she dismissed her accomplishment as a “historical fluke.”

Reflecting on her career in a 2000 interview, she said: “I happened to be born at the point in time when choices for women were changing fairly rapidly. ... I’m sure there have been a lot of quieter revolutions.”
(Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/jalynn-bennett-pioneering-female-executive-dies-at-71/ article22636608/)

From the Record Book

Jennie Gerard: “Lois Alex died on October 25, 2014, after three years of battling cancer that started in a lung. She passed away in the comforting presence of her husband, Peter Lipsitt, and two sons, Daniel and Alex, who were at her side. After completing a M.S.W. degree at Smith, Lois pursued a career as a psychotherapist in both a clinical setting and in private practice. She particularly loved beaches, and enjoyed spending time at her weekend home in Marion on Cape cod. One of the many wonderful gifts of her friendship was her engaging and often entertaining conversation, which ranged from the zany and hilarious to the compassionate and humane.”

Adrienne Wendell Paier: "Though a continent away and not the best communicators as life became more complicated, still I took comfort in knowing Lois Alex, my first and in many ways closest, Wellesley friend, also from Connecticut, was there in Brookline. Lois and I met at a Wellesley tea in New Haven for prospective students and hated each other immediately. When we found that we were in the same dorm Cazenove, and across the narrow hallway no less, it took a while to discover that the other was not so bad after all. We confided that we each had told our mothers that if all Wellesley students were like “her”, we were not going to go! Lois became a special friend, one who saw through the nonsense to see the ridiculous side of every situation. She was fun to be with and she was a true friend. I miss her very much."

From the Record Book

Caroline Meirs died of cancer on Feburary 28, 2014.
Caroline V. Meirs, USIA, FEMA officer
Caroline V. Meirs, 69, a former U.S. Information Agency public affairs officer who later worked as a Federal Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman, died Feb. 28 at a hospital in Rochester, N.Y. The cause was salivary gland cancer, said a niece, Mary Anne Morgan.

Ms. Meirs, an Alexandria resident, was born in Brooklyn. She joined USIA in 1968, and her early postings took her to Central America, South America, Africa and Europe. She became deputy director of USIA’s Office of International Visitors and then worked at FEMA from 1997 to 2009. She was fluent in six languages and twice served as the editorial board chairman of the Foreign Service Journal, an American Foreign Service Association publication.
[Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/2014/03/24/7e23b6aa-b12f-11e3-9627- c65021d6d572_story.html]

Candace Somerall Sherber: “I especially remember and miss Carol Meirs, for her language prowess, put to the service of our country, and for her kind and cheerful ways."

From the Record Book

Aug. 10, 1944 — Nov. 24, 2013. Molly McClelland Bloomfield died at Providence Portland Hospital on Sunday, Nov. 24, after a 12-year battle with cancer. She was 69 years old. Molly’s life was so much more than what can be summarized by a recitation of dates and facts. Instead, she was a

.... scientist/pioneer: She wrote a chemistry textbook that ran seven editions and was the second best-selling text for non-majors in the United States, despite her publisher’s doubts due to her lack of Ph.D. Was among a select group of young women lab assistants in the late 1960s during early basic research on toxoplasmosis.

... world adventurer: She scuba dived in Fiji, hiked around Machu Picchu. She thrived in Chiang Mai for three months, snorkeled with whales near Turks and Caicos, became part of the community and learned French on a sabbatical year in Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium, hob-nobbed with blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos, and bounced back from rough cancer treatments to explore the cloud forests of Costa Rica.

... teacher: She developed groundbreaking integrative curriculum to help at-risk and minority students get excited about math and science, encouraged her elementary school aged children to dissect cow eyeballs and dig for “dinosaur” (chicken) bones, taught chemistry to high school students in school systems as different as inner city San Francisco, Palo Alto and Philomath.

...leader: She was the president of Altrusa, chair of the Corvallis School Board (which allowed her to present her own children with their high school diplomas), president of Beit Am, member and chair of more organizations that we can list, and Corvallis First Citizen.

...music lover: She was a staunch supporter of all local classical music organizations, especially the Chintimini Music Festival, and sang in choirs throughout her life.

... athlete and outdoors lover: She was a high school field hockey player, active and competitive tennis and pickle ball player and golfer, backpacked and camped throughout the western United States and Canada, and hiked in the French and Swiss Alps.

... spiritual being: She was an active member of the Beit Am Jewish community, and committed follower of the lessons of Pema Chodren and other Buddhist teachers.

... loving partner: 38 years of marriage to high school best friend Stefan. Five years of partnership with a second love, Red Rocha.

... mother, grandmother, sister and role model: Her kids, Becca and Jon; their spouses, Brian and Lori; her grandchildren, Dashiell, Kai, Alex and Finley; and sisters Sue and Ann, will forever be influenced by her love, support and example.

... inspiration: Molly was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in 2001. For 12 years she lived her life with gusto and passion and positivity despite terrible losses and difficult setbacks, and her friends and family have learned much from her.

Susanne (Susie) Wilson Brisach: “Molly was my freshman year roommate. I’m sure I drove her crazy as she was a much more dedicated student than I! We remained friends – the kind you can call after a few years and catch up immediately – until her death. She and her children, Becca and Jon, visited me when we both lived in Belgium. I was privileged to spend time with her and Becca’s first child, Kai, while Becca and husband Brian went off for a weekend just before second child, Alex, was born. Molly had just completed a round of a very rigorous treatment, but enjoyed the weekend with Kai so much. She was so proud of Becca and Jon and their children. I know she is watching over them and sending them hugs.”

