I was Gwenda's Ph.D. mentor at Colorado State.  I recently sent an email to my department about her, and thought I would share my memories here as well.  I was very fortunate to be able to attend her beautiful memorial service, and many people there were curious about her accomplishments and time in grad school.

Gwenda began her Ph.D research in her mid 30s, after building a different career and raising her children to the teen years. It took her a few years to work out how she could get back to school, and by the time she started she was very excited and happy to be here. Gwenda was my second student, joining my lab in my third year at CSU. At the time I was still doing some language research, and Gwenda's background in linguistics was a great plus. Gwenda loved being in graduate school and the opportunities she had for intellectual exploration and research. Gwenda was intellectually honest and unafraid to go deep into ideas. While in graduate school she was also deeply committed to her evangelical church and I greatly admired her ability to balance this commitment with cognitive neuroscience, which requires one to grapple with issues of materialism and the mind-body problem, and her commitment to what we would now call DEI values.

Gwen was also very hard working and productive. I looked up an old reference letter I wrote for her and found this description: "For example, during her last year in graduate school she completed two separate NRSA grant applications (one predoctoral, one postdoctoral), submitted 3 papers for publication, started several new lines of research with Don Rojas, defended her dissertation, performed pilot work for a number of additional projects, and taught both our cognitive psychology lecture course and our cognitive psychology laboratory."

Gwenda loved research. Her MS thesis was very well designed and the results formed one of the most beautiful cross-over interactions I've ever seen. I checked recently and it has been cited around 220 times.

Schmidt, G. L., DeBuse, C. J., & Seger, C. A. (2007). Right hemisphere metaphor processing? Characterizing the lateralization of semantic processes. Brain Lang, 100, 127–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ban…

Her Ph.D. thesis tested an novel and innovative hypothesis, but unfortunately ended with null results, which at the time were not considered publishable.

In order to get more research experience, she also did collaborative research with Don Rojas at the medical school studying autism. This resulted in at least one publication as well:

Schmidt, G. L., Kimel, L. K., Winterrowd, E., Pennington, B. F., Hepburn, S. L., & Rojas, D. C. (2008). Impairments in phonological processing and nonverbal intellectual function in parents of children with autism. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 30(5), 557–567. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803…

Gwenda moved to Denver and into my basement room.  She was SO excited to be here and to become a larger part of our Nonviolent Communication community.  She was embraced by many members of our group and she so valued being with us. 

During the year long retreat, she would turn to me and say "I can't believe I am actually HERE!  I am so grateful to be here."  She was engaged and held so much joy to be apart - to be connected with us.

She brought so much beauty and love.  Her spark to be there - to be engaged in that moment was palpable and beautiful!  Even at that time she was limited, she still showed up with a curiosity and gratitude to just be - be there - be there fully in each moment.  Also her laugh had such a range of feelings in it - I remember her laughing at one of the evening gatherings!  She also had a love of research and loved to learn.  When she lived with me she shared various things she was reading and books she loved.  There is something about how she shared what she was learning and the engagement in talking about it that was touching - don't quite have the words for her deep love of words, knowledge, wisdom and the connection outside of time and place when one reads.

One evening we had a community dinner at my home.  I had  not realized until that point that she did not have the energy to host something like that and was so appreciative of being able to sit at a table with so many others.  She laughed and engaged with such delight. 

As the years passed by, she came less and less to the Facilitator's Practice Group, often a delightful surprise to see her come into the room for our in person meetings!  That eventually gave way to the zoom online version - with an occasional appearance.   

She kept up with everyone via email or texting by surprise messages of connection.  She valued these connections and the love and care she received.  The absence of her zoom room showed that she was declining... and now she is gone.  I carry her memory of her love of beauty, how important presence in this moment is, and her sheer joy despite the thros of her condition.  

Dear family and friends, we are so sorry for your loss. We alle hope that she is at peace now. After so many years of suffering. We wish you the strenght to go on. In our heart we are with you. All our love and blessings, 

Ida Wildeboer, Jeroen, Christine and Jon

Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

My sincere condolences to uncle John, cousin Yvonne, and all family and friends of Gwendolyn. So sorry for your loss. 

Love from the Netherlands, cousin Willemien Wildeboer (daughter of Tineke: sister of Gwendolyn’s mother Siny)