Update from Father Paul Caspersz of Satyodaya

This update came to Barrie from Father Caspersz at Satyodaya in Sri Lanka:

Nancy Waxler Morrison Memorial Fund for Vocational Training of Estate and Village Youth

Report of the first two trainees under the Fund, Damayanthi Nirosha and Alexander, upon the completion of their training, August 2007 – July 2008. Submitted in Sinhala by Amarapathi Devi, Coordinator of the Training and rendered into English by Fr Paul and Harsha.

First of all, the trainees wish to express their deeply-felt gratitude to Dr Barrie Morrison for setting up the Fund at Satyodaya in memory of his wife, Dr Nancy Waxler Morrison. The Fund has been established for the vocational training of youth in the plantations and adjacent villages. The youth are from poor families and have often not been able to complete their secondary education. Hence the opportunities for them to obtain vocational training and subsequent employment outside their plantations or villages are scarce. They pray that Dr Barrie Morrison will have the strength and resources to continue this programme.

The two trainees, who have now successfully completed their training and found employment, are grateful to Satyodaya and to the three members of Satyodatya – (Ms) Amarapathy Devi, Abeysekera and Sivakumar – who supervised their training.

Damayanthi and Alexander speak as follows of their training: at Natashaa Printers, Kandy :

Damayanthi : My training was in book binding and in all that is needed for this work. Upon successful completion of my year of training, I was offered employment in the same Natashaa Printers at a starting salary of Rs 5000/- per month, plus the statutory EPF (Employees Provident Fund) and ETF (Employees Trust Fund) payments. My family and I are very grateful to Dr Barrie and to Dr Nancy Waxler Morrison and Satyodaya for all that they have done for me.

Alexander : My training was in printing machine minding both for single colour and for four colour printing and for maintaining the machines in full working order. It was hard work but very interesting. Sometimes I was requested by the Proprietor-Manager of Natashaa Printers to do overtime work for which I was paid. This money gave me some useful pocket money for my normal requirements of toilet articles. It also allowed me to make some contribution to my home and poor parents in Galloway Knowe estate as well as to the VT Fund set up at Satyodaya by Dr Barrie Morrison in memory of his wife, Dr Nancy Waxler Morrison.

Any reader who wishes to make a contribution to the Fund may do so by cheque or bank transfer, payable, a/c payee, to Satyodaya, A/c No 900001003289 . The payments will be immediately acknowledged by the Satyodaya Finance Unit.

Pender Island Garden

Barrie sent this photograph of Nancy's beloved roses, which have grown and floursihed along the fence by their house on Pender Island. They speak of the enduring memory of one of the world's finest scientists, philanthropists, and friends.

ASA Obituary for Nancy

Nancy E. Waxler Morrison

1931-2007

Nancy E. Waxler Morrison died suddenly in February 2007 while on vacation with her husband in Costa Rica. She grew up in Urbana, IL, where she attended the University of Illinois, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated first in her class. She received her PhD in sociology from the Harvard Department of Social Relations in 1959 and then embarked on a career of research and teaching in the sociology of medicine—a field that was then still in its infancy. Her most important legacy was to demonstrate the many ways that health and health care are shaped by psychological states and different ethnic and cultural expectations as well as the particular disadvantage experienced by those who are poor and powerless.

Nancy’s first major research was done in the 1960s with Elliot Mishler at the Harvard Medical School where she later became an Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Psychiatry. Their studies of interaction patterns in families with a schizophrenic child contributed to the early reframing of psychiatric illness as not only amenable to biomedical solutions but also responsive to social interaction and labeling. With a coveted Research Scientist Award from NIMH (1968-1973), Nancy studied families and schizophrenia from a deviance perspective. With another NIMH award (1973-78), she traveled to Sri Lanka to examine how schizophrenia was treated by traditional means. In a frequently cited article (1979) she suggested that the outcome for schizophrenia was better in preindustrial societies, a radical theme at the time was upheld in later studies by the World Health Organization.

In Sri Lanka, Nancy met her future husband, Barrie Morrison, and her focus shifted to questions of broader access to health care and social justice in the treatment of minorities. Nancy joined Morrison in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1979, and, following an initial appointment in Health Care and Epidemiology, became a faculty member in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology and the School of Social Work. Building on her extensive collaborative research in Sri Lanka and Kerala, India, she continued her pioneer work on higher infant mortality rates among the minority Tamils and Muslims of Sri Lanka with a prestigious fellowship at the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, Italy, in 1988.

At UBC, Nancy Waxler Morrison became one of the university’s leading figures in social science and health care, giving guest lectures and serving on dissertation committees in many departments and faculties and as a consultant in Ottawa. The range of her courses was impressive: sociology of medicine, social research methods, health and illness, the family in cross-cultural perspective, health policy and planning. Her advice and her lectures in psychiatry and nursing, anthropology, history, and Asian studies touched on applications to international and Canadian health services.

Trusted and respected by students and colleagues alike, her teaching career had begun in the Boston area with adjunct appointments at Emmanuel College and Wellesley College. In 1975 and 1980-81 she was affiliated with the University of Ceylon in Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and from 1981 to 1992, with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Washington. She retired from UBC in 1992.

Her wide-ranging research interests extended to leprosy, illness among Canadian minority groups, psychosocial factors in women with breast cancer, Ayurvedic and homeopathic medical systems in Kerala, access to dental care for institutionalized elders, and asthma among lumber workers. In collaboration with graduate students and health professionals, she produced two editions of Cross-Cultural Caring (1992, 2005, co-edited with Joan Anderson). This work has been widely used by nurses, social
workers, physicians, and other health care professionals.