From the Record Book

On Wednesday, April 10, 2013. Helene Tilleux Beale a native of Arlington, an attorney who excelled both as a legal professional and as a military wife, mother and grandmother. Helene was a graduate of Wellesley College with an advanced degree from Brown University and a J.D. from the Columbia School of Law at Catholic University. As a deputy clerk at the US Court for the District of Columbia, she managed jury selection for the Watergate trials. In later years she was active in charitable work, particularly supporting legal aid while residing in Texas and Alabama and she was an active member of the American Association of University Women. Beloved wife of James Beale and devoted mother of James Reed Beale, loving mother-in-law to Wendy Beale and adored grandmother of Brett and Matthew Beale. She is also survived by her brother, Wade Tilleux.
(Source: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?pid=164205901)

From the Record Book

Sherry Stanton Russell, 68, Pioneering Academic in International Migration
CAMBRIDGE, MA March 4, 2013 — Sharon Stanton Russell, 68, died peacefully on February 27, 2013, after a prolonged illness. A prominent and pioneering academic in the field of international migration who advised governments around the world, she was a senior research scholar at the Center for International Studies at MIT.
Russell also served as director of the Mellon-MIT Inter-University Program on Non-Governmental Organizations and Forced Migration from 1997 to 2005 and chair of the Steering Group of the Inter-University Committee on International Migration (IUCM) from 1999 to 2005. Her research and publications focused on global migration trends and policies, the relationship of migration to development, and forced migration. Her publications include "International Migration: Global Trends and National Responses;" "Migration Patterns of US Foreign Policy Interest;" "Migrant Remittances and Development;" International Migration and International Trade; International Migration and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Demography and National Security, co-edited with the late Myron Weiner. Russell had been a member of two United Nations Expert Groups on international migration and had consulted extensively on migration policy issues with private foundations and UN organizations. She was a member of the Centre Advisory & Review Group (CARG) of the Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalization and Poverty, University of Sussex. She served on the Expert Panel on Global Population Projections (1998-2000) and the Roundtable on the Demography of Forced Migration (1999-2004), both convened by the Committee on Population of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Her early engagement in political causes led to a lifetime of strong advocacy for progressive policies. Her dedication to the advancement of opportunities for women and her belief in sisterhood were evident in her devotion to friendships, and her boundless enthusiasm for mentoring many young women whom she nurtured professionally. The importance of family and community was a value that Sharon held deeply. A loving wife, mother and grandmother, she possessed an inspiring generosity of spirit, always seeking to forge connections and embrace friends both new and old.

“Without Sharon's constantly reaching out and advising on research, many people within the IUCIM context and outside - academics and practitioners alike - including myself would not have felt as welcome and supported in the migration, refugee and human rights research work at MIT and in the greater Boston area," said Luise Druke, currently a fellow at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and a former human rights fellow at CIS.
[Source: http:// web.mit.edu/cis/press_release_sharon_stanton_russell.html]

Nancy Remage Evans: “An image to share. Since our last reunion, Sherry organized a lunch with some of her colleagues and some of her cousins. Her work related to forced migration, including the partition of India and Pakistan, which had many terrible consequences (vividly portrayed in ``The Jewel in the Crown"). But from her investigations she said ``Although there were horribly bloody events, actually, as people walked through village after village to their new homes, they were given food and shelter, even by the ``other side". Her work, of course, was only part of her interests--but could there be a more wonderful summation of her re- search--especially in our world today. “

Katherine (Kathy) Kolb: “It's painful to think that Sherry (Sharon) Stanton Russell won't be at reunion. She was a friend from Claflin during freshman year, when she invited this Midwesterner for an eye-opening weekend in her New York City and Long Island haunts. Her radiant beauty and high sophistication never diminished her warmth and sincerity, her enthusiasm, her quick intelligence and boundless sympathy for those less fortunate. She lived an admirably full life, but I miss her presence in the world.”

From the Record Book

Ruth Rosenblum--November 10, 1944 - November 12, 2012 Resident of Los Altos Hills

Ruth died with her husband and son at her side on Monday, November 12.

Born in Los Angeles, Ruth attended Wellesley College, was a graduate of Harvard Medical School and completed a psychiatry residency at Stanford.
She was a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and practiced psychiatry in Palo Alto for 35 years. She was devoted to her medical practice and the patients in her care.

Ruth was a beloved wife and loving mother who was a teacher-helper in her son's grammar school, score-keeper for the little league, and the team and neighborhood mom to scores of kids. Ruth was a lover of animals, from her cats to her horses, and a con- tributor to Heffer International. She was an ardent fan of the opera and supporter of the San Francisco Opera Company. She was also an active supporter of Barack Obama and lived to see his re-election.

