COLLEAGUES GATHER TO REMEMBER BETTY CHIPMAN PESEK

While celebrating Betty's "great life lived and completed," guests shared many personal stories and common reflections. ​

Elise Packard, now living in Santa Fe, wrote:

Have you ever identified with Bridging Betty?... Can you imagine Betty telling her North Shore friends that she was going to take the train each day to (Chicago's) West Side, and therefore would not be available for tea? Can you imagine Betty recruiting these same friends for a weekend of study in a church basement, or a chance to make a safe haven for West Side children during riots, or beckoning these friends to a life of action sparking social justice?"

​After the Daily Office, the morning worship service performed by staff of the Ecumenical Institute, Elise facilitated small-group reflections. Among the words offered by her colleagues to describe Betty were "elegant integrity," "gracious presence," "fearless," and "servant leadership."

​Our Global Archives team named their room "The Betty C. Pesek Room" in her honor. Chris, her son, shared in his eulogy that his mother had an alternative to "look busy; God is coming." Instead she proclaimed "Get it done; God is already here."
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Read more about the Betty Chipman Pesek Memorial at Ted Wysocki's blog