Mark Beach ~ Class of 1973

Arrived ~ 4/1/1955

Departed ~ 9/17/2020

Mark Beach, 65, of East Petersburg, passed away Thursday evening, September 17, 2020 at Hospice & Community Care in Mount Joy.

He was born in Darby, PA on April 1, a fitting date, probably, as he had a keenly developed sense of the sublime and the ridiculous.

The fourth of seven children, he was preceded in death by his parents, Bob and Edna Beach, and older brother, John Beach.

He is survived by his wife of 25 years, Naomi; children, Audrey and Wesley; brothers, Bob, David and Chip; sisters, Deborah and Grace, as well as several nieces and nephews.

Mark was a globe-circling photographer, writer and videographer and a nonprofit communications manager and strategic planner.

He was a loving family guy and a loyal friend with a bear hug, an irresistible laugh and a creative soul. He would always stop whatever he was doing to get the perfect shot.

There is an old picture of Mark from southern Africa; he’s leaning casually on a railing, sleeves rolled, mountains rising up behind. He might be just starting to grin. Some cool vista lay ahead. Some unsung, poignant narrative.

It was his formula.

Travel, art and social justice were Mark’s lifeblood. Raised in Warminster, he spent several formative years (1967-69) in Thailand, where his dad had been transferred. The Vietnam War was burning. Mark’s heroes were photographers, historians, reporters – the people who held the power brokers to account.

He snapped away at first with a Brownie fixed lens camera. Back home and graduated from Messiah College and Temple University with a degree in radio, TV and film, he launched a freelance photography business. He went on to show his work in fine art galleries in Lancaster.

Mennonite Central Committee brought Mark to Lancaster in the 1970s — and dispatched him to document its ministries around the world. He packed light, carried a small camera and got in close.

He employed this same intimate MO as a freelance Lancaster Newspapers “photog” in the 1980s, and as a staff writer for the former Sunday News in the early 1990s. At the Sunday News, he penned sensitive, compelling stories on just about everything under the Lancaster County sun.

In 1992 this dedicated news junkie reinvented himself. He studied international journalism at Baylor University and flew to South Africa to complete his master’s. Most happily, life reinvented him right back.

Letters home mentioned a “dear friend.” Mark and Naomi Vlok Beach, now a teacher, met in an exchange student program in 1993. The couple married in 1995.

Audrey was born five years later and Wesley in 2003, coincidentally the same time period when Mark’s hair started to gray.

The family settled in Lancaster, where Mark became MCC director of communications in 2000. Mark kept moving, sometimes filing reports from earthquake zones and remote African villages where he slept on the ground. A journalist buddy who favored five-star hotels joked: ‘Mark Beach never travels anywhere there’s indoor plumbing.’

But in 2006, the Beaches relocated to the geopolitical epicenter of Europe — Geneva, Switzerland. Mark, the new director of communications for the World Council of Churches, now moved in a rarefied milieu –Pope Benedict XVI, for example – and enjoyed an epic view of Mark’s beloved Alps from his apartment balcony in Genthod.

The Beaches explored Europe before returning to Lancaster County at the end of 2014. Mark served three and a half years as communications director for Mennonite Disaster Service.

Art remained his passion, inside and outside of the job.

A Mark Beach picture or a Mark Beach story was a thing of grace, said retired LNP photographer Dan Marschka. “He was an early adopter of using video at MCC.” He had rare talents for visualizing scenes, listening patiently and “seeing deeper inside you than you might see inside yourself.”

And he moved people to action, including Marschka, whom he recruited for numerous MCC trips in the early 2000s. “I became something I hadn’t been” before experiencing the “unpredictability” and beauty of the Developing World, Marschka said. “A citizen of the earth. It was a gift he gave me.”

An avowed pacifist, Mark was eternally boyish, insatiably curious and widely read. He cared deeply about his family, the world’s dispossessed and the menace of climate warming, which he documented a few years ago amidst slowly drowning islands in the Pacific.

Mark played a mean Gordon Lightfoot on his guitar. He began writing a novel.

Near the end of his life his mantra was “Eat, walk, love.”