Ruth is survived by her husband Adolf Pfefferbaum, son Daniel Pfefferbaum, sister Ann Blank, and brother Alan Rosenblum.
[Source: Published in San Jose Mercury News/San Mateo County Times on Nov. 16, 2012 see more at: Http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/mercurynews/obituary.aspx? pid=161081138#sthash.H6rRAP6L.dpuf]

From the Record Book

ENGLE--Patricia Lee, spent her life circling the globe helping developing nations improve opportunities for children, of lung cancer, September 24. Worked for UNICEF in Guatemala, India, many other nations. Survivors: a son, Dr. Sawyer Fuller, Cambridge, MA; husband, Henry Hammer, Los Osos CA; twin sister Professor Sally Merry, Wellesley, MA; brother Professor Rob Engle, NYC; nieces Professor Lindsey Richland, Sarah Merry; nephews Joshua Merry, Jordan Engle.
Published in The New York Times on Oct. 26, 2012

Sally Engle: “My twin sister, Patricia Lee Engle, ’66, died in September 2012, leaving a son, Sawyer Fuller, now married to Katarina Reinecke with a new baby, Malte, and her husband, Henry Hammer, now living near his daughter in Virginia. Her brother, Robert Engle and his wife Marianne live in New York.

Patty was a professor of psychology at CalPoly in San Luis Obispo for many years, teaching and writing about child development. She did considerable consulting for UNICEF, and eventually took leave from CalPoly to work for UNICEF full time. She spent two years in India in the late 1990s and five more in New York working for UNICEF. Her specialty was early child development. She had a passionate commitment to improving the social and educational opportunities for young children. She traveled all over the world promoting her ideas, both working for UNICEF and as a consultant to organizations working on early child development such as WHO and the World Bank, visiting at least 84 countries. She was much in demand as a speaker and conference leader and was highly respected for her scholarship as well as her activism. Even as she battled cancer, she worked hard to finish the second of two important papers published in The Lancet. Her friends and colleagues from around the world sent condolences at her death. The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) established the Patrice Engle Fund in her honor to support dissertation fellowships related to global child development in low- and middle-income countries.

We held a memorial service for her in New York just as Hurricane Sandy was closing in on the city, the grey skies and intensifying wind resonating with our sense of loss. She is deeply mourned by her family who remember her warmth, love, and support, as well as her commitment to making the world a better place.”

From the Record Book

WALKER, Judith November 30th,1944 - December 16th, 2011 Passed away peacefully, at home surrounded by her family, on Friday December 16th, 2011. Beloved daughter of Doris Kirkham, and dear wife of the late Chris Walker (2007). Most dedicated and cherished mother of Amy and John, Sarah and Peter, and Paul and Julie. "Grandma Judith" to Isobel and Kathryn and sister-in-law to Frances. Judith was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Wellesley, where she attended Wellesley College and Harvard University. A long time teacher in Peel, Judith loved her career and was known for her dedication to her students and for her 'hairy eyeball'. A consummate reader and traveler, Judith enjoyed spending time with her book club, 'ladies who lunch' and exploring the world with Chris, her family, and long time friends. She was especially devoted to her mother, Doris. Judith will be dearly missed by former students, colleagues, neighbors, friends, and family. (Source: http:// www.lifenews.ca/announcement/1824583-walker-judith-november-30th-1944-)

Ann Thomas Wilkins: “Judith Kirkham Walker dedicated herself to all she did: teaching, traveling the world with her husband and daughters, being a devoted daughter and close friend. She is missed.”

From the Record Book

Sally Anne LeBlanc Brinkley
Mother, daughter, sister, aunt and attorney, Sally Anne LeBlanc Brinkley, 67, died Monday, May 16, 2011, in La Jolla, Calif. Sally was born Oct. 27, 1943, in Pensacola, Fla., while her father was stationed at the Naval Air Station. She was the eldest of six children of J. Burton LeBlanc Jr. and Hazel Margaret Butcher LeBlanc. Sally graduated from Baton Rouge High School and attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She had her society debut at Le Bal de Noel, presented by The Charity Ball Association of Baton Rouge, and married Marshall Burton Brinkley, of Valdese, N.C., who predeceased her. She graduated from LSU and LSU Law School. Sally was at the top of her law class and was one of the few women attending law school at that time. Her twin daughters were born while she was in law school. In her youth she attended Camp Riva-Lake in Winchester, Tenn., where she loved to ride horses. It was the same summer camp her mother attended, and that her daughters and granddaughters went on to attend. After graduating from LSU Law School, Sally clerked for Judge E. Gordon West of the U.S. District Court. She was the first female federal law clerk in Louisiana. Sally had a distinguished legal career, including working on the legal staff for U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy in Washington, D.C. Sally will be remembered as a unique individual with diverse interests. She adored her daughters and loved to read, listen to music, watch sports, garden, visit art museums and travel. She enjoyed spending summers in Chatham on Cape Cod with her family. Sally was a member of the Junior League in Baton Rouge. She was a longtime parishioner and served on the liturgy committee and assisted with the planning for the construction of the new church at St. Aloysius Parish. After retiring, Sally moved to La Jolla to be with her twin daughters and her grandchildren. Sally leaves an extended family to cherish her memory including daughters, Holly Lyons and husband Todd, and DeSaix St. Charles and husband Greg. She is survived by grandchildren of her daughter Holly: Mitchell, Margo and Madeline, and was soon to be the proud grand- mother of twins by her daughter, DeSaix. She also is survived by her father, J. Burton LeBlanc Jr.; her brothers, Jules Burton, Roger Jean, Jesse Ernest and Jay Paul. She was beloved "Aunt Sally" to many nephews and nieces: Burton LeBlanc IV, Jena LeBlanc, Margaret Woods, Sara LeBlanc, Laura Brandt, Emily McGee, Amanda Manchester, Christine LeBlanc, Robert LeBlanc, Taylor LeBlanc, Jacqueline LeBlanc, Gabrielle Ferrara and Danielle LeBlanc.
(source: http://obits.theadvocate.com/obituaries/theadvocate/obituary.aspx?n=Sally-Anne-LeBlanc- Brinkley&pid=151137120#sthash.olxReTfV.dpuf)

