i am sassa

I did not know Paige Muellerleile, but it seems as if everyone I know did. I do remember when she died, because I could never forget reading what so many of our friends-in-common wrote about her. I wish I had known her. I’ve gotten so many messages suggesting that I paint her for this series, and she is most certainly worthy. She made such an enormous impact on my home. I’ve chosen to include her obituary and some of what her friends said about her in their messages to me. I will be donating this painting to the CONTACT Rape Crisis Center in Huntington.

Thank you, Paige Muellerleile.

From Sharon Pressman:

She was 48 when she died from metastatic breast cancer.  She left behind two young daughters who had lost their father two years earlier.  She was a force of nature and I’ve never known anyone who influenced as many lives as Paige. Her part in my life is only one story, but I would like to share it with you.  I am the director of CONTACT Rape Crisis Center.  About 10 years ago, Paige became a member of our Board of Directors.  We were struggling to remain the only center in southwestern West Virginia.  It became her mission to professionalize our organization and assist in helping us become a financially secure nonprofit.  She chaired our first ever major fund raiser, which has become an annual affair and has helped us raise close to $200,000 over the years.  We doubled our staff, opened 4 outreach offices and increased our service area to 6 counties.  While serving on the board for 8 years and as President for 3 years, she made it possible for us to provide advocacy services to hundreds of sexual assault victims.  She is legendary in the Huntington community.  We are only one of many stories.  We are dedicating a new Victim Care Room in her name and it would be the absolute best if we could hang one of your portraits in that room. 

From Amanda Kolling:

I knew her for nearly a decade. We both lived in Southside, our kids (her second, my first) were born close together and went to the same preschool, and my husband worked with hers in the College of Science at Marshall. We shared a large circle of friends and a similar drive to improve our community. Paige is the one who invited me to lunch one day and asked me to join to board of Contact. At that time, the organization was in a perilous financial state and its future was uncertain. Due in large part to Paige’s vision, persistence, and dogged determination, we were able to put together a small but mighty board and pulled Contact back from the brink. We all felt so keenly how vital and (unfortunately) necessary the services of this organization are and we worked hard to ensure its viability. As president of the board, Paige was a sure and steady presence. When I had my baby and felt overwhelmed by my various commitments, I remember looking at Paige, who seemed to manage so gracefully raising two kids, being a professor, having cancer, being a spouse, and still always going the extra mile for anyone and everyone. She was an amazing cook and baker, and had a wonderful eye for making things beautiful. She adored her work, and routinely amused us with the questions her students would submit for the “ask me anything you’ve ever wanted to know about sex” portion of her course. As you might imagine, her students adored her and many kept in touch long after graduation.When her husband had his aneurysm, Paige took to chronicling his condition in an online journal in much the same way she did her cancer diagnosis—with complete transparency and breathtaking honesty. Most of us can’t or won’t ever live in a way that is so true, brave, and forthright. Paige lived big, loved big, laughed big. When she “adopted” a friend or a cause, she was all in. So many of us have been left heartbroken by the loss of Jeff and Paige, but we have taken some measure of comfort in the lasting and meaningful contributions both made.

From Paige’s Obituary:

Paige earned her Bachelors' degree from Arizona State University in 1994, graduating Magna Cum Laude in Psychology. She completed her Masters' and Doctoral degrees at Syracuse University in New York. She taught at SUNY, Cortland, and the University of Wisconsin, Marshfield, before joining the Psychology Department at Marshall University in Huntington, WV, where she also served as chair of the Faculty Senate from 2016-2018. Due to failing health, she retired from Marshall at the end of the spring semester 2019. She was a passionate and engaging professor, characterized by her students as tough, but fair, mentoring them with firm but loving guidance.
During her graduate student days at Syracuse, Paige met Jeffrey Kovatch, a grad student in biology, whose passion for living matched her own. They married in 2003 in a memorable outdoor ceremony and celebration in upstate New York. A life of shared adventure was launched as they established careers in academia. Each was dedicated to their professional fields; they also shared a love of nature and of the communities in which they lived. In due time they welcomed two lovely daughters into their lives, Jada and Chelsea.
Paige's commitment to social justice issues framed her participation in community volunteerism wherever she lived. As a college student in Arizona, she became a tour de force in a group that provided++ care for persons living with HIV and AIDS. Her activism continued in Huntington where she participated in the Southside Neighborhood Association, Harmony House, and the Cabell County Drug Court. She served on the board of the Contact Rape Crisis Center for a decade, twice serving as its president.
A joyful and productive life began to unravel in 2014 when Paige was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. A long year of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy left Paige struggling to recover while Jeff shouldered family responsibilities. In 2016, with Paige in better health, the anticipation of better times ended brutally when, on a day in early October, Jeff collapsed from a brain aneurysm and died a month later. Paige was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) just eight months after that, a ruthless, aggressive cancer for which treatment options remain scarce.
Paige was a thinker, a listener and a doer, living life deliberately and with enthusiasm. Her interests were many in addition to teaching, writing, research and parenting: cooking, legendary baking, gardening, reading, political activism. She was a friend to many, especially embracing her MBC sisters from near and far. To celebrate Paige, her family asks that you treasure the time with your loved ones, take an active part in your community, laugh and love much, and always care about "the other" in your midst.