Eulogy - Alice Louise Budd Klayman
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Eulogy for Alice Louise Budd Klayman January 24, 2015 Unitarian Society of Northampton & Florence I’m Karen Johnston. I have been a friend of Naomi’s for many years. I am honored to be asked to participate in this celebration of Alice’s life. This is not a story of Alice Louise Budd Klayman in her entirety. We have lost the entire Alice and with this, all of us, but especially those who loved her deeply, must come to some acceptance and resolution. She has taken the journey like so many before her, like her own parents, like her husband, the father of her beloved children, like each of us will one day take as well. We have lost entire Alice, bu t we still have wit h us parti al Alice. Partial Alices – each one a facet of the jewel that was Alice. We are here today to put those facets together, a story of the jewel of Alice. Her education and work were one facet. She was a physics major at Mt. Holyoke College; worked in Washington DC as a Lab Technician. After getting married she and her husband Maxwell moved to Rome, and later lived in Colombia. When they returned to the U.S. they settled in Akron, Ohio. Alice the n studied computer s cience a nd became a technic al writer i n the banking industry. Throughout all this time she was active in humanitarian and political causes - local Amnesty International and Common Cause chapters; the League of Woman Voters and more. And when she moved to Amherst, she immediately became involved in that community as well. She was an impressively accomplished woman. I remember one Fourth of July when we all went to the hill at Mt. Holyoke, Alice’s alma mater, and a favorite viewing spot for fireworks. I remember listening to Alice’s r ecounting of stories from her c ollege da ys. She brimme d with p ride for the school and for her own achievements there. This pride was not immodest – it struck me as having an appropriate valuing of her accomplishments without an ounce of arrogance or self-importance. Nearly three years ago, Alice’s dementia already advancing, she took part in a creative writing group facilitated by her daughter, Naomi. The writing prompt was “Peace is wonderful but ecstatic dance is more fun.” Here is what Alice wrote: Sometimes, the sail just needs to open and the world is full of beauty. Sometimes, the world is perfect, and my eyes are like the sun that makes promises, the promise of life – that it always keeps. There is a breeze that can enter the soul This love of mine plays a drum, arms move around me: who can contain
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Transcript of Eulogy - Alice Louise Budd Klayman
7/23/2019 Eulogy - Alice Louise Budd Klayman
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Eulogy for Alice Louise Budd KlaymanJanuary 24, 2015
Unitarian Society of Northampton & Florence
I’m Karen Johnston. I have been a friend of Naomi’s for many years. I amhonored to be asked to participate in this celebration of Alice’s life.
This is not a story of Alice Louise Budd Klayman in her entirety. We have lostthe entire Alice and with this, all of us, but especially those who loved her deeply, must come to some acceptance and resolution. She has taken the journey likeso many before her, like her own parents, like her husband, the father of herbeloved children, like each of us will one day take as well. We have lost entire
Alice, but we still have with us partial Alice.
Partial Alices – each one a facet of the jewel that was Alice. We are here today
to put those facets together, a story of the jewel of Alice.
Her education and work were one facet. She was a physics major at Mt. HolyokeCollege; worked in Washington DC as a Lab Technician. After getting marriedshe and her husband Maxwell moved to Rome, and later lived in Colombia.When they returned to the U.S. they settled in Akron, Ohio.
Alice then studied computer science and became a technical writer in thebanking industry. Throughout all this time she was active in humanitarian andpolitical causes - local Amnesty International and Common Cause chapters; theLeague of Woman Voters and more. And when she moved to Amherst, sheimmediately became involved in that community as well. She was animpressively accomplished woman.
I remember one Fourth of July when we all went to the hill at Mt. Holyoke, Alice’salma mater, and a favorite viewing spot for fireworks. I remember listening to
Alice’s recounting of stories from her college days. She brimmed with pride forthe school and for her own achievements there. This pride was not immodest – itstruck me as having an appropriate valuing of her accomplishments without anounce of arrogance or self-importance.
Nearly three years ago, Alice’s dementia already advancing, she took part in acreative writing group facilitated by her daughter, Naomi. The writing prompt was
“Peace is wonderful but ecstatic dance is more fun.” Here is what Alice wrote:Sometimes, the sail just needs to open and the world is full of beauty. Sometimes, the world is perfect, and my eyes are like the sun that makes promises, the promise of life –that it always keeps.
There is a breeze that can enter the soul This love of mine plays a drum, arms move around me: who can contain
7/23/2019 Eulogy - Alice Louise Budd Klayman
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their beauty?
Peace is wonderful but ecstatic dance is more fun.
She had that way about her: seeing beauty and delighting in it. Ever the optimist,
she also brought a critical eye to the world. Though she could be a ray ofsunshine (actually, to my mind, she could be a whole roomful), she did notsugarcoat much. She could argue not only what the New York Times wasreporting, she could argue with the Times if what they depicted was inaccurate orunfair in her opinion.
I only met Alice in the later part of her life. One of her beloved granddaughtersand my daughter were, for several years running, something like best friends –building fairy houses together, taking sewing classes together, and such. I wouldencounter Alice at family gatherings at the Klayman-Kendrick household, foronce she moved here from Ohio in 2002, Alice was a fixture at family get-togethers. Despite her prized rational perspective, Alice believed unequivocallythat her grandchildren – all four of them – were objectively the best.
She also believed in passing on what she valued to her children, hergrandchildren, and her community. Not unlike her son-in-law, Alice believed inusing any and everything til it cannot not be possibly be used any more. Shewas frugal – opting not to take salad dressing if it cost the extra quarter, keepingfar too many jars of rubber bands, just in case they might come in handy.Clothes were functional, rather than fashionable; even if they didn’t necessarilymatch, Alice had a style about her that let you know she was approachable. Andthat she loved life.
She passed down values to her children and grandchildren: integrity, a strongsense of fairness, appreciation for people; and rational engagement in the world,combined best with social action.
Alice was a humanist with an open mind and open heart toward other people'sbeliefs, and in her early adulthood she found a home in Unitarianism. In fact, shebrought her own mother into the Unitarian fold. She brought values of fairnessand social action to the three congregations with whom she found her spiritualhome: the Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron, the UU Society of Amherst justacross the river from here, and this congregation. In Akron, she chaired thechurch social justice committee and she worked tirelessly with the Sisters of
Joseph as part of the Sanctuary movement to provide safe habor for Latin American refugees. Here in the Pioneer Valley, she was a member of theRaging Grannies, of Not Bread Alone, and was quite involved in the SeniorCenter in Amherst when she lived there.
Did I mention sense of humor? She had it in spades. The ravages of dementiaare scarring for those whose minds are fading and for their family. Sometimes itleaves a concentrated version of the person, those few basic elements of their
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personality, for good or for ill. In Alice’s case, she never lost that sense ofhumor. She laughed until the very end, even making jokes herself, finding themout loud funny, laughing at and with herself.
Alice said it best:
Sometimes, the world is perfect, and my eyes are like the sun that makes promises, the promise of life –that it always keeps.
Life kept its promises, the exact length and breadth, with Alice - until October 6th,when she died peacefully in her sleep. None of us knew her in her entirety, butnevertheless, we were deeply blessed to have our lives touched by some part ofhers.