From the Record Book

Pamela Gray was born on August 6, 1944 and passed away on Sunday, April 17, 2011.
Pamela was a resident of Newport Beach, California.
[source: http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Pamela-Carroll-Gray-91325153]

Amy Bright Unfried: “Pam Gray had a vacation home near mine in Jackson Hole, and we became much better friends than we had been at Wellesley. During the last years of her life we cross-county skied together, had lunches sometimes including other Wellesley graduates in the area, had dinners with both our husbands, and commiserated with each other during medical crises. Sadly, after a remission, her ovarian cancer returned and she died in April 2011. I still miss her.”

From the Record Book

Elisabeth Endicott Weil died peacefully at her home in Boston on Monday morning May 11, 2009 at the age of 64, after a lengthy illness. She had lived in Boston for the past forty years and in her late mother Vivian Endicott’s house in Ipswich since 2007. Elisabeth Endicott Weil was born on October 7, 1944 in Putnam, Connecticut. The daughter of George and Vivian (Wood) Endicott, she was the second of two children. She grew up in the Rufus Putnam House in Rutland, Massachusetts, a historic house from which General Rufus Putnam set forth to Ohio with a group of pioneers. Elisabeth graduated in 1962 from Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. She attended Wellesley College for three years and the graduated in economics from George Washington University while her husband Henry Birdseye Weil was on active duty in the US Navy.

Returning to Boston in 1969 Elisabeth raised a family of two children, Rebecca and John, while pursuing a successful business career in partnership with her husband. She held a number of senior positions in firms led by her husband, most recently as a Director of Weil & Company, an international management consulting firm specializing in corporate strategy for technology-intensive industries. Her work involved regular travel to London, Paris, Hong Kong, and Sydney. Elisabeth co-authored the influential publication “The Road from Dependency to Empowerment” which describes how effective information management drives the value of customer relationships.

Elisabeth was passionate about early childhood development and education. The twinkle in her eyes when she read to a four-year old, built castles out of blocks, or drove little trains over wooden tracks was infectious. She served for more than twenty years as volunteer Treasurer and member of the Board of the John Winthrop Nursery School in Boston where she very active and made her mark. Her children attended John Winthrop, as does the eldest of her grandchildren. Following in the tradition of her family, which was deeply involved in trade between New England and China, Elisabeth served on the Asian Export Art Visiting Committee and the Board of Visitors of the Peabody Essex Museum. She also was a shareholder in the Salem Athenaeum and a member of the Danvers Historical Society whose property, Glen Magna, was the home of her cousin William Crowninshield Endicott.

Elisabeth and family had their summer holidays in Scotland for many years where she became an avid salmon fisher. Each year she presided over a house party of prominent Scottish and English personalities including the Chairman of a private bank, a very senior courtier, and a former private secretary to the Viceroy of India. She held her own on the river, not catching the most fish, but often the largest. A slightly indiscreet guest ascribed her success to pheromones. Her grit and determination were evident on a rainy night when she got a big salmon on the line. Just as she was about to lift the exhausted fish from the water the fly pulled out. Without hesitation she threw herself on the fish. Her husband grabbed Elisabeth’s belt and hauled her and a twelve pound salmon safely onto the bank.

She is survived by her husband Henry Birdseye Weil of Ipswich and Boston, her daughter and son, Rebecca Weil of Zurich, Switzerland and John Weil of Boston, two grandchildren, Jack Weil and Maximilian Weil, and a sister, Vivian Endicott Barnett of New York.
[Source: http://www.whittier-porter.com/Photos/Obits/Elizabeth_Weil.htm]

From the Record Book

Susan (Horton) Dewhirst, 62, of 176 Laurel Terrace in Cheshire, died Friday June 8, 2007 at her home. She was the widow of Roy De- whirst.Susan was born January 11, 1945 in Braintree, MA a daughter of the late Edgar and Florence (MacGillivray) Horton and has been a Cheshire resident for the past 35 years. She was educated in Braintree, MA and Stamford, CT and was a graduate of Wellesley College. After an initial career in teaching, Sue worked in infor- mation systems, first for Travelers Insurance in Hartford and later at Anthem BCBS in North Haven. Her last role was as Director of Information Technology at Wellpoint, in North Haven. She was a member of the Cheshire Board of Education from 1979 to 1983, She was also involved with the League of Women Voters and various other clubs and organizations. She leaves her daughters, Polly Dewhirst of Johannesburg, South Africa and Lorna Dewhirst and her husband Hans Diekman of Utrecht, The Netherlands, her sister Marion Horton Gebhardt of Thompson, CT, her brother William Edgar Horton of Medina, OH, her granddaughter Tessa Diekman and 10 nieces and nephews.
[source: http://fordfh.com/tribute/details/785/Susan-Dewhirst/obituary.html)]

Jeanne Lindholm Palleiko: “Susan Horton Dewhirst taught me to knit when we were both Freshmen in Severance. She married an MIT graduate, Roy Dewhirst, after Junior year, and graduated with our class, a Biology major. Sue and Roy had two daughters: Lorna, who graduated from Wellesley, class of 1991, and Polly, who graduated from McGill. Because Sue and I both had periodic business trips that took us near the other’s home, we were able to get together for an occasional dinner. The last time I saw her, she was knitting a sweater for her granddaughter.”

