List of Remembrances
Dear Friends & Family: I thought you might all like to see Mom's obituary that will run in the Kokomo Tribune on Thursday, February 28. As many of you know, and as Laura Guyer-Miller so lovingly shared in her comments at the funeral, mom was frequently amazed at the far flung places around the globe this "little girl from Kokomo" would frequently find herself! She loved traveling the US and the globe meeting with all of you. When she spoke of her work, she glowed. -Stacey Hann-Ruff
Dolores “Dee” Hahn-Rollins, 67, Alexandria, Va., died Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008, in Washington, DC, of breast cancer. Dee was born in Kokomo, Indiana on July 16, 1940, and was the only daughter of the late Gilbert Wesley and Louise Adaline (Matthews) Hahn of Kokomo. Dee lived in the Washington area since 1980, and prior to that she lived in Indianapolis and Kokomo. She completed her master’s degree in public administration/women’s studies from George Washington University in 1983. She earned a B.S. in psychology from St. Mary’s-of-the-Woods, Indianapolis, 1979. Dee’s first degree was an R.N. from Methodist Hospital School of Nursing, Indianapolis in 1961.
As a young woman, she worked in the emergency room at Methodist Hospital where she met her first husband, Dr. E. Carl Hann (deceased). As a young doctor’s wife in the 1960s in Indianapolis, Dee was encouraged by the late Bishop John P. Craine of the Diocese of Indianapolis to become involved in the leadership of the Episcopal Church. His encouragement led to a decades-long involvement with leadership issues both domestically and internationally. Dee was mentored by the late Verna J. Dozier, renowned Episcopal theologian who challenged and encouraged Dee throughout her life. In turn, Dee mentored and empowered countless women around the world in her work and family life.
Dee was a longstanding member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill and was a proud grandmother to Adaline Louise Ruff and godmother to Eric Brumburgh and Andrei J. Zaitsev. She was a senior consultant, working since 1988 at Training Resources Group, Inc. (TRG) in Arlington, Va. Dee delivered training and organizational development interventions to public and private sector clients that ranged from United States Agency for International Development (USAID); the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR); the World Bank; Heifer International; and Wilkes University to name but a few. Prior to TRG, Dee worked at the US State Department as an Internal Consultant for the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) 1984 to 1988. From 1984 to 1989, Dee helped design and deliver a “Women’s Leadership Project” for the National Episcopal Church in the province of Kenya, a program whose story is told in a documentary film entitled “The Women Will” which premiered at the Kennedy Center in 1986. Dee was the co-founder of the Julian Center, one of the first women’s counseling centers in Indianapolis.
Dee is survived by her second husband, The Rev. Alfred W. Rollins of Alexandria, Va.; her daughter, Stacey Hann-Ruff and son-in-law Joseph C. Ruff, Port Republic, Md.; step-daughter Gina K. Hann, Decatur; adopted daughter, Njoki Njoroge Njehu and son-in-law Soren Ambrose, Nairobi, Kenya; and her uncle and aunt, Wallace J. and Jean O’Neil, Kokomo.
Services were held on Feb. 23, 2008, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC. The service was officiated by The Right Rev. Jane Dixon and eulogists included; the rector of St. Marks, the Rev. Paul Roberts Abernathy; Dee’s son-in-law, Joseph C. Ruff; and friends, Laura Guyer-Miller, Suzanne Gould, and Stephanie Zaitsev. A celebratory meal followed the service and included numerous informal tributes to this remarkable woman. To view the celebratory blog that Dee’s colleagues have created for her, visit http://www.trg-inc.com/dee-hahn-rollins/index.html.
Memorial donations can be made in her memory to The St. Marks Episcopal Church Dozier Educational Fund (Washington DC) http://www.stmarks.net/index.html; Daughters of Mumbi Global Resource Center (Kenya) (http://daughtersofmumbi.org/donate.html); or The Baobab Home (Tanzania) (http://www.tzkids.org/html/help.html).
