Hospitality? with sedimentology, a memorial, and vision loss

 RantWoman is posting thoughts here both with appreciation and with humility. Besides what RantWoman has seen of a memorial minute, some of what is here RantWoman might say at a memorial Meeting for Worship. Some of what is here is more general reflection on community life and particularly on Planet RantWoman.

First, a memorial minute, such as RantWoman has seen:

Charlotte Schreiber Memorial Minute

 

Professor Emerita  B. Charlotte Schreiber, 89, passed away peacefully on Friday, July 17, 2020 after a brief illness. Charlotte was a geologist, and an internationally recognized expert in sedimentology.

 

Charlotte was born on June 27, 1931, in Brooklyn, NY to Herman and Eugenia Warembat, first generation Jewish immigrants from Poland.  She blazed her own trail for the entirety of her 89 years.

 

After graduating Hunter College High School, Charlotte completed her A.B. in Geology from Washington University in St. Louis in 1953, and later earned her M.S. in Sedimentology and Micropaleontology from Rutgers University in 1966. On completing her Ph.D. at 45 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, she was awarded a National Science Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship, which she spent at Imperial College, London. She taught at Queens College (C.U.N.Y) and was a Senior Research Scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University. Study of the earth was her passion, and so even after her official retirement she held an adjunct professorship at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, and from 2006 to present an affiliate professorship at University of Washington in Seattle, WA. 

 

An extraordinary scientist and educator, Charlotte’s deep knowledge, intense curiosity, and keen intuition led her to creative insights and significant discoveries in her chosen specialty of sedimentology. A prolific researcher, she authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and was celebrated with the highest level of honors for her field, including the prestigious Sorby Medal, the highest award of the International Association of Sedimentologists.

 

As a mentor, collaborator, and friend to scores of her students and colleagues, Charlotte combined determination, hard work, and raw talent, earning the deepest respect and admiration from  her peers. At a time when the academic world could be deeply challenging to female scientists, Charlotte served tirelessly as a role model and inspiration to several generations of talented young women. Endlessly fascinated by the natural world, Charlotte continued to make major contributions in her discipline well into her 80s, co-authoring papers, advising colleagues, mentoring students, delivering lectures and travelling to remote geological sites.

 

Charlotte first encountered Quakers as a teen when, on one of her many bicycle rides around Queens, she discovered the historic meetinghouse of Flushing Monthly Meeting, one of the oldest meetinghouses in the United States.  She attended there throughout high school and into college. 

 

Charlotte married Edward Schreiber and the couple lived in St Louis while he served in the Air Force.  There was no Quaker meeting there.  When the couple moved back to the east coast so that Edward could attend graduate school at Alfred University, Charlotte attended the local Friends meeting.  While at Alfred, Charlotte and Edward had their two daughters, Susie and Christie.  The family moved closer to New York City and Edward and Charlotte both served as members of the Queens College faculty until Edward’s death in 1991 and Charlotte’s retirement in 1993. While in the greater New York area Charlotte was a member of the Rockland Friends Meeting for several decades. 

 

Retiring to western North Carolina to be nearer to one of the girls, Charlotte became a very active member of the Celo Friends Meeting in Burnsville, NC (Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association).  Her contributions there included working to create a new building that would house a caretaker’s apartment and shared spaces for gatherings, and several years later, a campaign for a new Meetinghouse.  While in North Carolina Charlotte also served on the board of the Arthur Morgan School, a Friends boarding school, and donated her time and energy to the work of Habitat for Humanity.  She continued her academic work at nearby Appalachian State University.

 

When Charlotte moved to Seattle in 2005 to be near both her daughters (Seattle and Eugene, OR), she was encouraged to volunteer in the Geology department by a former student who wanted to see more of a female presence in the department.  Charlotte was quickly offered a position as an affiliate professor and, though retired now for 12 years, Charlotte continued to work tirelessly teaching and supervising graduate students.  She enjoyed traveling the world for her ongoing work in geology, especially around the Mediterranean.

 

When at home in Seattle, she also involved herself deeply with the University Friends Monthly Meeting where she became a member in 2010.  She served on Buildings and Grounds, Friends Center and Hospitality committees.  Charlotte’s most tangible gifts to UFM were the wonderful baked goods she tirelessly provided for the 10:30 Social Time and Meeting Retreats.  Charlotte’s hospitable and generous nature enriched many lives within the meeting, both at the meetinghouse and in our private homes.

Always an insatiable reader and devoted pet owner, Charlotte’s favorite form of relaxation was to curl up with a good book, and one of her long line of four-footed friends. 

Preceded in death by her husband and scientific collaborator, Dr. Edward Schreiber, and her sister, Lynn Roeder, Charlotte is survived by her daughters, Christie of Cottage Grove, OR, and Sue, of Seattle, WA, nieces, nephews, as well as many others she informally adopted into her world and family.

 

Some things RantWoman might say at a Memorial Meeting for Worship 

One of RantWoman's college housemates is also a graduate of Hunter College High School, a very prestigious high school in New York. Many graduates have gone on to important work in STEM fields.

RantWoman always found it fascinating to talk to Charlotte. Charlotte's career spanned the formulation of the theory of plate tectonics. RantWoman assumes that the nature of science is that many people deserve credit for contributing to this theory. RantWoman has no basis for further opinion about how this point applies to Charlotte's work   

RantWoman did not discuss sedimentology in depth with Charlotte. RantWoman does remember a conversation about Charlotte's male colleagues. expecting her to make the coffee. She is in good company with other professional women of her generation. Considering the issue of coffeemaking during Charlotte's career, probably everyone should be deeply grateful for how much coffee she made at UFM.

Hospitality Committee

RantWoman and Charlotte were briefly co-clerks of hospitality committee. RantWoman cheerfully said yes to Nominating Committee's suggestion with blithe disregard for the impact vision loss was having on her life and ability to get along with people. There are certain supply organizing / shopping / laundry parts of the role that Charlotte just did without being asked. RantWoman was very grateful, but that also maybe was an impediment to better shared workload and sense of community among committee members. 

RantWoman also was pretty fearless about just doing lots of the Sunday tasks of the job: make the coffee, operate the dishwasher. Rolling the coffee cart around among all the people bobbing and weaving during or after coffee hour is no mean feat if everyone has turned into blobs among fog and blur. Charlotte also missed out on a couple piquant "Hospitality Committee is pastoral care plus knives and hot liquids" moments RantWoman still thinks about when thinking about gifts, challenges, accessibility.  But perhaps it is enough for now to remember Charlotte and to save further Dial-a-Tirade reflections for a different moment.