Allison Randall: “I was deeply saddened when my freshman and sophomore roommate, Sue Horton Dewhirst, fell an early victim to breast cancer at 62. With her uncanny maturity and common sense, she served as my pillar of strength during those early Wellesley years. We shared so much. We ate ice cream at Howard Johnson’s on our days off, weathered organic chemistry together as sophomores, and wondered how one biology professor, who shall go unnamed, could talk so much and say so little. We hitchhiked to church on Sundays when we missed the bus, and we earned a stern rebuke together from the Dean of Students who picked us up one Sunday. When she married at the end of junior and lived off campus, I truly missed her presence in my daily life.”

From the Record Book

February 7, 2005
Barbara Jane Schlichting, 61, of Madison passed away at her home after a long illness on February 7th. Mrs. Schlichting was born in Washington, DC and raised in East Liverpool, Ohio. She had also lived in New York City, Livingston, NJ and Sarasota, FL before moving to Madison in 1994. She had graduated from the Baldwin School in Brynmawr, PA. She received a bachelor of arts degree from Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She had worked at AT&T in NYC as well as several brokerage firms in NYC before going to the Municipal Securities Sales and Marketing area of Kidder Peabody in NYC in 1973. She retired in 1978. Mrs. Schlichting was a member and past board member of: The Thursday Morning Club in Madison, The New Jersey Wellesley Club alumnae group, The Florham Park Players and The friends of the Madison Public Library. She enjoyed playing bridge and golf and was 2 time Women’s Club Champion at the East Liverpool Country Club. Mrs. Schlichting will be fondly remembered for her love of people and animals.
(Source: www.bradleyfuneralhomes.com/descendant/188729/Barbara/)

From the Record Book

Ann Thomas Wilkins: “Alison Barker was brilliant, enthusiastic about life and Classics, a great roommate, a fine teacher, a warm friend and confidant. She is missed.”

Judith Peller Hallett: “Alison Barker and Christina Elliott Sorum: two pillars of our national classics community whom I was privileged to know as fellow Latin and Greek student at Wellesley. Both were elegant, beautiful, brilliant women in similar yet different ways.”

Sara MacVane: “She was a dear and wonderful friend whom I remember many times during the year and miss every time I think of her.”

From the Record Book

Ann G. Wylie: “Frances “Kelley” Green was my closest friend from college until she died more than 10 years ago. I still think of her often, forever 60, and remind myself how fortunate I was to have her in my life. I continue to act in her memory as the president of a small foundation she set up. I direct money to organizations run by women and to charities she supported or we think she would have been proud to support. We have set up Green scholarships in environmental science and in environmental law so others will remember her and her commitment to the environment. It is an honor to represent her in this way. “

Jima Rice: “Kelly Green pointed the way for me to believe in past (and future) lives. She was such a thoughtful – and ready to laugh – person with a wide-ranging intellect, delightful cynicism, and many accomplishments to conserve our environment. “

From the Record Book

Hope Weissman, associate professor of letters and of women’s studies, died July 24 at the age of 58 of complications following surgery.

Weissman, who received Wesleyan’s 1999 Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching, was known for her dedication and commitment to teaching and to her students. Her students described her as a skilled moderator who had a much-appreciated ability to listen to them and to provide a nurturing environment for discussion of difficult topics.

A specialist in medieval culture, women’s studies and visual arts, she wrote articles in a variety of publications ranging from Chaucer Review to Women’s Studies to Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

She received fellowships from organizations including the Southeastern Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Radcliffe Institute of Independent Study, the American Council of Learned Societies, and Wesleyan’s Center for the Humanities.

She also belonged to several organizations, including Phi Beta Kappa, the Modern Language Association of America, the New Chaucer Society, and the Medieval Academy of America. [Source: http:// magazine.wesleyan.edu/2002/09/04/col-faculty-member-hope-weissman-dies/]

From the Record Book

“ELIZABETH GREYTAK, SYSTEMS ANALYST”
The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
December 25, 2000 | Copyright
Elizabeth (Bardeen) Greytak of Chestnut Hill, a former computer systems analyst, died Saturday at her home of lung cancer. She was 56. Born in Washington, Pa. She was a 1966 graduate of Wellesley College.

After college, Mrs. Greytak began working for a computer consulting firm, where she helped develop systems for Boston City Hospital and the state of Vermont. Later, at another firm, she helped develop systems to support delivery of welfare benefits in New Hampshire.

Arthur D. Little Inc. bought that company, and she spent the last 18 years at ADL developing business applications and network communications systems to support its worldwide consultingactivities.[Source: TheBostonGlobe (Boston,MA) December25,2000]

Sindy Foose Parrott: “I continue to miss my friend Betsy Bardeen Greytak, who died so unfairly of lung cancer (since she had never smoked) before she had the fun of watching her two brilliant sons begin their independent adult lives. She was extraordinarily brave. “

From the Record Book
Joan Edmonds--`Anything She Set Out To Do, She Did'
August 29, 2000 By Heather Vogell, Tribune staff writer.

