Lynne Dahlborg, Professor At Suffolk University, 60
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Lynne Dahlborg, professor at Suffolk University; at 60
By J. M. Lawrence, Boston Globe Correspondent
On her 59th birthday last year, Lynne Dahlborg went tubing with her
children down the rocky course of the Virgin River near Utah's Zion
National Park.
Doctors had told her a few weeks earlier that she had a rare terminal
cancer and removed her gallbladder.
Writing about that river ride in a blog, Ms. Dahlborg said she found
herself exhausted and terrified, with no exit. Her daughter loved the
three-hour adventure, but Ms. Dahlborg was in agony until she stopped
fighting the flow, she wrote.
"Like life, the river kept going, and my surrender was part of living
and healing and knowing that I could survive even the sharpest rocks
and deepest drops," Ms. Dahlborg wrote, using the river as a metaphor
for her cancer and strong faith that God would heal her spirit.
Ms. Dahlborg, a tenured professor at Suffolk University and head of
the paralegal studies department, died Sunday at her home in
Middleborough [Massachusetts]. She was 60. Her spouse and partner for
18 years, the the Rev. Patricia Kogut, was by her side.
Hours before her death, members of the couple's church -- North
Congregational in Middleborough, where Kogut is pastor -- stood
outside her window and sang five verses of "Amazing Grace."
"She was not the traditional minister's wife, but we used to joke
about how she loved to bake," Kogut said. "People at the church just
loved her."
Ms. Dahlborg's blog, www.dahlborg.blogspot.com, was a synthesis of
themes dominating her life: community building, a thirst for
information, and a search for meaning, she said.
"Her final symphony was the blog," Kogut said. "When she got sick, it
wasn't about pulling in; it was about reaching out. She wanted to be
in dialogue with others who had rare cancers. She wanted to reach out
to them, so they wouldn't feel so alone."
Ms. Dahlborg began the blog in August with a question asking readers
if they were dying, would they want to know. "Would it make a
difference in how you live?" she asked.
Ms. Dahlborg taught at Suffolk for 18 years and helped her department
win accreditation from the American Bar Association, said Glenn
Eskedal, chairman of the Human Services and Education Department, who
supervised her work during her entire Suffolk career.
"She was a very pragmatic, very reasonable, hands-on teacher," Eskedal
said. "She got nothing but rave reviews from her students."
Ms. Dahlborg was one of the first Suffolk professors to participate in
a program creating safe zones for gay and lesbian students. She kept a
sticker on her office door inviting their conversation.
"She was quite dedicated to making sure every student felt safe and
respected and able to learn," said Suffolk professor Mary Flaherty,
who recently took over Ms. Dahlborg's post as department head. Ms.
Dahlborg continued to teach until March and managed to grade papers
and submit final grades in May
Ms. Dahlborg's students gave her teaching abilities high marks on
ratemyprofessor.com. Some called her tough but "truly fair."
"She was an amazing woman," former student Lauren Bianchi said in an
interview. "She was always bright, smiling, and joking around."
Bianchi added that she thought she had never seen her "in a bad mood
or having a bad day, and if she did, she never showed it to anyone."
Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Ms. Dahlborg was the daughter of Eunice and
Edward Dahlborg of Falmouth [Massachusetts]. Her grandfather was
former Massachusetts representative and state senator Edward F.
Dahlborg, who represented the Brockton [Massachusetts] area for
several terms until 1920.
The oldest of three sisters, she grew up mostly in New Jersey and
graduated from Lenape Regional High School in Medford, New Jersey,
where she played tuba in the band. She earned a bachelor's degree in
education at Ohio State University [Columbus, Ohio]. She received a
master's degree from Suffolk in mental health counseling and then a
law degree from Suffolk.
"She was always very studious, always reading," said her sister, Dana
Pruett of North Falmouth [Massachusetts], who recalled a childhood
home full of music, books, and no television until Ms. Dahlborg was
about 16. She and her elder sister enjoyed listening to Peter, Paul
and Mary. They would buy the group's albums together and "fight over
who could listen to them and when," she said, laughing at the memory.
Pruett said she still has the albums.
Ms. Dahlborg met her spouse at a self-help retreat for emotional
healing.
"When I met her, I felt like she just lived on a different plane from
other people," Kogut said. "She was just a very spiritual being, a
spiritual seeker. She used to draw from so many spiritual traditions."
The couple had a commitment ceremony two years after they met and were
legally married three years ago. Kogut gave birth to their daughter
Lucyna, 11, and son Nathaniel, 8.
Ms. Dahlborg was also an artist who painted on silk and was legendary
for her baking skills. She would invite friends over to help bake
hundreds of cookies during the holidays. A 3-gallon container of her
chocolate chip cookies once spurred a bidding war at a church auction
and went for more than $100.
She also loved gardening and tended a water garden outside her home.
"Lynne imagined life like Monet's garden," wrote her friend Judy
Medeiros. "In addition to her gardens, Lynne helped others grow and
blossom into the fullness of their being."
In addition to her spouse, children, sister, and parents, Ms. Dahlborg
leaves another sister, Carla Williams of Fort Worth.
Boston Globe