Obituary Sarah Graetz Gagnon

Born Sarah Jane Graetz in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin March 9, 1947 to two nature-loving parents (George Michael Graetz and Susan Millicent (Finch) Graetz), the family moved to Neffsville, Pa., just outside of Lancaster, when she was still a preschooler. Her father’s salary as an engineer enabled her mother to be a stay at home mom, growing and preserving much of the family’s food and volunteering in a variety of community organizations. This included serving as a Girl Scout leader, from which Sally (as she was mostly known throughout her life) benefitted greatly. Music was a part of Sally’s life from the start, with her two sisters both musically talented and her father as well. While not her primary focus, music nevertheless was a constant companion and support.

The Graetz family traveled extensively during Sally’s childhood, going on long camping trips in the family station wagon all over the lower 48, mostly focused on visiting national parks. Small wonder, then, that Sally developed a deep curiosity about the natural world, leading her to major in Biology at Swarthmore College upon graduating from Manheim Township High School. There she was mentored by Robert K. Enders, a legendary Swarthmore faculty member who inspired generations of students to pursue advanced studies in Biology. Sally was especially curious about mammalian behavior, which led her to graduate school at Cornell to study bats under Jack Bradbury. After a couple years of course work at Cornell, she and fellow graduate student Bernice Tanenbaum drove Sally’s 1969 Dodge Dart from Ithaca down through Mexico and Central America to Panama to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute research station, located on Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal’s Gatun Lake. They just made it across the Susquehanna upon their departure from Cornell as hurricane Agnes flooded the Finger Lakes region. Despite her extensive camping experience, her parents would not have given their blessing to two mid-twenty females camping and driving down to Panama. She knew that, and never asked for permission.

Sally’s bat research involved catching bats with nets so she could attach small radio transmitters, allowing her to track their movements. Despite her enthusiasm, she found the work difficult and concluded reluctantly that perhaps she had been mistaken about really being drawn to it. She had her car shipped to Miami and moved to Atlanta to be near her sister Mary Ellen, taking a job as a lab technician. It was there that Mary Ellen, trained as an Occupational Therapist, observed her gait and opined that there was something wrong with her physically.  Sally had been told repeatedly ever since high school when she first experienced double vision that the symptoms she was having were “all in your head” and was prescribed psychological counseling, group therapy, etc. Mary Ellen recommended that Sally consult a neurologist. That led to her being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Her reaction was relief rather than despair. In the knowledge that her problem was physical and not mental, she returned to Cornell and her studies toward a PhD, but under Peter Brussard (Jack having left Cornell in the interim). Her research focused on a species of snail accidently introduced into this country in the clay used as packing around pottery shipped to the US from Europe. Snail behavior was much easier for her to observe than the bats she was so fond of! She completed her PhD in 1984, 15 years after beginning her doctoral studies.

It was during her time at Cornell that she was drawn to the Catholic Church, observing in several of her friends that “They had something that I wanted”. She studied under David Callan, priest-chaplain in the Cornell Catholic Community, who became a life-long friend and later presided over her wedding. It was when she joined a special event choir that was rehearsing a Gregorian Chant Mass that she met Joel Gagnon, who was leading that effort. Since her abode was accessed by passing nearby Joel’s, he got to bumming a ride from her, which led to conversations in the car, which led to “smooching with that woman” as his landlady Maria Barrus put it. They were married in 1976. Their involvement in church music continued throughout their marriage, at first in the folk group, the music of the time, and on to this day as the music evolved in response to changes in the church prompted in large measure by Vatican II.

Another change within the church was to reorganize marriage preparation. When it became a ministry of couples for couples, Joel and Sally joined the Tompkins County Pre-Cana team and remained involved for the next quarter-century or so. Helping others prepare for marriage was a great way to reinforce their own.

It was while Sally was a graduate student at Cornell that the Ecological Society of America moved its editorial offices to Ithaca, hiring for the first time a Managing Editor to devote more time to the task than the previous practice of having university faculty do it as a sideline activity. Lee Miller was that manager, and he hired Sally as the ESA’s first Technical Editor, on a part-time, contractual basis. Over time that grew into a full-time job, and the office itself grew from Lee, Sally and Candace Baker as Secretary to multiple secretaries and a whole cadre of editors. The ESA was extraordinarily accommodative of Sally’s gradually increasing disability. She transitioned to editing using a computer when her handwriting became laborious and her editor allowed her to gradually reduce her hours when she could no longer handle all of the manuscripts. She resigned and retired in 2003 (after 25+ years) when she realized that a developing cognitive impairment was affecting the quality of her work.

Sally believed strongly in “walking gently” on the earth, an attitude toward nature that she and Joel connect to Native American spiritualty. That included minimizing their carbon footprint before the term became common, and underlay their homesteading lifestyle. Sally appreciated simple pleasures, an organic diet grounded in mostly homegrown food, and community. She was a co-founder of the West Danby Community Association. With Joel she represented West Danby on both town and county Democratic Committees for many years. In recent years, their concern about global warming and its impacts led them to join Citizens Climate Lobby, initially a national, but now international, organization working for a bipartisan solution to climate change. CCLers believe that a carbon tax is likely the best tool for bringing about the rapid decrease in CO2 emissions needed to avoid climate catastrophe, coupled with a return of the money collected to the citizenry in the form of a dividend to mitigate the impact of the tax and bolster use of alternative energy. Accordingly, anyone wishing to make a donation in Sally’s memory is asked to consider CCL as a recipient. Alternatively, the Finger Lakes Climate Fund uses contributions made to offset donors carbon footprints --  notably, travel – to subsidize energy conservation and renewable energy investments for mostly low-income people who are often the most in need but lack the finances to make the improvements. Also worth considering: Bat Conservation International, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the Cornell Catholic Community.

A mass will be offered at Sage Chapel on the Cornell University campus at 10:30 A.M. Sunday January 27, 2019. This mass will be the regularly-scheduled Sunday morning mass, offered in memory of Sally as the Cornell community reconvenes following the winter break. All are invited to join in as we highlight Sally’s long association with the Catholic Church and especially the CCC. A “coffee hour” type reception will follow (and locals are welcome to add to that if they’d like by bringing some healthy snacking food). There will also be a celebration of life next summer, probably in June.