Joan Edmonds Brophy, 55, who left a career as an innovative reading teacher to become a prominent Chicago lawyer while raising eight children, died of breast cancer Saturday, Aug. 26, at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston.

Mrs. Brophy balanced a family and two demanding careers with grace and humor, her friends and family said.

As a teacher, she designed a successful reading curriculum that her school used for many years. As an attorney, she had a knack for grasping the human drama behind dry legalese and counted the Archdiocese of Chicago among her clients.

As a law student at DePaul University, she graduated first in her class while juggling her parental duties, once staying up all night to sew a Halloween costume for her daughter, said her friend Julie Badel.

"She was the perennial Wonder Woman," Badel said. "Anything she set out to do, she did."

Mrs. Brophy attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts as an undergraduate and received a master's degree from Boston College.

She worked in public schools in Washington's troubled Anacostia section before moving to Chicago in 1969. While in Washington, she volunteered for the Hubert Humphrey-Edmund Muskie campaign, where she met her future husband.

In Chicago, Mrs. Brophy taught at Kenwood High School, developing a reading program that became popular with students and teachers.

While she worked there, a teacher was murdered by her ex-husband, who committed suicide.

Mrs. Brophy was outraged to find that their two orphaned children could not receive survivor benefits because they had been in their mother's custody. The Chicago Board of Education did not allot such benefits to women. Mrs. Brophy found the children a lawyer and sued, alleging illegal gender discrimination under the state constitution.

The state legislature eventually passed laws providing survivor benefits to all female employees of the Chicago school board. But Mrs. Brophy, one of five founders of the Illinois Democratic Women's Caucus, thought the benefits should be extended to all women in the state.

So at age 30, with five children, she signed up for night law classes at DePaul.

"That drove her to law school, so she wouldn't have to wait calmly on the sidelines while somebody else did or didn't do what they're supposed to do," said her husband.
Mrs. Brophy excelled at law, becoming the editor of the law review and finishing a four-year program one year early. Three years later, she received an advanced law degree from DePaul, walking across the commencement stage 10 days before her son Thomas, her sixth child, was born.

An East Rogers Park resident, she became a partner with Mayer, Brown & Platt, where she worked for the last 15 years. She specialized in employee benefits and pensions.

"Joan was a remarkable woman who lived the fullest of lives," said Diana Chapman Walsh, president of Wellesley College and a former roommate of Mrs. Brophy. "She was that special friend who saw--and evoked--the essential goodness in those who were blessed to know her as a friend."

Mrs. Brophy is also survived by three other sons, Michael, Patrick and John; three daughters, Kathleen Migly, Christina and Margaret; three sisters, Jill Edmonds Meyer and Julie and Lucy Edmonds; a brother, John Rolland Edmonds; and two grandchildren.
[Source: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2000-08-29/news/0008290053_1_chicago-school-board-survivor-benefits-law- school]

Libbet Dunlop Richter: “In college Joan Edmonds Brophy and I had both lived in Bates and shared the many traumas of dating relationships and academic challenges. She later served with me as an alumnae class officer. I remember a delightful afternoon stuffing envelopes for a mini-reunion in my dining room with help from one of her children. Her spirit was always upbeat and optimistic, even facing cancer; these are among the qualities that, I am sure, made her a great attorney, working for the welfare of women and children. “

Rosemary Metrailer: “Joan Edmunds Brophy: I miss your beautiful smile, our wonderful lunches at ZA House, and our endless talks about politics, dear friend.”

Diana Chapman Walsh: “Joan was my very good friend for 38 years. Some of who I am I owe directly to her. We were friends from the first day of college. She was with me in our sophomore year when I met my husband at a mixer (I thought he had his eye on her), and was a bridesmaid in our wedding. I was in her wedding too and we were relishing the prospect of growing old together. We didn’t make it. But we were lucky to have the times we did. I watched her take up a career as a teacher, after we graduated. This was something she had wanted for a very long time and she was passionate about that work.

She and her quirky, loving husband, Tom Brophy, created a huge, chaotic blended family at the end of the el in Chicago. Joan went back to law school, and became a successful lawyer at Mayer Brown and Platt. She treasured her work there and her caring colleagues.

I always marveled at Joan’s amazing, old-fashioned family. I’d visit from time to time and be blown away by the complexity of it all, just managing the logistics. The loaves of bread stacked up in the kitchen said it all. The complexity of it, and the gift of it, this family full of laughter and joy and love, a family bound by deep currents of feeling, a family that could dwell in its joy and in its sorrow.

Whenever Joan and I came together, we picked up where we had left off, as though the world had simply been on hold for a time, waiting for us to put aside our other obligations and come back to our ongoing conversation. It meandered unselfconsciously into every nook and cranny of our lives. There were no secrets between us—not one--and we knew one another so well.

Tom and I spoke several times during the last days of her life. In one of our conversations, the day after Joan died, he had moved beyond the overwhelming grief and was celebrating her life. He told me wonderful stories about her last days. “She did it,” he said, with pride and jubilation. Joan completed her life as she had always lived it, with grace and generosity to the end. And she managed everyone around her as she always had, with a light and irresistible touch--Joan at her loving, laughing best. She loved to laugh.