Stacey Hann-Ruff, daughter of Dee
I met with Dee in Budapest, Hungary for the first time when she was the lead facilitator of USAID’s Management Skills Course in 1995. Management Skills were very new – if not unknown - to most Foreign Service Nationals at the Budapest Mission. Thanks to Dee we all learned a lot, and not only about management but also about ourselves and about our own colleagues. Dee was a wonderful listener and she really cared about people and tried to solve or smooth out issues of all kinds. I was fortunate enough to meet her several times during the past years and had the chance to admire her skills, her enthusiasm, helpfulness and wonderful personality. Every training and retreat she lead was extraordinary in quality, in content, and in style. I will always remember her as a wonderful friend, teacher, mentor, and an exceptional human being. She will be greatly missed.
Aniko Varadi – former USAID/Hungary FSN employee
Dee was, for many years, my friend and colleague. We shared important chapters in our lives and had the great good fortune to travel the world together and collaborate on memorable work in amazing places. I feel fortunate to have known Dee and to have learned from her – she had a profound influence on me as a professional, and as a person. A great light has gone out with the departure of her soul from this earth. I wish Stacey, Gina, Al and Dee’s entire extended family and community grace and strength in the days ahead.
Taya Levine
Dee, my Beloved Sister, Shero and Earth Angel I offer back a poem by Sister Maya Angelou we shared and enjoyed when we first met. We were discussing the power of love! I have often pulled it out when I needed encouragement and we were not immediately together.
Touched by an Angel
We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.
Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.
We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.
- Maya Angelou
My friends, we all thank God for Dee, her vibrant life, inspirational creativity and expansive love!! Dee planted seeds of love deeply in so many of us. Collectively those seeds will flower and help unleash powerful and liberating consequences through our everyday loving interactions and actions. Thus Dee's loving spirit will be remain with us forever as a radiant guiding-light. Brother Al, Stacy, Joe and Addie my strength and prayers remain with you.
Love Jawara
Jawara Lumumba, TRG
Dee in love with Al was one of my first memories of meeting Dee. She told stories, we laughed, and held our sides and smiled into each other's eyes with the sweet knowledge that she and Al were meant to be life partners. She adored this man who returned that devotion and they were a handsome couple. Dee, the trainer/facilitator, is my second memory; she was the consummate professional, caring but strong and I agree with the wording around how much she expected you to give of yourself. She gave 100% and wanted nothing less in return. My fantasy is now that Dee has gone before us, she will be there waiting and will welcome us to the renewed, reinvented, reenergized Paradise she will have created...Dee, the woman was warm and giving and a marvelous hostess. I will miss her presence in the world. Stay strong, Al, my dear one. Much love to all who honor her and all who were blessed, as I was, to know her.
Thank you
Elaine Voci, Friend, admirer, fan of Dee and Al both
I was absolutely blest to have worked with, played with and shopped with Dee all over the world. Dee was such an amazingly wonderful person who taught me so much about so many, many things. I spent a significant amount of time with Dee running leadership seminars and conferences throughout my international career. Her impact is far reaching. She will leave an incredible mark on the lives that she touched and impacted. I will miss her so much! To Al and Stacy, I know how much you will miss Dee. My mother passed six weeks ago, and all though I know she is at peace, I miss her everyday. I know that she is with me every minute of every day in my thoughts, through the laugher of my family and friends and through the beliefs and practices she taught me. I know this will be the case with Dee.
My hearts are with you! We will miss such a loving, kind, funny and fashionable colleague and friend.
Warm regards,
Janet Dulohery, PerkinElmer
I am shocked with this sad news! I met Dee when I participated in the Women Leaders' training workshop organized by CGIAR in Rome in July 2006. This was when I met and had a chance to spend time with her, who I find very inspirational, also touching everyone's heart and mind with her training/coaching style. While celebrating her life for the contributions that she made and the legacy she left behind, we also cry for losing such a wonderful human being. May her soul rest in eternal peace.
