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Patricia St. Lawrence, 1922Ñ1996
With the death of Pat St. Lawrence last October WAGE lost one of it's
guiding spirits. At a memorial service held at the Berkeley Faculty Club
friends and colleagues described her respected scientific work in the
genetics of fungi and her career in the department of Genetics which she
chaired in 1987-89 and from which she retired in 1991, her role as a founder
of the Berkeley Faculty Union and as an officer of the University Council of
the American Federation of Teachers, and her continuing committment to the
support of academic women.
The picture that emerged was of wit, modesty and great strength of
purpose. Charity Hirsch mentioned the WAGE meeting held on May first that
Pat introduced by neatly connecting the maypoles of her youth at Bryn Mawr,
the Mayday labor holiday and the ship's distress signal to women's issues. At
the March, 1996, meeting she spoke of Susan B. Anthony whose birthday was
near, mentioning not only her good works but also her love of pretty clothes.
Her remarks on these occasions were academic yet light, but her fellow
geneticists also recalled her self-effacing style. David Perkins of Stanford
described her as "a perfectionist who did not publish much but whose
instruction and influence were instrumental in shaping the research interest
of numerous students and colleagues."
But it was for her mentoring of women academics and support for those
who ran afoul of the University's gender bias that Patricia St. Lawrence will
be remembered most fondly by WAGE members. David Brody, former Univesity
Council President, said "Of all the faculty concerned with fair treatment at
Berkeley, she was the most dedicated, energetic and effective." Anne Weills,
Jenny Harrison's attorney, spoke movingly of Pat's invaluable help in that
case and read a statement from Jenny describing how Pat came to every
deposition "...with her hugs and homemade mushroom soup, and I felt
sustained...She was an angel in my life and I will sorely miss her."
We all will.
-wage@wage.org-