One afternoon this past summer, he made the best cheesesteaks anyone has ever tasted.

Goofy humor was another of Mark’s strong suits.

“It’s good to laugh,” he often said, after relating some hilarious incident he’d experienced or witnessed.

It was. And when remembering this gentle, one-of-a-kind man and his stories from the road, it always will be.

Because of Covid-19 restrictions, a Celebration of Life will not be held at this time.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that memorial contributions be made in Mark’s honor to Hospice & Community Care, 4705 Old Harrisburg Pike, Mount Joy, PA 17552 or the Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute, 2102 Harrisburg Pike, Lancaster, PA 17601.

To send a condolence, please visit Mark’s Memorial Page at www.CremationPA.com.

LNP Media Group, Inc.

Former World Council of Churches (WCC) communications director Mark E. Beach was honored at a commemorative prayer service on 22 September.

Beach, who died 17 September in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA, served the WCC from 2007 through its 10th Assembly in 2013 and to the end of 2014. He then returned to the USA to work with the Mennonites as director of communications for Mennonite Disaster Services (MDS).

The virtual prayer service gathered former colleagues and friends online for moments of prayer, recollection, and appreciation for the former WCC staffer.

Beach was an award-winning photographer, videographer and feature writer who spent his whole career in church-related media, news writing and international reporting. Prior to joining the WCC, in his work for the Mennonite Central Committee (2000–2007), he received an Associated Church Press award for his development of the MCC’s magazine, A Common Place, and his DVD portraying post-war Iraq earned a prestigious CINE Award. With colleague Julie Kauffman he co-authored a very popular children’s cookbook, Simply in Season.

“It was with sorrow that we received the news about the passing of Mark Beach,” said Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, interim general secretary of the WCC. “Through his tireless ministry for communication, justice and peace, Beach leaves behind an inspiring legacy of material for the global ecumenical movement.”

Said WCC’s present director of communications, Marianne Ejdersten, “We are deeply saddened by the news of Mark’s passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. The ecumenical movement has lost one important global peace journalist with a special passion for photo journalism and audio visual production. “

Beach’s time at the WCC overlapped the general secretariats of Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia and the Most Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. His tenure brought increased attention to news and social media, as well as video production and a new visual identity, and he negotiated a successful publishing arrangement with journals giant Wiley Blackwell. Financial pressures also entailed inventive yet sometimes painful revamping of WCC communications functions, including overhauling distribution of WCC Publications, closing Ecumenical News International, consolidation of the WCC Library to the Bossey Institute, reworking of translation services, closing the onsite bookstore, and moving toward external technical maintenance of the WCC website.

A highlight of Beach’s communications era was the communications operation he led at the WCC’s 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea, in late 2013. The pastel assembly symbol was omnipresent there in banners and signage. He brought several dozen journalists to Busan, joined by an equal number of Korean journalists. Alongside an intense news-writing schedule, the team published a daily newspaper, issued frequent video reports and features and interviews, issued a stream of social media posts, made arrangements for the dozens of media attending and reporting on the assembly, and mounted an onsite bookstore with hundreds of titles from WCC Publications and the Christian Literature Society of Korea.

Personable in manner, and an inveterate traveler and photographer, Beach’s work took him around the world, especially in Africa and Asia, where he documented people, churches, and cultures for relief agencies and international organizations. As director of communications for MDS, he travelled frequently to sites of disaster and recovery in the US, spotlighting the difficult work of MDS’s dedicated volunteers.

Mark Beach was the fourth of seven children, and he is survived by his family, including his wife Naomi Vlok Beach and their children Audrey and Wesley Beach, along with his siblings and their families.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made in Mark’s honour to Hospice and Community Care, 4705 Old Harrisburg Pike, Mount Joy, PA 17552 or the Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute, 2102 Harrisburg Pike, Lancaster, PA 17601.

To send a condolence, please visit Mark’s Memorial Page at www.CremationPA.com.

