After one of the trips Edwenna took with Michael, she told me about her fabulous travel company, Backroads. Richard and I finally got the chance to take one of their trips and they were everything Edwenna had said and more. We went to the Scottish Highlands and I thought of Edwenna while hiking through some of the most glorious mountains I'd ever seen. The warmth of her friendship still lies deep within my heart. Wherever she is now, she is still swimming and singing and helping others.

Now that we are making plans for our 60th reunion for Pasadena Pro Musica (PPM), I've been thinking a lot about Edwenna. Except for the first reunion in 1984, Edwenna and I chaired and planned all the subsequent ones until her passing. Now that we are deep in the throes of planning our 60th, I wonder what Edwenna would think of PPM's legacy and the massive changes in the group our current conductor had to make due to the pandemic and its aftermath. I think Edwenna would agree with us old-timers that Scott has done a fabulous job with the group. I still have her emails from 2017; they will remain forever in my inbox. Take care, Edwenna, and may you continue to sing with the angels. ❤️
Love you and miss you, Linda

Hi, all

We remember Edwenna and the many ways she touched our lives with love, music, caring, and action. In her memory I have posted a short slide show which can be found at:

https://www.forevermissed.com/edwenna-rosser-werner/stories

or linked right off this page if you are up to it.

In Edwenna's memory, love to all

Michael

Edwenna,
Ned and I miss you so much. We still make your recipes. We still play the parlor games you taught us. We still fight for the best candidates with Swing Left. We miss your face at church. We miss your dinners and stories at Cal Tech. Your music. Your optimism. Your kindness. In short, you changed us for the better. Lee and Ned

Mom - If only you were here in person so we could wish you a happy birthday. You would have been the most energetic 82-year-old on the planet. I miss you more than I can ever say. I think of you every day and love you forever.

Edwenna, You are missed always. I know that your energy would be gathering for the contest of 2024 that looms but would greet us with song and optimism.
Kaja is a senior, having, she said, matured greatly in her jr. "year" in Chile, and
greeting her senior year as capt. of the swim team. Swarthmore doesn't have campaigns for that; the team members just vote. What a humane approach--and so like you. You rest in our memories.

Mom,

I think of you daily and seem to miss you more and more as the years go by. Our relationship, although one-sided, nonetheless feels to me as if it's moving and growing. I love you and wish you were here.

Yesterday we had a small family zoom in Edwenna's memory, attended by children Alex and Erica, granddaughters Olive and Lucy, spouse Michael, and in-laws rosemary and Robert Putnam. The occasion was made more bittersweet by the deaths during the past year of Bill Margeson, Erica's husband, Doug Wible, the Putnam's son in law, and Barkley Rosser, Edwenna's brother. Such a year of loss. We shared stories and reminiscences about all four of these fine, loving friends and relations who left ineradicable memories one of which was a very moving tribute to Edwenna by our friend John odell...and were reminded once again of both the sanctity and the cruelty of life.
Love to all
Michael

A bittersweet day. I so wish Edwenna could have known that my youngest granddaughter is thriving at Swarthmore--now in her jr. yr. But what a great experience she has had, despite COVID, because of swimming, which Edwenna loved. The Swarthmore team is so internally non-competitive and thus. supportive, making college such a positive, not to mention the intellectual and       
research-oriented, stimulation. So I think of Edwenna when I put on the Swarthmore hooded-sweatshirt and of course, whenever I'm phoning for candidates or remembering days in Cambridge or....And singing which Edwenna so loved ....I send good thoughts to Erica as she comprehends the lose of her husband which, again, seems so unfair. And of course, I think I understand how Michael enjoys thinking of days past with Edwenna as do her family and friends from son and grandchildren and all those she loved. Be at peace as Edwenna would want.

Hard to believe that it is three years since Edwenna's untimely death. In her memory, we held a small family zoom meeting this morning, which was doubly bittersweet because we remembered Erica's husband, my son-in-law Bill Margeson, at the same time.....Stories and poems and reminiscences were shared amongst my children, grandchildren, and sister Rosemary and husband Bob, who introduced me to Edwenna over 60! years ago. She is well-remembered and deeply missed.
Love to all
Michael

As the midterms approach, I miss your leadership which made everyone want to participate. And today, such a day of sadness, it is important to remember how fully you participated in life. May the joy that you generated mute the sorrow felt by those who knew you and miss your effects on our lives.

