It is with great sadness, but with fond memories, that we acknowledge the passing of fallen volunteers. Please join us in reflection on their impact on Thresholds of Delaware County.
It was the 70s and the Vietnam War was raging. Demonstrations against the war were common and a Unitarian Minister was arrested. Upon his release, he made an impassioned speech to the congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Delaware County (UUCDC).
This resulted in the picketing of the Delaware County Prison. After long negotiations, it was agreed that community involvement with the prison was necessary. That involvement eventually took the form of Thresholds in Delaware County. The moving force behind the creation and establishment of Thresholds in Delaware County was Patricia Lasseter. She passed away recently. She was an amazing woman. Here is her obituary as written by her daughter
“She loved books, the real kind, especially mysteries, she loved animals, especially boxers and bulldogs and cats. She loved adventure and she loved being in love and she loved to dance, especially to live New Orleans Jazz. She loved to travel and she walked the Great Wall of China, went on Safari in Africa and climbed the Mayan pyramids at Chichen Itza, but she’d take New Orleans or Cape Cod or the British Isles over anywhere else any day of the week. She loved to help people and started Thresholds to help convicts and went to Nola after Katrina to rebuild houses and to Guatemala to help build schools, if she was watching tv, she was also knitting hats for babies in the NICU. She loved exercise and movement and worked out to Jane Fonda in the 80s, did Jazzercise and Aerobics in the 90s, and found her passion in her practice of yoga and teaching it to others. She loved her adopted home of Media, Pennsylvania, especially her Unitarian church community and her close knit group of girlfriends. She loved her Virginia Roots and her family, especially her cousins ‘The Clarke Girls’. She loved her kids, perhaps most of all, and was so proud of all of us, and she loved her kids spouses and always said how lucky we all were. She loved snow storms and fires in the fireplace, and puzzles and games, especially Scrabble and especially if she won (which she often did). She loved her grandchildren and anyone who was even remotely family, and welcomed them all to her home and her table. She loved to entertain and to cook and especially to feed people, whether we wanted to eat or not. She loved going to plays and movies and music festivals, especially if there was Blues involved. Mostly she loved being around people, and especially, she loved to talk and to laugh and to talk some more.
She taught me how to walk and how to talk, she taught me about unconditional love, the power of kindness and to take responsibility for my own happiness. She taught me to look past things like skin color or sexual preference, to judge people by their character; she delighted in people from all different races and backgrounds. She taught me how to have a conversation with anyone, and to do it as often as possible. She taught me how to read and never said no to a book. She taught me how to refinish furniture and shared her love of antiques and jewelry and beautiful things. She was fiercely progressive and proudly feminist and taught me the power of the vote and that anything a man could do, a woman could do better.
She passed away from Alzheimer’s, she is free again. She will be dearly missed.”
Bill Murphy – Click to read more