My favorite of Tom’s stories was about the presidential election. Joan was a died-in-the-wool Democrat and so was Tom. They had watched the two conventions together, he said, although Joan was very sick. Afterward, deferring to Tom’s expertise in things political as Joan always did, she asked when the post-convention polls would give an indication of how Gore had done. Then she slipped into one of the long, deep sleeps that consumed her toward the end. A couple of days later, she awoke and, as though picking up a thread from a moment moment before, asked Tom if the polls were in. When he said yes and that Gore had done well, she said lightly that it was time to go back to the hospital. She didn’t want an ambulance, so they took the car. On the way, Joan asked Tom, “Do we have time for a quick stop, honey?” He couldn’t imagine what she needed, but said, “Sure, why?” “I want to pick up an absentee ballot,” Joan said. “Well, Joan,” Tom replied, “Why not? After all this is Chicago.”

Joan was a grand lady, smart, passionate, caring, kind, loving, and courageous -- always deeply courageous. She saw straight into my soul from the moment we met. We all have in our lives a few special people, who, for whatever reason, are able to see us whole. And, in the seeing, they help to make us whole. They are the mirrors and the teachers in our lives who guide us in our lifelong process of growing into our best selves. Joan was one of the ones whose belief in my essential goodness helped me to learn to trust it and to believe it was real. She is an indelible part of who I am in this world and always will be.”

Weezie Knight: “Joan Edmonds Brophy: Joan or Joanie was always so cheerful and welcoming. She had a way of laughing and smiling that lit up her entire face, and made you feel so appreciated. I went on a ski weekend with her our freshman year, and will never forget how we laughed and laughed as we repeatedly fell on the slopes, not very good at our new found sport. I will always think of her as Diana Chapman Walsh’s roommate, and I know how Diana suffered from Joanie’s loss. All of us who knew Joan miss her terribly.”

From the Record Book
[Source: http://margaretmay-inthebeginning.blogspot.com/2013/08/elizabeth-anderson-hishon.html]

I have tried in my blog to recognize and publicize women’s achievements in many centuries. Elizabeth Anderson Hishon is a twentieth century woman of unique and significant courage who should be known and honored. Her successful battle with sex discrimination in the legal profession still resonates in the profession. Her battle for justice finally was challenged all the way to the Supreme Court, and she won there.

Elizabeth Anderson was born in Cortland, New York, on August 26, 1944 and spent her childhood in South Carolina. She graduated from Wellesley College and received her law degree in 1972 at Columbia University Law School where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar.

She was recruited by King & Spalding in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was one of two women associates. She was told that with satisfactory evaluations she would be in line for partnership within 6 or 7 years. Fine evaluations did not lead to partnership in 1976 or 1978 or 1979 although male colleagues were advanced. She was offered a settlement if she would leave the firm quietly. She refused and the firm retaliated by withholding pay raises (even cost-of-living) and curtailing her assignments.

Her specialty is real estate; Robert, her husband’s specialty is taxes.

She filed a complaint of sex-based discrimination with the EEOC on November 19, 1979. Ten days later she was issued a Notice of Right to Sue on the basis of sex discrimination. King & Spalding claimed they could exclude women, that Title VII did not apply to partnerships. Tried in U.S. District Court in 1970 and the Eleventh Circuit Court she lost in both courts, but the Supreme Court with Justice Burger agreed she had a right to sue for alleged discrimination, that Title VII covers partnership as a benefit of employment. It was a unanimous decision. This case was decided in June 1984; both parties gave up, still asserting each was right.

Betsy Anderson Hishon said, “I hope it will have a wide impact on women and minorities in the profession.” The historic ruling changed the landscape of partnerships and made it possible for many women to achieve their goals in the field of law. However, Betsy’s contribution in assuring that opportunity has never been recognized. Many attorneys, including female attorneys, don’t even know who Betsy Hishon is or the story of her fight.

Sadly, Betsy died in 1999 without her courage and achievement ever being celebrated.

From the Record Book

Sara Griffith Stone-Alston, died on March 18, 1997 in Seattle, Washington. She was the daughter of John Tilton Griffith and Elizabeth Frances Griffith, Wife of McClurken, mother of Adeney; Jennifer Miriam Gratrix and Christopher McClurken; Sister of David Stone Griffith and John Preston Griffith.
[Source: http://www.geni.com/people/Sara-Alston/6000000030165202854]

From the Record Book

Joan Norris Boothe: “For Kathleen Johnston -- a very special person who left us far too young, at age 46. She had a special wit, a lively, indeed, brilliant, mind and was always stimulating to be with. During her last three years, we became very close. Her friendship hugely enriched my life and I still miss her every day. I have many wonderful memories of her, but one that stays with me for some reason is a gift she gave my father at Christmas one year. She joined us for Thanksgiving and Christmas each of her last three years and she became very fond of my parents. She also recognized a soulmate in my father, who was rather a character. One year she watched as my father opened his present and gloried in his confused look. Inside the wrapping was a "Chia Pet." And then Kathleen said, I've been looking for a long time for someone to whom I could give one of those, and I finally found him. Merry Christmas. My father loved it.”

From the Record Book

Rosemary Metrailer: “Jane McHale Dickson: Oh Janie, how I miss our raucous laughter and funny stories about living in Indiana and all our plans and dreams.”

Carol Ann Brogan Hayes: “My freshman roommate, Jane Mc Hale Dixon, had a wonderful wardrobe which often she shared with me – I looked super that year!”