I've been thinking of Edwenna as we begin our 59th season with PPM. For decades, she and I launched each season with revisions of the Member's Guide to Pasadena Pro Musica, making adjustments as needed to coincide with each season. I keep this photo of "Ed's Girls" (named for founding director, Ed Low) handy as a reminder of the wonderful times we had together with our annual Ed's Girls Teas. (I'm waiting for directions from the support team on how to upload the photo.)

A beautiful soul is never forgotten. A true influencer in my life!

Dear Mom,

Thinking of you as always and wishing you were still with us. I felt your absence so strongly this past year which was so trying. Love you forever. Olive and Lucy do too.

As we note the third anniversary of your passing, I continue to feel your very positive influence on my life. While the sadness fades and life moves on, it is a comfort to know that the memory of your friendship remains.

Stanford asked me to do an "oral history interview" of my career on campus. That brought back our wonderful partnership in leading the Economics Department. I was so lucky to work closely with you for three years. On this the occasion of your 80th birthday, I reflect on your unique and wonderful life. The one thing you never did is get old. My thoughts are with Michael and Erica and Alexander and their families on this day. You made so many lives better. I, too, still have your emails and look at them from time to time.  John

I’m thinking of my Energizer Bunny Soul Sister on what would have been the night of Edwenna's 80th birthday. I never deleted her 2019 emails because it is my way of keeping her close by feeling her presence through her words relating to many of the projects on which we worked for Pasadena Pro Musica. PPM could use a stellar musician of her quality now since they are running short on altos and tenors. The saying “RIP” could be better recrafted to “SIP” (Sing in Peace), for I know she is singing with the angels.

A true tribute to a well-lived life is to continue to serve as an inspiration to others as you have for me and countless others. I still miss you and always will.

Edwenna - Thinking of you with love on what should have been your 80th birthday...sharing thoughts and memories from the Putnams, brother Barkley, Alex and Erica and the granddaughters, Bill and Karen, and all who knew and loved you, and miss you keenly.
The house and our lives are empty without you.
Michael

Happy Birthday, Edwenna♥️ If youy think we have all gotten over your departure, you're wrong...we haven't. NUUC in- person choir rehearsals resumed this last Thursday. In person church services will resume on Jan 13th for the ROP Service for the upcoming YRE graduates. I've been working with them on the music for their service. They are so filled with curiosity and insight and enthusiasm. It's an inspiration to see. I'm not sure how things work in the next realm but dearest Clarli Wilson left us a couple weeks ago. Maybe you've seen her? Sending you love and wishing you, Clarli and Irene were all still here. ♥️ Carla

As the election season gets underway, as Justice Breyer steps down so a new chapter can begin, and as we look at the battered country trying to rise again, I miss Edwenna yet again. I know she would be raising her voice as an organizer and sharing her voice in song to cheer us on. And I know those closest to her must be remembering favorite moments. I empathize.

Well, I'm sure you know already Edwenna, but wanted to make doubly sure you got the memo that in-person church services at Neighborhood resumed today and I am back singing in the choir as soprano section leader. We all sounded amazing today singing Gwyneth Walker's I Thank You, God, words by e.e. cummings. I thought of you today and at our initial two rehearsals and your faithful attendance and fabulous sight reading skills and of your continuous urging that I reenlist (after dropping out when Stephen retired) - that the choir needed me. I'm glad I've returned but I must say it's not the same without you in the alto section. While I'm on the subject... We need more altos and tenors - perhaps you can put out the word on a larger scale; whisper in a few musical ears? One last thing, Irene Burkner recently came your way. If you get the chance, could you give her a squeeze for me? The mere thought of the two of you hugging without masks is sheer delight!
Talk Soon, Carla❤️
P.S. Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna is coming up. We will definitely need participants from a higher realm for that. I'll keep you posted.

