~ IN
MEMORY ~
Rene
Pisel-Walker, daughter of NWA pilot Capt. Gary H. Pisel
July 15,
1963 ~ April 1, 2013
Notification
with the passing of Rene Pisel-Walker... Rene is the daughter of retired NWA
pilot, RNPA member, Delta Golden Wings member, and Delta Pioneer member Captain
Gary Pisel.
To view/sign the online guestbook please visit
A celebration of Rene’s life will be held at a later
time. In lieu of gifts or flowers, Rene requested donations to her children
Dawson and Eliza Walker's college fund.
Personal
condolences may be sent to the Pisel family at
9961 W
Cameo Drive , Sun City AZ 85351-2361 ... (623) 582-4701
or by
email at gpisel@aol.com
Thank
you,
~ Carol
Teacher
Rene Pisel Walker, 49, died April 1 at home in North Douglas of metastatic
breast cancer that was first diagnosed in 2005. Rene had been in hospice about
two weeks and had typically left instructions for her obituary
writer:
"First,
I really don't want you to list the people who survive me. I don't like that
term, and I don't like to limit them, there are so many more than my immediate
family."
(That
family includes husband David and children Eliza and Dawson Walker, siblings
Elizabeth Davis and Scott Pisel, mother Jan and Bob Van Slyke, and father Gary
and Barbara Pisel.)
"I
also don't want you to say 'lost her battle with cancer' or 'after a long
struggle with cancer.' I live with cancer. It is what it is. It is my life, not
some kind of war with myself."
Above
all she wanted you to know, "My biggest joy was being a parent to such wonderful
kids. Dawson and Eliza make me proud every moment. I'm so pleased they'll go off
into the world with their amazing talents and caring personalities. And Davey.
Being married to such a kind, patient, loving man has made this all worthwhile."
Rene
wanted to change the world for the better and friends agree that she did. She
loved teaching kindergarten and first grade students at Gastineau Elementary
School. A year ago, when she knew the end was approaching, she did not make a
bucket list. She said, "What is it I really want to do? I want an ordinary life
with my family and to teach school."
What
she didn't say, but her loved ones will tell you, is how beautiful, kind, funny,
and frank she was. She lived the way her favorite poet Mary Oliver advised,
making sure her life was "particular" and that she was not "simply a visitor" in
this world.
She
inspired husband David Walker's Wearable Art winner, The Beast in the Beauty,
and was his biggest fan, but chose to keep her cancer private.
"It
was important to her that people look beyond her disease and see her for the
person she was - loving teacher, mother of talented children, loved wife,
most-excellent friend, a person who tried to live her life with honesty and
integrity and as full of love as it could be," friend Debra Bufton said. "Rene
walked into her life and her illness with her eyes wide open. She demanded love,
respect, and engagement from everyone, even her many medical practitioners, and
was more than willing to extend it right back."
"But
don't say I never complained," Rene told her obituary writer. "I hate that.
What's with that? I complain all the time. Cancer is so unfair."
Rene
Marie Pisel Walker was born July 15, 1963 in Fort Dix, NJ to Gary Pisel and Jan
Schwank. Her father was in the Air Force and later became a commercial pilot.
She was raised in New Jersey, Minneapolis, and the Seattle area. When her
parents divorced she moved with her mother to Missoula, graduating from Hellgate
High in 1981. She earned a BA in political science at Lewis and Clarke College.
In 1985 she moved to Haines, where she helped run the old 10-Mile Roadhouse. In
1987 she left Haines for a job with Planned Parenthood in Portland. A friend
from Haines, carpenter David Walker, came to Portland for a visit and stayed a
month. They were married July 14, 1990 at Rainbow Glacier Camp in Haines and
settled in Juneau, where Rene spent 13 years as an education specialist and
client advocate for AWARE. When their children were in 2nd grade and pre-school
the Walkers spent six months camping in Australia. Upon returning to Juneau,
Rene earned her teaching credential. She began teaching at Gastineau Elementary
School in 2003 and pursued a master's degree at UAS. Of her careers Rene said,
"I have now taught two children of teenage women I helped when I worked at
AWARE. It's so cool to see them doing great now. I like feeling that I can make
a difference."
Rene
said her favorite times were, "Camping with family across Australia, trudging
across Mud Bay to wonderful friends and the cabin, swimming at Flathead Lake,
hiking in Glacier National Park, canoeing the Minnesota Boundary Waters
Wilderness, laughing with friends, and enjoying the amazing natural beauty of
Alaska." She wanted to be sure to thank "the friends, colleagues, acquaintances,
medical professionals and strangers who have been loving and supportive
throughout."
A
celebration of her life will be sometime after the folk festival. In lieu of
gifts or flowers, Rene requested donations to Dawson and Eliza Walker's college
fund. You may make checks out to Alaska USA 1753315 and mail them to the credit
union or her sister.
Alaska
USA Federal Credit Union
P.O.
Box 196613
Anchorage,
AK 99519-6613
Elizabeth
Davis
512
West 11th Street
Juneau
AK 99801
.Published
in The Juneau Empire on April 7, 2013
==================================
==================================
From: RNPA News Sent: Tuesday, April 02,
2013 4:46 AM Subject: Rene Pisel (Daughter) Update
It
is my unpleasant task to inform you that Rene
Marie Pisel-Walker, born July 15, 1963, Mt Holly, NJ has
passed into the hands of the Lord this date April
1, 2013, Juneau AK just 3 1/2 months shy of her 50th birthday.
Services
are pending. Please
relay to any friend or relative.
Thanks
for your prayers and thoughts.
Gary
& Barbara Pisel
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