[Missouri-l] Tribute to Pat

[peter altschul]

I am forwarding this tribute to Pat at the request of Lisa 
Altschul, my wife.

Peter

Peace be with my very dear friend, Pat Beattie who lost a long 
ugly two year battle with breast cancer.  She attended our 
wedding here in Columbia, Missouri as my guest of honor, and 
happened to have a fall and hurt her knee.  The fall sent her to 
the doctor and caused the cancer to be diagnosed.  She was my 
mentor, my friend, like a mom to me, and a spirited soul that 
blessed my life with immense wisdom and many
great memories.  She took me to Ski for Light my first time in 
2005, which happened to be the last time she attended.  She 
helped me cope with the vision loss I experienced.  She taught me 
to be
an advocate for myself, not to give up, and to be tough.  I will 
never forget her impact on my life.  She had an endless zest for 
life and for bettering the lives of blind people.  No one knew 
more about disability legislation than Pat.  I last talked to her 
on December 19, a week before she went into the hospital for the 
last time.  She was still upbeat and encouraging to me even as 
she lay in a full body back brace as the cancer was in her spine.  
May god bless her soul.  RIP Pat


Lisa W.  Altschul
PhD Candidate
University of Missouri
Department of Biological Engineering
Home: (573) 445-5564
Cell: (573) 529-6348