Dear Edwenna, I know how we would have shared that Kaja, my youngest granddaughter, chose Swarthmore as her only desired college, and then the short posts of her experiences during COVID times studying there. Just a few weeks ago, Kaja gave me the COMPLETE tour (online on her computer sitting in Berkeley) of her time there, both as a student and lab assistant, and her schedule of swimming (hmm, I think you would have enjoyed knowing about that) and science. She has loved the Swarthmore environment--and we speak of how I have a special friend who was once engaged with the stimulation of the college. We need you so much now as our spirits are under siege--from fire, water, ignorance, disease, heat--but then we remember that you persisted and take strength from that. Rest easily for we have not forgotten.

Edwenna will forever live in my mind and heart as my energizer bunny sister. We planned and executed many events together for PPM and enjoyed a wonderful working relationship and friendship. I have left many of our emails to each other on my server in order to enjoy constant reminders of our friendship and collaborative efforts. Edwenna, though you are missed, you have not been gone from my mind and my heart. Lux aeterna, dear friend. Your light will forever shine.

Mom - I think of you every day but especially today. I can’t believe it’s been two years, it feels like yesterday. If only you were still with us. I love you.

Edwenna - on the second anniversary of your death - where has the time gone? - we remember your with love and honor your memory with pictures of our beautiful granddaughters, just added to the gallery.
Much love always, and missing you
Michael

Edwenna, on the anniversary of your birth, Ned and I want you to know that we love you, we miss you, and we are very grateful for the many adventures you led us on! (You would forgive me for ending that sentence in a preposition, right?)
Love always,
Lee Brainerd and Ned Racine

This poem in Edwenna's memory was written by longtime friend and college roommate Caroline Lyke and presented at the memorial gathering on the first anniversary of Edwenna.s death         



 Edwenna

She was always in motion
Not a giddy pinwheel blown by a passing breeze
But a strong gust
    Clearing the skies, opening a path, swinging left.

She’d stretch before breakfast,
   While watching, we’d devour our Danish.
Gaps in her schedule cried out for excursions with old friends.
Leading the way, backpack shouldered,
   She’d approach an exhibit alert to possibilities.
   She never seemed to need to nap.

    Then all changed.
Her words began to shift and swirl.
No movement but the drip of fluids, the only sound the equipment hum.
    Then all was still.

A year’s gone by and still we feel the gap she left behind.
Confined by Covid quarantining, how would she have coped?
Might she have blown away her frustration, mastered Zoom,
And found new ways to fill her days?
    I only know
    She would not be still.

This poem in memory of Edwenna and also of Nick Hazard, the father of Barkley's son-in-law Neal, was written by Edwenna's brother Barkley and read during a small family zoom gathering we held in Edwenna's memory on Saturday, 12 September, 2020.

THE SINGING EARTH
(for Edwenna)
[and also Nick Hazard]
- J. Barkley Rosser, Jr., , September 13, 2019, Harrisonburg, Virginia,
-
The earth is singing for you,
It is singing for us all, her children.
We know she is our mother, our sister.
The earth is breathing deep of rest and sleep.

She must do so because of all the suffering she bears.
We cannot begin to know it, even as we feel its blow.
She brings life, but life brings death.
There is no end to the partings.

We dream of the joy that transpires.
The earth sings our dreams as we transmogrify.
Between past and future is present.
But the earth is always present, whatever our delusions.

Dreams and sadness interpolate ultimate joy.
The earth subsides with all of these and much more.
Her dreams are ours, mere ghosts of reality.
Our joys and sorrows are subsumed in her wisdom.

No music of ours will match her singing.
We are of her and she sings for us all.
We live and die by her music.
Only by her shall we be reprieved.

Edwenna in our thoughts, and even dreams, we miss you and are blessed with your kindness, energy, and generosity every day.
De Benneville Pines Camp Committee and camps, our renewal of vows, PPM concerts, Esperanza, Neighborhood Church, Shakespeare in the Park, game nights, dinners at CalTech, Swing Left...wow, we were lucky to be with you and Michael on many, many occasions.
You are always be in our hearts, Ned, Lee and Drew

I am still missing Edwenna who was my Energizer Bunny soul mate. She was a compassionate, generous soul who made people feel needed, useful and wanted. A year later, there are still email exchanges between us on my computer because I just didn’t have the heart to delete them. Also, re reading them from time to time gives me the sense that somehow, we are still connected. She was a gift to all of us who knew and loved her and memories of her are gifts that keep on giving.