Azeb Asrat, UN World Food Programme
I had the pleasure of working and learning with Dee in many different organizations and places around the world. To me Dee was a global citizen, a bright beacon of hope in the world. She had a great deal of energy and wanted to make our world a better place. I send her and her family my love, and will miss a great colleague. Thank you Dee.
Manuel Manga, Center for Evolutionary Leadership
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to ... learn what [life] had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. - Henry David Thoreau
My thoughts are with Dee's husband and children and extended family and friends. I had the great pleasure of working closely with Dee on several projects at the World Bank, both in Washington and for a few weeks in Poland one year. Happily, we kept in touch even after I moved to a different job. Like Thoreau and many of my heroes, Dee lived her life fully. Goodness, did she "live"! When we first met, before she said anything, her expressive eyes and phenomenal smile foretold a woman of great strength and deep happiness, someone who truly enjoyed life and "lived" each of her days. From that encounter onwards, Dee took our friendship to a new level each time we met. There is no doubt that she really cared about whomever she was with; she made me feel like the most important thing in the world whenever I was speaking to her. Nor is there any doubt that she was deeply, deeply passionate about her own life--her family, her friends, her colleagues, her work, her church. Passion that deep always lives and grows in the people that it touches so much of Dee is still with us.
So many thoughts flood my mind as I think of this fabulous soul: her listening carefully to challenges in the daily lives of course participants from Afghanistan or Rwanda; our political discussions and mutual hope that the country would "come to its senses" before the 2004 election (it didn't) :-( ; her keeping a picture of Martin Sheen, jokingly given to her by a colleague, and her wishing that he could be the real president; offering very comforting words to me during some difficult times; her overly glowing recommendation letter for my graduate studies--a tribute to a keen eye that found more positive things in me than even my mom could have mentioned!
Dee left much to treasure in our hearts, our minds, our souls. Dignity, caring, humor, deliberate "living"--those are all goals I reach for every day. Dee remains an inspiration for each of them. As we say down South, "Good on her!"
Jack Williams, The World Bank
It is hard to believe that Dee is no longer gracing the earth with her beauty, energy and vitality. I first met her in 1999 in Central Asia. From then on I called on Dee to help me around the world and she was always there. Besides Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, she also provided invaluable support to Missions in Sri Lanka and Uganda at my request. Dee helped me numerous times in my career and encouraged me in my quest to be a better person. I will always remember her unflagging efforts, best evidenced by her willingness after long days facilitating intensive teambuilding to meet privately and provide further insight as to how I could more effectively meet my challenges. She gave so much to so many. I also appreciated her genuine appreciation of cultures around the world. I remember her heartfelt thanks when I took her to see the market women in Almaty. Hers was a special gift. May all of our hearts be filled with joy when we think of Dee, I know mine is.
Sincerely,
Vicki Moore, USAID
To an extraordinary woman whose love for the live and faith in people made me to grow as a human.
Fadya Orozco, International Potato Centre
Dee touched my life very much when I met her at a leadership training course in Nigeria. Though soft-spoken, she was strong and made such a positive impression on me which I will always remember. She was so full of life it's unimaginable that she has left us. I thank God for her life which she shared to bless other lives like mine. May the Good Lord truely grant her perfect rest from the toils of this world. I pray for her family anf loved one's. God bless you DEE.
Vivian Oduro, Biotechnology and Nuclear Agic. Research Inst. Ghana Atomic Energy Commission
Dee was more than what words can express, she tapped my inner energy and used it to develop confidence in me. I remember herself encouraging me to uncover my light, in order for me to realise my potential. I'll always remember her, I am who I am today, just because she cared and loved. My heartfelt condolences to her family and friends. We shall always miss you, Dee! May her soul rest in peace.