Nancy also enjoyed a rich personal life. She found pleasure in all kinds of travel. She had a talent for gardening and good cooking, and an interest and skill in such crafts as weaving and needlework. Though she was always modest and unassuming about her own importance, her work as a sociologist adds up to quite a remarkable record of discovery of the many ways in which health and the treatment of illness are powerfully shaped by social relationships and cultural milieu.

Janet Zollinger Giele, Brandeis University; Elliot G. Mishler, Harvard University; Elvi Whittaker, University of British Columbia

Nancy's Many Years of Exploration and Friendship

Nancy was a renowned world traveler, and everywhere she went she had friends to share the experience with. Here she is enjoying the Great Wall of China in 2001, the photo taken by Barrie.


Then with a group of fellow researchers at the Hethersett Estate in 1995, working on child mortality research.


Next is Nancy with one of Nancy and Barrie's closest friends, Dissa Dissanayoke, in 1996.

Next is Nancy shopping at the market in Kandy, 1995, and finally, with Barrie at a conference in Shanghai in 2001.

Kind Words from Fr. Paul Caspersz of Satyodaya

Fr. Paul Caspersz of the Satyodaya Mission in Sri Lanka shared these comments personally with Barrie and asked that they be added in Nancy's memory:

" It was not many months ago when I was at dinner with Barrie and her in the compact little flat they had rented out for a few weeks in Kandy, Sri Lanka. My memories of her are all without exception happy ones. - admiration, respect, and most of all devotion and friendship. I never at all expected her end to come so soon and so abruptly. May the shades of night fall lightly around her!"


The Satyodaya Mission has become a well respected and widely regarded humanitarian organization in Sri Lanka, and many people the mission has served know Nancy and Barrie very well from their philanthropic and charitable work while on vacation and during formal work efforts there.

Nancy at Her Happiest

These are two of the best photos of Nancy at her happiest, with Barrie whalewatching in the Vancouver Strait, and surrounded by incredible flowers.

More Photos

These photographs came from Radhamany Sooryamoorthy, taken when he and his wife Renjini and their son Dakshin visited Nancy and Barrie on Pender Island, taken in 2002. His letter detailing his friendship with Nancy and Barrie is posted under the comments section for the "Greatest Joy" posting.

Remembering Nancy's Greatest Joy

Nancy was an avid gardener, and one of her greatest joys was harvesting the yield of her spring garden. This is one of the happiest moments of her captured on film, and stands as an example of how much she loved life.

Pender Island, Nancy's Final Resting Place

Nancy was laid to rest on Friday, February 23rd, on her beloved Pender Island, with family, many friends, and community guests in attendance. The weather, which had been rainy and damp all week, dramatically cleared for the burial, and the sun shown brightly. Her husband Barrie, sister Mary Carol, Barrie's children, and many other cherished colleagues, neighbors, and friends paid tribute to Nancy. Barrie's daughter Sara led the burial event proceedings, which was followed by a brief gathering of the community for refreshments and discussion, before friends and neighbors departed for their homes and off-island destinations.

Photographs and personal reflections are most welcome.

Memorial Service, February 21st

Nancy's memorial service was held at Kearney Funeral Services in Vancouver on Wednesday, February 21st, and many friends and colleagues of both Nancy and Barrie came. Nancy's sister Mary Carol assisted with the orchestrations and along with nephew Chris met many of the guests personally. Barrie's daughter Sara conducted the agenda on behalf of the family, while her husband Mike and their three boys acting as ushers. Barrie's eldest son Peter and his wife helped to greet guests, and during the tribute Barrie's son Doug played a beautiful guitar instrumental which he had written for Nancy, and it was simply overwhelming.

So many of Nancy's friends came, and several of them spoke during the proceedings, all with fond and genuinely touching recollections. Emails and letters had come from colleagues and friends, including one from one of Nancy's oldest friends who has known Nancy for 50 years. As much as can be posted will be placed here for viewing.

Nancy's body was returned to Vancouver but was not presented for viewing, and the burial on Pender Island will take place on Friday, February 23.

Barrie is Back In Vancouver

I spoke with Barrie tonight briefly, he's back in Vancouver, and Mary Williams has arrived from Boston. They're at Barrie's apartment downtown. Barrie is exhausted and very, very saddened by the turn of events, as we all are. No news as of yet on when Nancy will be returned from Costa Rica. They're in the process of sorting out details, but tentatively a memorial service is being planned for Wednesday, to be held in Vancouver downtown. As soon as I get the location and contact information I will post it.

Latest News as of Friday 16, 2007

The latest news we received through Mary Williams (Nancy's sister) from Barrie was that he was going to try and fly back to Vancouver Thursday evening (2/15.) The Costa Rican government hasn't released Nancy's body yet, but the Canadian Embassy has gotten involved to assist with this process. Mary is flying to Vancouver this morning and should arrive before noon Pacific time, to be with Barrie and help sort through other arrangements. Once we find out when Nancy's body may be released, a decision will be made about a memorial service, and if its appropriate under the circumstances.

I'll post additional information as it becomes available.

Thank You to All Who Have Shared Their Memories of Nancy

Please feel free to relate your experiences and memories of Nancy here. If you have photographs you'd like posted, please let the administrator know.