Picture a wave. In the ocean. You can see it, measure it, its height, the way the sunlight refracts when it passes through. And it's there. And you can see it, you know what it is. It's a wave.

And then it crashes in the shore and it's gone. But the water is still there. The wave was just a different way for the water to be, for a little while. You know it's one conception of death for Buddhists: the wave returns to the ocean, where it came from and where it's supposed to be.

_The Good Place_, based on the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh

Happy Mother's Day, mom. Miss you forever.

Michael's science mission, the Spitzer observatory, was decommissioned today in a moving ceremony at JPL celebrating the team's accomplishments and dedication over the missions 16+ years of operation. Many people made note of the incredible sacrifices made by the families of Spitzer team members, Michael among them, telling people how Edwenna stayed behind in Sunnyvale when Michael moved to Pasadena to take up his role as the Project Scientist until she could later follow. It is one of many sacrifices large and small that Edwenna made to enable or improve the lives of others. Bravo to the Spitzer team, with fond memories of Edwenna.

At our book club meetings, we focus on poetry once a year. Edwenna chose to read aloud--& then sing ( unusual), The Owl and the Pussycat. one day. She started, & i joined in. I hardly knew her, yet as she sang like a pied piper--I joined her in song. It was a joyous moment for both of us. During WWII, my mother, a classical singer, sang me (at the piano) all the music she knew by heart, during the long lonely pitch black nights. .  I have that whole library by heart in my mind, as a result, and sang in my h.s. school choir.after the war.
after the war.  (My father a British 8th Army battlefield surgeon was gone in wartime). I don't know the full story of Edwenna, songbird, but it touched me that we shared our love for music in that moment.I later had the pleasure of a summer dinner at Caltech, with the Werners, Axeens, et al.,
, but realized at the magnificent service at Neighborhood Church just
what an extraordinary human we have known and loved. 
   A true woman of worth,
loving, giving with no expectation of reward doing the right thing--
working to heal the world, an ancient dictum.

These are the comments I made in welcoming the 300+ guests to Edwenna's memorial service - Michael Werner


Good Afternoon

I am Michael Werner, Edwenna’s husband.

On behalf of our family, it is a pleasure to welcome you to this celebration of Edwenna’s remarkable life.

Edwenna was the most modest and self-effacing person. She would have been astounded and pleased to know that so many friends and family would come to her memorial service. She would have been equally astounded to read the letters of love and admiration which so many of you have shared with us. This is just the kind of gathering that she inspired and organized so many times; unfortunately, she is here today only in spirit, but her spirit is strong upon us this afternoon.

I and others have noted that Edwenna was never happier that when she was singing, and it is wonderful that we have members of her two choral homes joining their voices today. Pasadena Pro Musica, her longtime community chorus, has dedicated their first concert of the season, which is tomorrow, to her memory. Details can be found in the memorial booklet; the program includes the Faure Requiem, one of Edwenna’s favorites.  Tomorrow morning, and on subsequent Sundays, the Neighborhood Church Chorus will look and sound a little thinner without Edwenna’s presence and voice, even if she occasionally read the New Yorker during the second service. Edwenna often would tell me after singing on Sunday morning how much she enjoyed sitting with the chorus and looking out at all the friendly and familiar faces in the congregation. Appropriately, many of those friends are here today to honor her memory.

I have frequently pointed out with pride that the breadth and depth of Edwenna’s singing led her to be the only person known to have sung under both Eugene Ormandy, of the Philadelphia Orchestra back in the day, and Gustavo Dudamel, the current conductor of the LA Philharmonic. Sadly, nobody other than myself, not even Edwenna, has ever found this factoid the least bit interesting, but I am giving it one last chance.

Even as we hear about Edwenna’s accomplishments, I will also cherish the quiet times we spent together. These included lunch on our back porch featuring Edwenna’s incomparable grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches. I must have had over one thousand of these during the 50+ years we were married, and each one was better than the last.

I wish to quote my good friend Larry Caroff, a familiar figure to the astronomers amongst you and, coincidentally, a Swarthmore classmate of my sister, Rosemary. In reference to Edwenna he said “…she made the world a better place through her presence and her deeds..” These words will be echoed in the remembrances to be shared today by friends and family.

