Opening remarks at Phyllis' Memorial Service

by Yoshi Fujitani

July 14, 2001

Just the other day, at our monthly meeting of a group known simply as the Open Table, one of the speakers spent a few minutes explaining the word "transformation" as one of our goals in life. I latched myself on to that word immediately, since Phyllis Roe, whom we honor today, spent her days transforming lives, including her own, bringing hope to the desperate, healing to the wounded, wisdom to the ignorant, friendship to the lonely, understanding to the distracted, and, we may add, laughter to the grim and the over-serious. Phyllis helped to transform us, for which we are most grateful. And we are grateful, too, that we have met this late afternoon so that we could support each other as we remember and pay our tribute to a grand lady, our friend and teacher. We welcome you all to this gathering.