Additional tributes to Mark Beach:

“Mark was always a staunch supporter of the concept of ‘communication for all,’ recognizing that WACC acted as a bridge between the ecumenical movement and civil society. He supported WACC’s efforts to draw young people into the ambit of genuine communication and dialogue for peace and he collaborated with WACC on the ‘Busan Statement’ on communication that preceded the WCC Assembly in South Korea where WACC and WCC encouraged participation by radio journalists from the global South. Most recently, Mark accepted involvement with WACC North America as a member of its standing committee. WACC will always be grateful for Mark’s sharp eye and ear for detail and his generosity of spirit.”—Philip Lee, general secretary, World Association for Christian Communication

“Mark’s integrity and care for others made us see the crucial value of healthy and mutually supportive communication team dynamics. His skills in communication, with a unique approach to the use of images to promote churches’ work for justice and peace, and his vision about the importance of bringing younger and more international communicators to contribute with WCC are some of the highlights of the legacy he leaves behind. Besides professional collaboration, we built a solid friendship. I already miss him very much.”—Marcelo Schneider, WCC communications officer

“Among Mark’s major contributions to the ecumenical movement were hiring decisions he made while at the WCC. And his strategy to create a much younger-than-customary newsroom staff at the Busan assembly is helping to shape the future of the council.”—Theodore A. Gill Jr., former senior editor, WCC Publications

“When a dear friend passes away, the first instinct is to mourn. Sometimes that’s the right thing to do. In the case of Mark Beach, mourning would not suffice. Mark lived. Mark loved. Mark forgave. Mark laughed. Mark packed a lot of living into a relatively short life. When he found out his time here was limited, his top priority was to make sure his family would be taken care of. He reached out to friends and family and made them part of his final journey. In his dying moments, so I was told, he had time for a funny remark. I won’t mourn my friend, I choose to celebrate a life that was fully lived. Mark, I learned this lesson from you – Get on with living.”—South African videographer Coetzee Zietsman, longtime friend and collaborator

“A fluid writer with a journalist’s standards and a photographer’s appreciation for the telling detail, Mark Beach also saw the bigger picture. Many of his initiatives positioned WCC Communications well for the emerging media landscape and for its present flowering. I have especially appreciated his vision for publications.”—J. Michael West, former publisher, WCC Publications

Please send pictures (old and new), anecdotes, articles, stories, and tributes to isbeings at gmail dot com or visit us on Facebook at ISBeings

Steve Clark ~ Class of 1971

Arrived ~ ca. 1953

Departed ~ ca. 2020

Lovingly reported by: Michael Clark

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Stuart Berryman ~ Class of 1968

Arrived ~ 5/27/1950

Departed ~ 2/24/2021

OBITUARY OF JOSEPH “STUART” BERRYMAN
Joseph “”Stuart”” Berryman, age 70, of North Port, Florida, passed away on February 24, 2021. He was born on May 27, 1950 in Norfolk, Virginia. He was an automobile mechanic and also a Go Cart Asian Grand Prix Champion in his youth. Stuart was also a veteran of the US Marine Corp. He is survived by his daughter, Tanya; a brother, Scott of North Port and several nieces and a nephew. Stuart was preceded in death by his parents, Rue & Jean Berryman; two brothers, Rue Berryman, Jr. and Stacy Berryman. A memorial gathering to celebrate Stuart’s life will be held at Farley Funeral Home in North Port from 4:30PM-6:00PM on Thursday, March 4, 2021. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Tidewell Hospice Inc., 5955 Rand Blvd., Sarasota, Florida 34238. A message of condolence may be sent by visiting www.farleyfuneralhome.com.

8 IS GONE!!!!!

Please send pictures (old and new), anecdotes, articles, stories, and tributes to isbeings at gmail dot com or visit us on Facebook at ISBeings

Barry Rigby ~ Class of 1961

Departed ~ 7/20/2020

Leilani Rigby lovingly wrote:

Thank you for responding to my message about Barry’s death. I apologize for my slow response. And thank you for your efforts in assembling a tribute page – what wonderful old photos.

I will attach a few photos, not that you need to post them but I always want to share Barry’s wonderful life. One shows him with an ISB buddy building a raft to use on the Kwai River. One shows him with Afghan elders at a refugee camp in Pakistan. One shows him building our deck. And one just shows his beautiful face.