Ruth mbabazi-Tugume, Ministry of Agriculture, Uganda
Dee was a wonderful woman, she changed my way of thinking, having distance in difficult situations. She helped me not to forget that as women we have the right to be respected for what we think, what we say, how we say it. Dee is gone but she will always be around. Thanks Dee for your presence, understanding. You are a fantastic woman and you will stay close to me.
Sophie Treinen
Dee has been the guiding light for the our women's leadership series for more than 10 years, reaching hundreds of women worldwide. Whether in Peru or Malaysia, Kenya or India, Dee always managed to create a safe place for women to find their voice and spread their wings, often for the first time.
Dee and I also had the great pleasure of designing a new 'advanced' leadership course, sharing countless books and articles, and finally settling on our priority topics, including our shared vision of 'healthy power'. She loved trying new things, unafraid, but as a consumate professional, prepared carefully.
Most recently Dee worked with me, over the course of a full year, to prepare for our Bellagio Conference on 'Succcessful Women, Successful Science'. When G&D won this grant I immediately thought of Dee as the perfect facilitator for the challenging task of bringing together the world's top 10 programs on women and science, and helping us focus on 'what works'. Getting away from the typical focus on 'problems' and 'constraints' and instead focusing on 'success factors' and 'how to make success happen more often and in more places' was exactly the kind of innovative work Dee loved to create. It was a peak experience for us all.
On a more personal level, I regarded Dee as a mentor, friend and role model. It was an honor and pleasure to know her and I will miss her terribly. For the rest of my life I will regard Dee as a model for life -- loving relationships combined with meaningful work that makes a real difference in people's lives, all stirred together with humor, lipstick and bright scarves.
I believe Dee will smile upon us as we continue to work for women's empowerment worldwide.
With ((((((special healing thoughts))))) for Dee's loving family and TRG colleagues, Vicki
Vicki Wilde, Leader, CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program, Nairobi, Kenya
Our deepest sincere sympathy to the family and friends of Dee. We only had the pleasure of meeting her a few times and they were delightful. She was so warm and friendly. We are sure that we will all be richer for having known our dear Dee.
God Bless and look over her.
Tatiana Dementyeva and Nikolay Savitsky
In life, there are some people whom when they depart, leave foot prints which are visible to a priviledged few, hard to replicate only a few can emulate. It was an honour to know and learn from a fine teacher, Dee. I pray that our Good Lord embraces her soul and gives her everlasting peace. She did Him proud.
Cathy Masaka, UNDP Mozambique
Dee was so special to me. She has known and loved my family for many generations up the line. Whenever my brother and I would visit she would always tell us stories about my deceased mom, my grandma, my greatgrandma and so on.... She was so spirited and wonderful. Every summer for the past couple of years, she would take about 2 weeks off and pay for us to come visit her. We have had so much fun together-rollercoasters at Busch Gardens, adventures in Colonial Williamsburg, sunburns at the beach in Chincoteague, special and pricy trips to the mall where Dee would buy my brother and I clothes and such, loonnggg car rides, deep conversations, visits to countless restaurants, general life around the house for beautiful days on end, elaborate meals that Dee whipped up in 40 minutes or less, manicures and pedicures together, and so many more memories. Dee always gave us so much in those trips, and she looked forward to them as we did also. She is so dear to me, and I will miss that jolly, deep laugh, shining mischievious eyes and huge smile that lit up the room. Dee did so much for so many people but it was strange imagining her as the incredibly succesful business woman while I was basking in her motherly love and fun. I will never forget her or Al. Al was always such a sweetheart and my heart aches for him. I love him so much, and those two will be in my heart forever. I better stop before I take up an entire page, but thinking about Dee and Al just brings back so many gorgeous, tender memories...
Kelsey Crow, Annual summer vacation buddy of Dee and Al
Dee was part of my life since I joined AID. My first impression of her was that she seemed to know our organization better than we know it ourselves, and often to know us better than we know ourselves. She was a uniquely caring and unfailing presence, guide, and companion.
