From Felice Cohen-Joppa —- Pat Birnie, Presente!
My friend Pat, a long-time and tireless peace and anti-nuclear activist, died on April 16 at age 90.
Pat and Betty Schroeder, her friend and partner in crime (literally and figuratively, with both women arrested occasionally at protests, including with other Raging Grannies at a Military Recruiting Center!), moved to Tucson in 1994. It was with Pat and Betty that Jack and I started monthly peace vigils at Davis Monthan Air Force Base and Raytheon Missile Systems more than 20 years ago, which continue to this day. We did a LOT of organizing and protesting together! Together with others, including Jim and Lucille Burkholder, we spent many months organizing multiple events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Pat, a member of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, was a very kind and caring person. When Jack had surgery after breaking his arm in a bicycle accident, she and Betty came over to deliver a big box of groceries and make sure he was okay. Betty died in 2009, and Pat later moved to Maryland to be near her family. She left some very big shoes to fill in the Tucson activist community.
For many years, Pat dedicated herself to working for a nuclear-free future, and I am deeply grateful for her vision, for her persistence and for the way she inspired and invited so many people to join her.
