About 50 people gathered at Goddard Chapel yesterday evening to celebrate the life and commitment English Lecturer Virginia Brereton shared with the Tufts community.
Brereton's was the only death in a Sept. 3 fire in her Brookline condominium building.
Students, faculty and her family spoke for about an hour, memorializing her passions in life, which included literature, her family, her students, and the great outdoors.
University Chaplain David O'Leary opened the service by setting the gathering's tone. "We are here to celebrate a love for beauty of nature and the mountains ... we are here to celebrate [Brereton's] good passions," he said.
Dean of Academic Affairs for Arts and Sciences Kevin Dunn spoke briefly, expressing sorrow at not having had the opportunity to get closer with Brereton, though he had an office on the same floor of East Hall. "This event is a lesson about appreciating those around us," he said.
As a result of the contact he did enjoy with Brereton, Dunn said he was consistently overwhelmed by "an unrelenting cheerfulness and collegiality," as well as "a tireless, unstinting devotion to her students." This cheerfulness, Dunn said, was constantly manifested in Brereton's wonderful, spontaneous laugh.
Brereton's joyfulness and devotion to students epitomized the very qualities Tufts prides itself in, Dunn said. "Ginny represents the very stuff Tufts is made of," he said.
He concluded by stating that "on behalf of Arts, Sciences and Engineering, I extend my sincerest condolences to the Brereton family."
English Professor and Chair of the Tufts English Department Jonathan Wilson also spoke ,calling Brereton "a breath of fresh air ... that's how I'll always remember her." Her enthusiasm for life and her teaching were contagious, Wilson said.
English Lecturer Jan Swafford, who shared an office in East Hall with Brereton, provided O'Leary with a statement to read. Swafford summarized Brereton's life with an anecdotal assessment of her desk, which he had the sad duty of clearing after her death.
"The pleasure and memories with Ginny were all on a grand scale," he said. Swafford said that looking over the warm and inviting chaos spilling from her desk was a testament to this fact.
"You could always find a pair of hiking boots with socks stuffed in them under the desk," he said. "Piled on the desk were student papers dating back from 10 years, and there were photos everywhere, of her family and of landscapes. When one fell down, she'd stuff it in a drawer and replace it with another memory."
Swafford said Brereton overwhelmingly proved that "she was the kind of teacher that students admire and don't forget," and that she was "irreplaceable."
Sophomore Christopher Scanlon, who took a class with Brereton last year, sang an original song he composed on his bass guitar. The lyrics referred to a river in Concord, Mass.
Before singing, Scanlon said "the environment VB created made me comfortable enough to sing in front of a group of people for the first time."
Scanlon said he had not sung before a large group since her class, and that this song, focused on the beauty of the outdoors, was a fitting tribute to his former teacher.
Brereton's son, John, highlighted this fact when he spoke. "VB encouraged people to try things, and I remember canoeing down that very river with her when I was younger," he said.
He said that during the fall and spring, "especially on nights like tonight," his mother would often commute from her Brookline home to Tufts and back on her bicycle.
He related several anecdotes showing the enthusiasm with which Brereton regarded Tufts and her role within the community, especially for her courses at Tufts' campus in Talloires, France.
"When my brother and I went to visit her there, she was probably the happiest I've ever seen her," he said. "Tufts was so important to her life and gave her so much, and she gave so much right back."
Brereton's niece, Kate Meierdiercks (E '02), was the final speaker. Meierdiercks described Brereton's role in her life as "my biggest mentor and inspiration when it came to academics."
Over the course of the close relationship Meierdiercks developed with Brereton during her time at Tufts, she said that Brereton became a close friend.
"She was not just an academic inspiration, but also your friend. She expanded the rigid boundaries of the classroom, and student/teacher relationships," Meierdiercks said.
While Meierdiercks said Brereton's sudden death was clearly a source of immense tragedy and pain, she encouraged the assembly to remember that "Ginny was so happy. For every day she spent with us, she lived for 10 [days]. She touched the lives of so many people."
O'Leary concluded the ceremony by decreeing it "a celebration of a wonderful life."