There was not a published obituary, but here is a short version of the eulogy I prepared.

Five years as an army officer showed Barry that he enjoyed leadership positions, that he was an effective listener and counsellor, and that he no longer wanted an army career. So he got a degree in social work.

He worked with an international social work organization in New York City for six years, then joined the UN refugee program (UNHCR), where he worked for 20 years in many challenging locations and programs. He was posted in Switzerland (HQ), southern Sudan, Pakistan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Turkey, and Bosnia, He organized effective programs under difficult circumstances, aided by talented and helpful staff. He took early retirement in 2000 because he knew he had Parkinson’s and wanted to have some quality time living in upstate New York doing the other things he loved.

Barry was always active and eager for a challenge, often with his old ISB buddies, building on the escapades and adventures they’d in high school He loved working with his hands and built a lovely – if quirky – house for his family in Jefferson, NY. In retirement he achieved his life-long fantasies of country living, hard work, lots of boys toys, and fresh air.

He continued to have worsening health problems. In 2010 he had a terrible bicycle accident, breaking 12 bones, then a long rehab. He was then diagnosed with a rare genetic form of emphysema. This left him increasingly short of breath, eventually and requiring oxygen. Added to these were a myriad of less major ailments and health challenges. Yet he never gave up or stopped taking on new projects. He had a life-long love of hard work and staying active, which is probably what enabled him to live to age 77 despite his deteriorating body. He died outdoors on a beautiful day, doing work he loved. An autopsy concluded he’d had a heart attack, probably due to an enlarged heart. Yes, he had a very big heart. His life was one of value, well lived.

He is survived by his wife Leilani, two daughters, Fiona and Metasabia, and three grandchildren.

From: Leilani Rigby
To: director.comms
Sent: Wed, Feb 22, 2023 9:13 pm
Subject: Barry Rigby, Class of ’61

I opened Barry’s email account for the first time today. I see that
you have been sending messages to him at bdrigby@yahoo.com. I am
Barry’s wife and I’m very sorry to have to tell you that he died on
20 July 2020. His years at ISB provided him with a lot of wonderful
memories and our family with a lot of wonderful stories.

Thank you,
Leilani Rigby

Please send pictures (old and new), anecdotes, articles, stories, and tributes to isbeings at gmail dot com or visit us on Facebook at ISBeings

Pete Schramm ~ Class of 1974

Arrived ~ 7/6/1956

Departed ~ 10/31/2020

Our brother, William (Pete) Schramm – Class of ’74, passed away suddenly on October 31, 2020 from a probable heart attack.  He was a good son, great brother, and a loving father.

James Schramm – Class of ‘70 and Celeste Houser-Jackson (nee Schramm) – Class of ‘72.

William Peter Schramm

By TheCatoctinBanner.com On November 26, 2020

July 6, 1956

October 31, 2020

It is with profound sadness that the family of William “Pete” Schramm announce his sudden passing on October 31, 2020.

On July 6, 1956, Pete was born in Frankfurt, Germany, to Ann Beall and Frederick Schramm. He resided abroad with his parents and two older siblings, Jim and Celeste, while his father, Fred, was deployed during his career with the CIA. His family also lived in Berlin, Germany (Pete’s favorite), Bangkok, Thailand, and Camp Perry, VA, before settling in Potomac, MD. He attended Winston Churchill High School, then pursued further education at the University of Maryland.

Pete’s career in the hi-tech industry began in a strip mall computer store. It proved to be the beginning of a long and successful career in hi-tech sales and management. Much of his career took him all over the United States, meeting with various accounts. While working for Ando Corporation, he then began to frequent Japan, as well as other parts of Asia, for meetings with clients.

He is remembered by family, friends, and colleagues as a man of good humor, generous nature, respected work ethic, and, mostly, unbridled optimism for everyone’s success in their endeavors. From pythons and rhesus monkeys in Thailand to pet pygmy goats, horses, dogs, and cats in the more recent years, he was recognized for his affinity for animals and nature.