Dee wisely taught us to always remember - first and foremost - why we do what we do. Above all it was about the human mission. And above all it was about dealing with each other in a way that reflected well on the higher level of commitment our mission requires.
Dee would usually come to help us in moments of dramatic changes and challenges. Even so, she would always start by reminding us that the key to getting through the tough times was to remember how valuable our work is, and how valuable we are to each other.
For those of us who today are not close by it is difficult to imagine life in Washington without her. There was always the call when one was in town, or the quick meeting so she could look us in the eye to make sure we were still OK and still really on track. She had an uncanny ability to sum us all up quickly and make sure we stayed connected.
For most of us there were few or none who influenced us more, or are remembered as frequently or fondly each day as we try to do right thing.
Bambi Arellano, USAID
Dee was a source of hope, good sense, excellent judgment, faithfulness, affirmation, and fun on the many times that formally or informally over the phone or over coffee we would talk about AID, family, illness, faith, and the humorous and sometimes unsettling ways in which each of us, whether in the office or more broadly on the earth, is different in ways that can bring any us together, drive us apart, make us tear our hair out or make us laugh! My work in the Europe & Eurasia Bureau was made richer, more effective, and more joyful by her presence, her advice, and her example.
David Atwood, USAID
Dee was an inspiration to other facilitators – so calm and insightful, she got enthusiastic participation from people who thought they didn’t like and wouldn’t accept being “facilitated”. With her wonderful combination of sensitivity and insight and common sense, Dee always got to the heart of things in any group she was helping. Dee was a spirit-filled Christian who cared about people in a way that infused everyone around her with a sense of confidence and trust. These qualities along with her twinkling eyes and enjoyment of life will always be a tangible memory for me.
Susan Fertig-Dykes, USAID
As I look back on my 25 years at USAID, I think of Dee prominently as one of a few very special people whom I greatly admired and who taught me the most about what it is to be a professional, a leader, and a compassionate and caring colleague. She always responded when we needed her the most, and her advice and support was always just what was needed. There was always a ring of excitement in our Washington and overseas offices in the Europe and Eurasia Bureau when Dee was scheduled to facilitate an event. We all knew we would be better off for the time spent with her. Even during some of the most difficult times at AID in the past few years, when there was not much anyone could do to improve the situation, she gave us her time on short notice to try to help us make it better. In truth, I really didn't know Dee all that well, yet I felt like she was a long-lost friend every time I saw her, and we would easily catch up. Plus, she had the most wonderful wardrobe of anyone else I know! To this day, I think of her when I stop by Imagine in Old Town, which I learned about from her. My heart goes out to her family and others close to her; she was a truly extraordinary woman whom I will always feel very fortunate to have known.
Sherry Grossman, USAID
God gives and it is the same God that takes away. May his name be blessed. We thank God for the life he gave Dee. We thank him for enabling Dee to improve women's leadership skills. May God rest her soul in eternal peace. Dee, we shall meet in heaven.
Kabirizi Jolly, National Agricultural Research Organization, Kampala, Uganda
I met Dee for the first time in Cairo in 1989 and had the pleasure of having her and her colleagues from TRG help me in my professional and personal journey many times over the next 11 years - the last being in Israel. Dee with her grace, professionalism, humor and above all her humanity was instrumental in taking what were awareness and transforming them in to real life changes that also changed the fabric of my being in ways she probably did not even begin to realize.
Dee is physically dead but physicality is transient - her Spirit is not and it will live in my soul as long as I live for she will always be alive in my mind's eye.
As I don't have the words to say it better, I will offer a poem for Dee
and her family from "The Prophet" by Khalil Gibran (I am sure you are familiar with this):
Then Almitra spoke, saying, "We would ask now of Death."
And he said:
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honor.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink form the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
Nimalka Wijesooriya, New israel Fund (formely USAID)
Dee was a wonderful person with great charm, compassion and grace, and an outstanding ability to make people feel they belonged. She will be missed, but her legacy will live on.