Again, thank you for joining us. We hope to greet you at the reception following the ceremony.

I met Edwenna and Michael two years ago in Hobart Tasmania where we spent a few days together in a little terrace house from which we explored some of the cultural and historic sites in the region. It was immediately clear to me that Edwenna and Michael's affection and connection for and with each other ran very deep. Both shared an intense curiosity about everything and an abiding consideration for others. Edwenna's real strength surely lay in the love and grace that radiated out from her. She brought people together, no matter their disparate backgrounds. [Edwenna was so strong! How could she go so soon? Her sheer physical energy surprised me, as I struggled to keep pace with her...!] I'm very, very sorry to hear of her passing. My condolences go out to Michael and Barkley and to Erica and Alex and grandchildren. With all their stories go Edwenna's story.

I met Edwenna when I started working on curriculum at USC and she was on the staff. In a very short time I started appreciating the amazing command of the issues she had. I learned an awful lot from her and from her capacity to analyze, know the rules and regulations, etc., and since I was the inexperienced chair of a sub-committee she saved me from a variety of missteps. But what I appreciate more than that was her spirit, the way she went about her work, her mind, and I began to really appreciate Edwenna the person. After leaving USC I went back a few times to her office just to say hi, because she was really a special person and I was very fond of her.

For the past month I’ve been processing our loss, and want to express some personal thoughts.
I’ve known Edwenna and Michael for about 50 years, beginning in Berkeley and continuing through our lunch in Bethesda (with my wife Anne and their friend Sandra) one day before the tragic event. Michael was my physics graduate school mentor at Berkeley, and our relationship continued after I left Berkeley and physics (through no fault of Michael!) I stayed at their house in Pasadena on visits to take the California Bar Exam and to see my son’s (graduate) school (University of Texas) play in the Rose Bowl for the national championship (twice!) And there were countless walks with Edwenna and Anne in D.C. and Maryland - touristy and otherwise - when Olive and Lucy gave Edwenna a few hours off.
Most of all I was fortunate to be able to travel with Edwenna and Mike on five different Backroads hiking trips, in four continents. Edwenna was a terrific traveler and travel companion. She would make the hotel arrangements for the pre- and post- Backroads segments (the only requirement was a swimming pool) – always making sure they were acceptable to Mike and me (they always were). She would read and carry the travel books (especially Lonely Planet) and cultural background books, and share their insights during our trips. And she would keep a travelogue during our trips, bequeathing us a journal of memories.
So many travel highlights would not have happened but for Edwenna: The Book of Kells in Dublin, the Majorelle Gardens in Marakesh, seeing (and canoeing under) the Pont de Gard in Provence, the Marais (and Berthillon ice cream, for which Mike shares the credit) in Paris, the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, and the Sanjusangenko Temple of a Thousand Buddhas in Kyoto.
Others have called Edwenna the Energizer Bunny. Traveling, she was the energizer bunny on steroids. Not a minute was wasted. Arriving in Paris in the afternoon, “forget 9-hours of jet lag, let’s go to the Pompidou Center,” (while Michael wisely rested). Walking all over Tokyo and seeing the busiest intersection in the world. Beginning each day with a swim – and then swimming with the ice cubes in the Atlantic off Ireland’s Ring of Kerry. And being a good sport when I dragged her on an hour-long search for the Paris open air stamp market made famous in the movie “Charade,” and when we walked two miles on the Las Vegas strip to see the Bellagio fountains – definitely outside her (and Mike’s) comfort zone.
I miss her so.

I’ve known Edwenna since we sang together under Paul Verwoerk, years ago, and though I’m sure I never knew her as deeply as many of you, I’ve always had a deep affection and respect for who I saw she was – so enviably self-disciplined, such a fierce advocate for what was decent and right, in her world view (which happened to coincide with mine), and yet such unmitigated cheerfulness in the face of all. Her zest for life, her tactfulness, her intellect….I could go on and on….

It’s clear Edwenna touched many, many lives with hers, and she will be sorely missed by us all.