Nearing retirement, Pete worked with ProTEQ Solutions as a sales engineer. He enjoyed this position, as it required less domestic travel, the ability to work from home, and the opportunity to spend more time with his wife and the light of their lives, their daughter Gracie and her husband, Danny Eyler. If you knew Pete, he was either in dress clothes and tie, or you knew him for his clever t-shirts, tropical shorts, and crocs.

Pete was a resident of Emmitsburg for nearly 40 years. He enjoyed target shooting on the weekends with friends and family, fishing, and crafting lovely pieces of stained glass. He was also an avid gardener and was often seen zipping around his property on his mower for a joy ride. He loved spending time with the family’s beloved Belgian Sheepdogs. He loved spending time by or in the water, whether it was the local pool, creek, lake, a bay, or the ocean.

Pete leaves behind his wife, Chris; daughter, Graceann, and her husband, Daniel Eyler. He is survived by brother, Jim Schramm, and wife, Jean; and his sister, Celeste Houser-Jackson, and her husband, Walter, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

In light of COVID-19, the family has decided to celebrate Pete’s life in Spring of 2021. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital, a local animal shelter, or charity of choice.

Please send pictures (old and new), anecdotes, articles, stories, and tributes to isbeings at gmail dot com or visit us on Facebook at ISBeings

Claire Marie Seale ~ Class of 1980

Departed ~ 3/12/2020

Lisa Seale class of 1975 wrote:

Claire attended ISB from March 1970 to June 1975. Our family returned to the States in August 1975, when my father was stationed on Oahu. Claire graduated from high school there, but would have been in the Class of 1980 had our family stayed in Bangkok that long. She was the youngest of four children. (I graduated from ISB in 1975 and was the oldest, so I’m not sure where Char came up with 1973, but it’s kind of her to have notified you). Claire’s dates are 1962-2020 and she is survived by two daughters.

Charlyn Jackson-Derrick class of 1975 wrote:

Lisa Seale’s sister, Claire was in the class of 1980, she passed this last year. I haven’t seen a posting for her in ISBeings. I became reacquainted with Lisa and her family when I attended her mother’s funeral in Norman two years ago. They are an amazing beautiful clan. Thanks, Char

Claire Marie (Seale) Amspacher, 57, passed away peacefully on March 12, 2020. She was surrounded by loving family and friends.

Claire loved nursing and she devoted both her personal and professional life to caring for the ill and injured. Claire graduated from the University of Oklahoma’s nursing program as a Registered Nurse in 1995 and started her nursing career at the Veteran’s Administration hospital in Oklahoma City, later working on surgical-care floors at Norman Regional. Most recently she served in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Porter campus of Norman Regional. She had many friends and colleagues at the ICU whom she enjoyed working with, and she shared their deep dedication to patients. She is remembered by many for her hard work, kindness, and wicked sense of humor.

Claire spent her childhood in travels around the world with her family, as her father was posted on numerous assignments by the US Army; two favorite locations were West Germany and Thailand. The family also enjoyed travelling by Space-A to Italy, Spain, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and India.

After graduating from high school in Hawaii, Claire moved to Norman, Oklahoma, where she met her future husband Mark Amspacher, working at the family business, which had been started during the Great Depression by Mark’s grandfather. The Southside Grocery was a beloved Norman institution and Claire had many stories to tell. The two were married in 1981. Later, Mark started another Norman institution, The Diner on Main Street, which Claire ran with her daughter Bonnie for five years after Mark passed away in 2010. (Fans of the Food Network can still see Claire on American Diner Revival, in season one, episode one’s feature of The Diner.)

Claire enjoyed gardening, knitting, horseback riding, hiking, traveling, and many other active pursuits, such as fossil hunting. She shared her enjoyment of the outdoors with friends and family, with many camping, hiking, and horseback riding trips throughout the United States over her lifetime. She had many pets over the years, including beloved dogs, cats, and horses. She had a particular love for bluegrass prairies and birdwatching. Her passion for travel took her back to Thailand more than once in recent years, where she hiked in a national park and visited an elephant park. She also traveled twice to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, as well as to Ecuador and to Rajasthan in India with her mother and one of her sisters (one of her favorite exclamations on that trip was, “Ruins!”). Claire had dreams of visiting the Great Wall of China and taking a walking tour of Scotland.