From the Record Book

March 25, 1987, The Morning Call: Alice Connor Gorlin, 42, of Birmingham, Mich., a professor at Oakland University, Rochester, Mich., and a recognized expert on Soviet af- fairs, died Saturday in Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Mich. She was the wife of Robert H. Gorlin. She joined the Oakland faculty in 1972 and became a full professor of economics in 1986. [Source: http://articles.mcall.com/1987-03-25/news/2558172_1_royal-oak-beaumont- hospital-professor]

Meg Carde: “I miss Alice Connor. She was brilliant, yes. But what I remember was that we traveled to Dartmouth together for weekends during our Junior and Senior years. We studied hard to get everything done so that we could be free to go. She had a credit card from her Dad, and would rent the car. I would often drive. She was a free spirit, a wonderful friend. We had such fun together. Wherever you are Alice, I remember you fondly.”

Susanne (Susie) Wilson Brisach: “Alice and I spent three months after graduation touring Europe on $5/day! We saw many wonderful sights and, as we said at the time stayed in many places with VERY interesting doors. She was a pleasure to be with. Although we did not stay in touch afterwards, I was very saddened to hear of her passing as she had such a promising career ahead of her.”

From the Record Book

Suzanne Storey Speaker: “Gail Hammond Wittreich, died 1972 from an ectopic pregnancy. Gail was second-generation Wellesley, from Basking Ridge, New Jersey. What I loved best about her was the startling contrast between her demure, well-behaved exterior and wild outbursts of improvisation, often for no reason at all. She once posed in the dorm elevator as a corpse (it WAS Halloween), and once as a Croatian folk dancer, throwing flowers and whooping, in the Stone dining room. I will always miss her.”

Harriet Wadsworth: “Gail Hammond was a first Wellesley friend, one of a close group on the top floors of Stone/ Davis who, immediately upon arrival, fell into long, late-night discussions on the meaning of life. Gail was lovely, had a wonderfully warm, bright but still shy smile. She loved Winnie-the-Pooh, and all of us shortly had adopted nicknames from the House at Pooh Corner. Gail was a fine student, but I believe her greatest longing was for a traditional life: husband, home and children. I am very glad she had those things before her life was cut short.”

From the Record Book: Anna Kay Baxter Worley
Kay was killed in a car accident on September 20, 1971. Just a few months before her death, she had been responsible for compiling the record book for the fifth reunion, a task she undertook with en- thusiasm because it gave her an opportunity to be in touch with her classmates. At age 27, she was looking forward to applying to law school. She was the devoted mother of Laura Katherine, twenty- three months old. She and her husband Paul were enjoying life in Athens where Paul taught English at the University of Georgia. The legacy of her loving spirit, her keen intellect, her faithfulness, and her many other gifts and graces isn’t found in the remarkable accomplishments we all expected of Kay. Her legacy is found in her wonderful daughter Laura, Princeton Class of 1992, and her delightful grandsons Henry, aged 13, and Will, aged 11. Her legacy is also found in the hearts of all who loved her and were inspired by her.

Weezie Knight: “Anna Baxter Worley - known to us as “Kay.” An absolutely stunning looking blond, from Georgia, who had a Southern accent that was totally disarming. She and I were lab mates in comparative anatomy in our sophomore year, dissecting a dog shark on Friday afternoon, Nov. 22, 1963, when Mary Beal (who had finished lab way ahead of the rest of us and had left) suddenly returned to the lab to tell us of the assassination of President Kennedy. Kay and I stared at each other in disbelief. The lab was cancelled, and we walked out in a state of shock, cemented by a bond of tragic history. She died way too soon, newly married, and mother of a 2 year-old daughter, as a result – to my recollection - of a head on crash with a drunk driver.”

Joan Barkhorn Hass: “Kay Baxter’s untimely, accidental death was hard to accept. She, Carolyn Russell, and I were a happy group at Wellesley, and both Kay and Carolyn were bridesmaids at my wedding. I am glad to have to have been put into contact, through Carolyn, with Kay’s sister, Nancy, who has made a generous donation to Wellesley in Kay’s memory on the occasion of our 50th. A most deserving gift from a loving sister in honor of a wonderfully engaged with Wellesley classmate during our four years.”

Carolyn Russell Mauritz: “Kay Baxter Worley was my roommate and beloved friend. When she died tragically in a car accident only a few years after graduation, the loss was indescribable. She was bright, funny, beautiful and loving. I think of her very, very often and keep in touch with her family. I will always feel privileged to have known and loved her.”

From the Record Book

Adrienne Sullivan Smith: “I’ve never really gotten over the death of Margie Kaminsky. She was my wonderful, wonderful friend, so unlike, but so like, me, and our friendship defines what college should be all about and why I hate colleges and universities that devolve into cliques. We used to have zany times dancing around our room, up on the beds, twirling and leaping and being super silly. And yet we were both extremely serious students. She did wonderful things after graduation, attending
City Planning School at MIT and then working for the state of Colorado, planning, of all things for a non-athlete, ski resorts. The non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which struck her in her early 30’s, might well be cured today, but there was little hope then. What a loss!”

Phyllis Gottesfeld Knight: “I very much miss Margie Kaminsky. She was invariably cheerful and always excellent company. After graduation from Wellesley she contributed greatly to the art collection at the Denver Public Library which houses an excellent assemblage of western art. As in all her undertakings she was dedicated and as loyal to her work and interests as to her friendships.”