From Susan Judy, fellow singer, Santa Cruz chorale alumna, and Disapora member

I will not be able to be at the memorial for Edwenna, but I will be thinking of her and missing her. I will miss her visits to DC, carefully planned in advance, with priority time for Erica, Bill and her much loved granddaughters, and notes about when she could be free to spend time with me and what she would like to do. It was a schedule that always included swimming. And she was so pleased when she found an underused pool near Erica's house. Sometimes she walked substantial distances in cold, nasty weather to join me. And she would wear her sneakers to fancier restaurants and apologize for them, but they made it possible for her to walk to get there. As others have noted, she was a woman with deep interest in many things, who got much pleasure from her music, and political activities, and travels with the extended family and friends, and contributing to Bob Putnam's work to the extent she did, and doing things with Rosemary, She took in all that she experienced and shared it, along with her great care for others. We need many, many more people like her. Her sudden, unexpected, too soon departure leaves a big hole not only for her family, but also for her friends.

I heard loud voices in the flat above the former coal cellar in which I lived, ran outside to climb the outside stairs, and get to the flat above--much nicer--to find Edwenna expostulating with the woman she found sleeping there: my mother who was visiting Cambridge from the U.S. We knew the flat was unoccupied so had taken advantage! From that lively beginning, Edwenna and Mike were our friends, bringing Erica as an infant to sleep at our Altadena home, discussing the appropriate safety seat for Alexander, and intersecting when I could come to hear the beautiful music she made and so enjoyed. A dinner party--go to Edwenna's; a political gathering which would bring real fruits--go to Edwenna's, enjoy a good laugh, talk about grandchildren--a favorite, I could go on. Losing Edwenna as a presence is a shock, but we will continue to be guided by her example of "doing the most good one can......... as long as ever one can." And that is a gift that does not disappear.

My husband sometimes call me the Energizer bunny but I more than met my match in Edwenna after moving several years ago from the east coast to Pasadena. I had known Michael from working at NASA in Washington, DC on the agency’s Great Observatories and reconnected with him as he was biking home from the Athanaeum one summer evening. Soon after, I met Edwenna and almost right away I found myself volunteering to register voters, guide 5th graders through the Norton Simon’s masterpieces, and attempt to keep up with her playing piano duets or games. She introduced me to the Pasadena Pro Musica and we attended all her concerts. She was an amazing cook and host, generous, warm and funny. I loved to look at her photos of Olive and Lucy and was with her in the car when she had her first facetime encounter with baby Rose.

She leaves an unexpectedly large hole in my heart after having known her such a relatively short time, but I am so glad to have had the time we shared. When I think of her, I always see her smile.

    Edwenna was my fellow Energizer Bunny with whom I worked closely since 1989 on many a Pasadena Pro Musica project. As a result, we were in near-daily contact with all of our behind-the-scenes work on behalf of the chorus. I couldn’t have asked for a better collaborator on the many projects we undertook.
    Edwenna, it was a joy and honor to have worked with you for nearly 30 years. Your intellect, combined with a heart metaphorically as large as the Grand Canyon, and your joie de vivre made life better for all of us who knew and loved you. If you had ever taken time from your busy schedule to look back on your life, you most assuredly could say it was a life well spent. We miss you greatly. Rest well, dear friend.

I posted this on behalf of John Herring, who taught ESL with Edwenna for many years....Michael

I have enjoyed working with Edwenna in ESL classes for many years now. She is a great teacher and well liked by her students. I came to know Edwenna as she and my wife Ellen worked together for many years. After Ellen died in 2014, Edwenna took me to Huntington Gardens, Descanso Gardens, and Norton Simon Museum. And she often came to my house and we walked and talked. I appreciate all that she did. 

Most recently, we were co-teaching the level 1 ESL class at La Pintoresca Library. When we started up the Fall term three weeks ago, most of the students knew Edwenna from the Spring term. Margarita asked where Edwenna was. After I told her, she explained to the class in Spanish. The class will go on, but we will miss her.

I also benefited from your grapefruit tree, and the delicious fruit it produced.

John Herring

Michael adds: Edwenna loved grapefruit...she had one very day of the year...often from our remarkably fecund grapefruit tree, which had plenty left over for John Herring as well.