Kristina, TSBF
Dee with her two colleges, Pamela and Laura trained me during the Women's Leadership and Management course at IITA in Ibadan, Nigeria. She was a great inspiration to me. I learned to put myself first and to always remember that I am somebody, from her. A great motivator, she indeed made a great positive impact on me for which I will forever be grateful. May the Lord rest her soul in its rightful place.
Dr.Florence M'mogi Olubayo, University of Nairobi
My condolences to Dee's family, her TRG colleagues, and to the many people she has touched, who will miss her.
I met Dee 6 years ago when she facilitated a CGIAR Marketing Group strategy meeting in Rome. It was not an easy task to work with this fledgling group that was uncertain where it was going. She did so with humour and grace - and helped us make sense out of the chaos.
Last year I was lucky enough to attend the CGIAR Women's Leadership Training in Rome - which Dee led so passionately and inspiringly. I admired how she combined such professionalism and personal commitment to inspiring women to leadership. She also wove in wonderful stories about her life, her family and, particularly, her granddaughter Adaline.
My thoughts and prayers are with her family.
Stacy Roberts, IFPRI
Dee was really my sister's age, two years younger than me, but we were all great friends growing up.She lived two blocks from us and we we were all pals in bike riding and the usual childhood activities. My sister was killed in a tragic accident and I remember Dee and her mother sharing their sorrow with us all. Dee and I both became RN's and both married doctors at Indiana University. We moved to NYC and Dee stayed in Indianapolis. I saw her last on a visit in the late 1950's but she welcomed me with open arms...just like always. I shall remember her smiling face and her joy for life. Peace!
Sandra Russell-Wechsler R.N., friend from childhood
I really enjoyed reading all of these remembrances. Such beautiful thoughts about my Mom!
Dee, came into my life in 1963 when she married my father. Two years later they had Stacey Hann-Ruff. Dee, was a real hands-on Mom and I loved it. She brought so much fun to my life and those around her. I really have very few memories of my birh mother so this is why I loved her as if she were my birth mother. I never referred to her as a Step Mother. My friends just loved her and she enjoyed it just as I did having them over for slumber parties and great outings. We always had lots of people around when I was growing up because that is what she loved! She began to do gourmet cooking when I was a kid and she was a fantastic cook even back then. It is so strange right now not being able to just pick up the phone and call when something comes up that I want to share with her or just hear her voice. I miss her so much! Stacey and Al will need your support in the coming weeks and months as you have already shown and I appreciate it!
I Love You, Mom!
Gina Hann, Step Daughter but like to be known as her other daughter!
It is only today that I learnt about her death. It is such a huge loss, I just feel myself so empty. She gave so much her experience (personnal life and work, emotions and laugh). She helped me to see much clearer into my life, she encouraged me to strengthen my capacities and my self esteem, and to face my doubts.
She was a GIFT sent by the Lord to lighten persons she met. I am just happy that I had the opportunity and the chance to meet her, I often thought of her, and still kept the notes she wrote about me in Aleppo. She was a DIVA, now she's a STAR above us.
Malika Fadila Hamana Korichi, Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry
Deedles, I will miss you. I feel I grew-up as a trainer and organizational development consultant with Dee. I first met Dee in the mid 70s in Indianapolis. She was fairly new to the field of training, I was new to the Indianapolis area and a job as the director of a statewide training program for newly created family planning programs. What a glorious playground that turned out to be for our budding training and organizational development careers. Later I was lucky enough to again work with Dee on a project related to family planning in Tanzania. She was such a joy to work with.
I'll never forget, she arrived to our first meeting on the arm of the handsome Al. They were clearly in love and between the two of them very "sappy." They have been, through the years, so much fun to watch and experience. Deedles, I love you and will miss you tremendously. Karen
Karen Sherman, HCET, Indiana