Claire is survived by her daughters Sarah Claire Amspacher (Brian Przywojski), Bonnie Marie Amspacher, and Shonda Peaches Amspacher, as well as her father Thomas Arthur Seale, her brother Eric Christopher Seale (Sandra), her two sisters, Lisa Ann Seale (J. D. Whitney) and Karen Marie Seale (David Fung), and extended family members. Claire was preceded in death by her husband Daniel Mark Amspacher, her mother Lois Ann (Guettinger) Seale, her maternal grandparents Oscar John and Pauline (Greenway) Guettinger of San Leandro, California, and her paternal grandparents Arthur Lisle and Mary Ethel (Marie-Attala Plante) Seale of Oakland, California.

The family thanks the dedicated doctors, nurses, and staff at Norman Regional Health System’s Oncology Clinic and Cancer Management Center for extending Claire’s life after her initial diagnosis in 2017. The family also extends its deep gratitude for the in-home care of hospice nurses and staff from Good Shepherd Hospice. She was treated with care and love.

A memorial gathering for family and friends will take place in the fall. This timing is out of consideration for health concerns amid the global pandemic. A small funeral Mass with immediate family will be celebrated at St. Thomas More University Parish in Norman, Oklahoma. We deeply appreciate your kindness in wishing to say good-bye to Claire and to help celebrate her memory, which all her family shares. Updated information on a larger service in the fall will be provided on the Havenbrook Funeral Home page for Claire. May she rest in peace.

Memorial donations may be sent to the WildCare Foundation at wildcareoklahoma.org, or to the Norman Regional Health Foundation at NRHFoundation.org, which will direct gifts made in Claire’s memory to cancer care.

Please send pictures (old and new), anecdotes, articles, stories and tributes to isbeings at gmail dot com

David Neiman ~ Class of 1971

Departed ~ 11/22/2020

Roland Svensson ~ Class of 1981

Departed ~ c. 12/13/2020

Kristoffer Svensson
13 December 2020.

Every time this guy called he would say “Hey Champion” and end the call with “I Love You”. Every time. But no longer will I get to hear that. 30 years going through this journey called “Life” with my dad and trying to hold his hand hasn’t been easy. Life is not some filtered reality you see here. But at the same time it has been a beautiful and thoughtful journey that with him it has made me who I am today.

Dad wasn’t the easiest person to be around, but somehow I saw a beautiful sensitive light in him that we kept our relationship going on until the last call we had two days ago on his birthday. There was a connection with him that many still don’t understand, but somehow we knew it ourselves.
I’m so blessed that these past 8 years we have reconnected on a level where he finally believed in me and was my biggest supporter in what I do. And I so wish he would still be here to see what’s coming up next. But at the same time I know him finding true peace and being up there with Farfar (my grandfather) is the best thing.

Thank you to all of the outpouring of support that has been coming my way and to the Svensson family these past few hours. Some of you I don’t even know, but seeing your words and well-wishes shows that this man was loved and will be loved endlessly.
Life goes on. It really does. But one thing that I ask is for everyone to have a lot of compassion in life and give it to those that you love. Hold them tight. Give them a hug. Give them space. And be there for them when you still have the opportunity to.

Lastly to my dad Roland Svensson, I love you Pappa and you know that. You always wanted me to be strong and I will do that. I’m going to open some U2 music now because those were the memories we had. It will uplift you up there and me down here.
Until we meet again.
Your champion.
Kris.

Please send pictures (old and new), anecdotes, articles, stories and tributes to isbeings at gmail dot com

Scott Libhart ~ Class of 1976

Departed ~ 12/5/2020

Please send pictures (old and new), anecdotes, articles, stories and tributes to isbeings at gmail dot com

Beryl Elise Medinger ~ Class of 1961

Departed ~ 12/3/2020

Beryl Elise Medinger

1943-2020

Louisville – Beryl Elise Medinger died at home on December 3, 2020, from metastatic bladder cancer. She was 77. She was born in Baltimore, MD on June 16, 1943. She was an Army brat, living in Virginia, New Jersey, Kansas, Germany, and Thailand, where she graduated high school from the International School of Bangkok. Unlike her siblings, she hated moving so often, which may explain why she spent her last 48 years in the 40206 or 40207 zip codes.

