Tom,
Maybe you would be willing to write a brief note to Jack Laws from Audubon.
Some of you may not have met or know Jack Laws, but I thought you might be
interested in this article.
Liinda
Beatrice Challiss Laws
August 2, 1927 – March 10, 2020
Beatrice Challiss Laws died on March 10, 2020, at home with her sons James
Challiss Laws and John Muir Laws. Beatsie was a loving wife, mother, and
grandmother who gave to her family and community with passion, patience,
wisdom, and strength. She was born on August 2, 1927, in Los Angeles
California, the daughter of John Van Hoesen Challiss and Beatrice Ward
Challiss. Growing up with her sister Catharine, she attended Los Angeles High
School, spending her summers as a camp counselor. She developed a love of the
outdoors: flyfishing, horseback riding, backpacking, and studying botany and
astronomy.
She attended the University of California at Berkeley and subsequently Stanford
Law School, and in 1952 was one of the first female graduates. In 1953, she was
admitted to the California Bar and clerked for Chief Justice Phil Gibson of the
California Supreme Court. It was there that she met Robert Henry Laws Jr. They
fell in love on a camping trip in the Sierra Nevada, and were married in 1962
and settled permanently in San Francisco. They supported each other steadfastly
through both hard and happy times, raising two sons and spending many summers
exploring the Sierra.
Beatrice lived a life of service.
Following her work at the California Supreme Court, she was a deputy city
attorney in San Francisco. She later worked as an attorney at the Sierra Club,
protecting wildlands throughout the United States. Locally, in San Francisco,
she was instrumental in the effort to save Tank Hill, now a protected natural
area. Similarly, she helped defeat speculative development near Mount Sutro. In
the 1980’s she served the City of San Francisco as a commissioner for the
Juvenile Court.
Toward the end of her life, she faced multiple medical challenges with
cheerfulness, courage, and grace. Known and respected in the neighborhood and
community, her home became a hub where people came to share in her friendship
kindness and wisdom.
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