In Loving Memory of Frances, from her partner Roger Walsh
"Frances was her usual lively loving joyful self through the day, but shortly after we arrived at a friend's house she felt faint, short of breath, and had chest pain. We rushed her to the ER but she suddenly deteriorated and lost consciousness. A CAT scan revealed a massive aortic artery dissection (tear). Fortunately, her two children, Bob and Leslie made it to the ER in time to be with her before she died, and she was surrounded by loving family and dear friends. She had long been at peace with death, and as we were taking her to the ambulance told us that her DNR (Do Not Resuscitate form) was in her purse.
She was, by any standard, a truly remarkable woman. She was clearly brilliant, graduating from Stanford in only three years and as Phi Beta Kappa (the highest academic honor), getting a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, and eventually being awarded two honorary doctorates. She raised two children and loved five grandchildren while offering a full time psychotherapy practice, and was widely regarded as one of the world's foremost transpersonal therapists. She published nine books and over a hundred articles, and was president of both the humanistic and transpersonal psychology associations. Recently, she was on the board of the philanthropic Fetzer Institute and also on the council of Spring Lake Village where she lived.
But what were most remarkable were her personal qualities and interpersonal skills. She was, as Ken Wilber wrote in a foreword to one of her books, "the wisest of wise women" and her deepest value was love. Extraordinary wisdom and extraordinary love: what a combination! On her last day a friend asked about her spiritual practice and she replied, as she had for many months, "I'm practicing gratitude."
She was my priceless life-partner, best friend, beloved, and teacher for over forty years, and I'm glad to have told her many times that she was the great gift of my life. I'm trying to bring her teachings to her loss, and to practice gratitude, in the midst of shock and grief, for the time we had together and the time she had with friends like you. Her children and I would like to have a memorial for her but it's too early to say when.
Thank you my friend for your contributions to her life and mine. I am deeply grateful for the many wonderful friends she had, and to know that her benevolent influence will continue to ripple out into the world through her writings, recordings, and through us."
In grief and gratitude
Roger
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