I had the great good fortune to work closely with Edwenna when she was at Stanford. She over-achieved as our departent administrator, making both the simple routine tasks of university life and the difficult scary ones go right. More importantly, she was a ray of light every day in the office, creating an atmosphere that was upbeat, positive, friendly and productive too. All different kinds of folks, faculty, students, staff, with all different kinds of crises and challenges, benefited both from her calm effectiveness and from her human warmth. We have lost a great friend and a great human being. 

Edwenna was full of light, song, and energy. She filled a room with her smile. I am so grateful for her friendship, her fervent passion about politics, her intellectual conversations. She and I enjoyed many a walk and lunch and sharing in the USC Rose Garden. What a gift she was to all of us.

Bless her.

I was Chairman of the Department of Economics at Stanford from 1986 to 1989. In 1986, I posted a job for the Department Administrator, the top staff position in the department. Edwenna applied for the job. She listed Gavin Wright as a reference so I went to him and asked him what he thought of her.  His answer was clear - she is great at everything!  She was vastly overqualified for the job, but I hired her anyway.  And, Gavin was right (and Wright). She was absolutely super.  She was smart, nice, incredibly energetic, fun to work with,...., the best. We stayed in touch for the subsequent 30 years. 

Let me share a little bit of an email she sent me this May about a trip up to the Bay Area on May 28th on the occasion of my retirement.  Here goes  "I would love to have lunch on Tuesday. My plane arrives at SJC at 10:15, which should give me plenty of time to get to Alexander and Karen's house in Santa Clara (they are very close to the airport), see Rose, and then get to Stanford. I'll rent or borrow a car, or Uber (if parking is hard). Do you know if Susan Maher is invited to the reception? I might try to see her between lunch and the reception, or some friends in Menlo Park--or, of course, Cathe and Gavin, unless they're busy preparing the reception. As you know, no grass grows under my feet."  I don't know about you, but I think that captures quite a bit of the amazing Edwenna.  I am tired just reading how she planned to use every minute of the day catching up with family and friends. 

She made my life richer. We lost a treasure of a person.  But, an unforgettable one who never, ever got old.  John

Song – by May Sarton
Read by Sara Willard at a remembrance for Edwenna

Now let us honor with violin and flute
A woman set so deeply in devotion
That three times blasted to the root
Still she grew green and poured strength out.

Still she stood fair, providing the cool shade,
Compassion, the thousand leaves of mercy
The cherishing green hope. Still like a tree she stood,
Clear comfort in the town ad all the neighborhood

Pure as the tree is young, young
As the tree forever young, magnanimous
And natural, sweetly serving: for her the song,
For her the flute sound and the violin be strung.
For her all love, all praise
All honor, as for trees
In the hot summer days

I have a kinda “thing” for curmudgeons. I imagine throwing a curmudegeon party where everyone is grump, mobody speaks, and everyone looks like they wish they weren’t there. Edwenna, of course, wouldn’t be invited. Michael maybe, but certainly not Edwenna.
For the curmudgeon within me, Edwenna might even have seemed a little nosey. Why does she want to know what I’m doing, and whether I was happy?’
The simple answer is that Edwenna was a people person. She loved to communicate - to share what she’d learned and learned from what was shared. Her curiosity expanded her understanding, her wisdom, and, perhaps most of all, her compassion.
I will miss Edwenna’s inquiring mind and her kind, compassionate heart.
Theo Primes – fellow traveler with the Santa Cruz Chorale

Of all the wonderful photos displayed to remember Edwenna, photo #39 epitomizes the Edwenna I was privileged to know through her participation in the home-building project that members of her church worked on in Tijuana. That photo, tossing that bucket, for me, shows the ACTION that was Edwenna!

While I was employed at Neighborhood, Edwenna put her energy and ACTION into every aspect of church life. If a project needed some contribution, whoosh, in came Edwenna, dropped off whatever, said a few words, and was off to her next life event.

What I will always see, when I think of Edwenna, is her lovely, ready smile. I can only begin to imagine the hole that her sudden death has left in her immediate family. I have listened to members of her church family who are reeling with the shock of its suddenness. For those who knew Edwenna's love of life and and her love of you, my hope and prayer is that you will also be able to smile as you remember the beautiful smile that was Edwenna.

Peace and blessings to all, especially Michael, your children and grandchildren.