Elise received her undergraduate degree from the College of William & Mary, and her Master of Social Work degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. She had a long career as a clinical social worker, primarily in her private psychotherapy practice. In her early years, she also worked as a therapist at the Bingham Child Guidance Clinic, the Bellewood Home for Children, and in several Catholic schools. She served several terms on Kentucky’s State Board of Social Work.

Elise retired for several years in her sixties, during which she volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, and Raptor Rehabilitation of Kentucky. She ultimately found herself with too much time on her hands, perhaps because most of her friends still worked, and — saying that she had failed at retirement — spent her last ten working years at the VAMC Pain Clinic, providing therapy for veterans coping with the mental health aspects of chronic pain. She retired again at the end of January 2020, and — between the pandemic and bladder cancer — failed retirement once more.

Raised Lutheran, she was attracted to pacifism and attended Quaker Meeting for years, but never was comfortable with notions of a savior. She eventually was drawn to liberal Judaism because of its focus on ethics and study, completed the Melton Course for Adult Jewish Education, and converted to Judaism in 2003. She was a member of the Temple, Women of Reform Judaism, and the National Conference of Jewish Women. She came to love Jewish music in the minor key that she at first found so strange.

Elise was a voracious reader, nurturing her quick mind, keen intellect, and innate curiosity with a wide range of genres and subjects. She loved to travel, maintained an active yoga practice, stayed fit and active through cycling, walking, and strength training, and took pride in completing several sprint-length triathlons in her mid-forties. She loved Leonard Cohen’s music, and was thrilled to attend his Louisville concert several years ago. She was a feminist before she knew the term, thinking that there was something wrong with her because she couldn’t lead her mother’s life. That strength kept her from marrying badly when young, and was instrumental in making her marriage — she finally married at age 42 — long and happy.

As the first-born of four children, Elise could be bossy, and worked hard to constrain her impulse to help friends and family do and think the things that Elise knew to be right. But doing that work, and succeeding in that effort, characterized Elise’s core: she set high standards, strove to meet them herself, and honored and respected the efforts of others to be the best versions of themselves. It allowed her to become close friends in her adulthood with her three siblings, whom she adored; it was at the root of her close and loyal friendships, happy marriage, and deep, rich, family ties.

Elise’s mother, Eloise Whittington Medinger, died decades ago; her father, Col. John N. Medinger, and father-in-law, Arnold S. Friedman, died more recently. She is survived by the family she loved so dearly: her husband, David A. Friedman; daughter, Rachel Harris; grandchildren, Brielle Dowlat and Sean Dowlat; siblings John L. Medinger, Patricia Gipson, and Kristina Medinger, and their respective spouses, Bonnie Medinger, Thomas Gipson, and Ann Maloney; mother-in-law, Bette Harris Friedman; and nieces and nephews in Maine, Massachusetts, Virginia, North Carolina, Minnesota, Washington, Mexico, Switzerland, and Germany.

Elise received stellar care for her bladder cancer for a decade from her urologist, M. Brooks Jackson. As she chose, she was able to live her last months at home, swaddled in the love and affection of family and friends, and to die there peacefully, thanks to the care and comfort from staff at Hosparus,and Home Instead.

Elise will be buried in The Temple Cemetery after a short graveside service on Sunday, December 6th, at 1:00 p.m. Given the state of world health, only family may attend the service and burial in person. It will be streamed live, however, and all are welcome to join online at www.facebook.com/hermanmeyerson . There also will be an online memorial event within a few days of Elise’s burial. Visit the Herman Meyer & Son, Inc. website, www.meyerfuneral.com for more details. Please consider contributions in Elise’s memory to organizations she valued and supported: Habitat for Humanity, Amnesty International, the Heifer Fund, World Bicycle Relief, or Louisville Central Community Center.

• Please send pictures (old and new), anecdotes, articles, stories and tributes to isbeings at gmail dot com