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Dear colleagues,

I write to let you know, with much sadness, that June Mecham died yesterday after a brief and vicious battle with cancer. Many of you may know her from meetings at Kalamazoo or other conferences, from her postings to this list, or from her work on late medieval religious women in Germany. She earned her PhD from University of Kansas and was an assistant professor of medieval history at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, where she specialized in women’s and gender history, especially female spirituality and monasticism in late medieval Germany. June published several articles on performative devotion and the visual environment of religious women, and was an assistant editor of the digital repository, MonasticMatrix <http://monasticmatrix.usc.edu/>. Her book manuscript on religious women in late medieval Saxon convents is currently under review.

But in addition to--and more important than--all these academic achievements, June was was one of the sweetest people I have ever been blessed to know. It's the rare academic who doesn't have a mean bone, muscle, or sinew in her body. June was one. She leaves behind a husband, Gary, her mother, Cheryl, and a small daughter, Evelyn. I understand that a memorial service will be held Thursday, March 5, 2:00 p.m., at All Saints Episcopal Church, 9302 Blondo St., Omaha, Nebraska (402-393-8612 ).

I hope your prayers for her join mine.

Lisa Bitel


Lisa M. Bitel
Professor of History and Religion
Chair, Gender Studies Program
Director, Monastic Matrix (http://monasticmatrix.org)