Rest in peace ~ b. 1924 - d. January 1, 2009

JACQUELINE KASUN – A WOMAN OF INSPIRATION

to whom the Humboldt Respect Life

Jacqueline Kasun Oratory Contest is dedicated

         Jacqueline Kasun was a woman of many accomplishments. She was a devout Christian, a strong and courageous pro-life and pro-family advocate, co-founder of Humboldt Pro-Life, and the author of The War Against Population, published by Ignatius Press.

           First and foremost she was a devoted wife to Joseph Kasun; mother of two daughters, Christine and Audrey, and a son, Walter; and grandmother. She held a doctoral degree in economics. Her Curriculum Vitae lists 64 publications, 6 major speeches, and the publication of her book, The War Against Population. In 1972 she co-founded Humboldt Pro-Life, and was a world-wide champion for the cause of the unborn. She testified before Senate committees, was a guest with Mike Wallace on “60 Minutes,” and with Ted Koppel on the “Nightly News” program. She represented non-governmental agencies, supporting the right-to-life cause, at conferences across the globe. But she sincerely felt that the raising of her family, which extended to her love for her grandchildren, was more important to the world than all of her writings, conferences, and public appearances.

          Dr. Kasun lived with her husband in Bayside, Humboldt County, CA until her death on January 1, 2009, at the age of 84.    

          Her son, Walter Kasun, wrote the following tribute in 2007 as Dr. Kasun was honored by being inducted into the Humboldt County Republican Hall of Fame:

          My mother spent most of her childhood with her father’s parents in Watts, California. She attended UCLA for the first two years of her undergraduate education. There her professor of social work noticed her work and recommended that she transfer to U.C. Berkeley which had a better program. What she did not tell me until I was fifty years old was that her grandmother had become so fed-up with her as a college student that she insisted my mother move back with her father. Her grandfather was a kind man and said that perhaps things would be better this way.

          My mother then attended U.C. Berkeley for two more years where her performance in economics convinced her to pursue this particularly dismal science dominated at that time by men. It did not faze my mother. She showed them: she graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

          Then my mother joined the Army as a WAC. She was stationed in Ohio and the Army had her typing all day when she was not playing tennis.

          My mother then went to work at Standard Oil as a staff economist. She then began her Ph.D. work at Columbia. After completing her coursework, she accepted a teaching position at Pomona College. While she was there she met my father. And it was there that she was told by the department chair that economics was not a field for women and that perhaps she should consider marrying, keeping house, and taking care of a family.

          She was quickly offered a teaching position by Oberlin College, but instead she married my father. Oberlin would have to wait. My mother, up until this time, was a true-blue Democrat. And so was my father.

          My mother began the typical life of an Army officer wife filled with social engagements, raising three children, and moving every two to three years. The Army was quite strict about the idea that no one should ever get too comfortable. Just about the time a family felt like it belonged somewhere and had put down roots, it was time to move.

          On the back burner of her full life was a dissertation yet to be written. And in 1956 it was done, and she became one of a handful of women in the United States with a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia. To consider the magnitude of this accomplishment, there were at that time more female doctors, and more female physicists, than female economists.

          Then it was time to pack the home and move overseas. And the Kasun family went to Berlin and Heidelberg. It was cold, and my mother made all three children warm winter jackets. We posed on the front step of our little home on the day we first got to wear them. The jackets had hoods and cozy pockets. Since I was the boy, I was all about playing outside no matter the temperature. I would have played outside without clothes if I had to. My mother knew that and she did not want to have the military police come and tell her that there was a little blue boy outside on the front lawn.

          We then transferred back to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where my father retired, and my mother taught at Park College. The assassination of President Kennedy was a shock for our family, and I remember how sad my mother was when I returned home from school that day. It was a somber, sad day on the base.

          And it was a turning point in her and my father’s politics. They may have voted for Johnson – they won’t tell me – but from then on, they voted the Republican ticket. I guess you could call them liberals who were mugged by reality.

          We then moved to southern California, just in time for some of the worst smog in the history of Los Angeles. My father taught at Troy High School and my mother was an assistant professor of economics at Fullerton State College. We stayed four years and then moved to Humboldt County.

          It was in Humboldt County that my mother and father became full-fledged conservatives. I remember watching a black and white TV as President Carter gave his speech about the malaise of the electorate and how we needed to do more and give more. That was 1978. My mother said, “Oh, poop!” My father turned off the TV.

          In 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected president. My mother and father were encouraged. This was my first presidential election and I voted for Reagan. It was exciting. My mother began around this time to concentrate her academic work on population and its relation to global resource use. She contributed to the seminal works of Julian Simon, and she often corresponded with Thomas Sowell, and other free market economists. It just happened that my mother’s economics beliefs convinced my father, and their belief in free markets led them to the Republican Party.

          Around the dinner table on most evenings the family had lively discussions about economics and politics. And most evenings my mother retired to the living room to do her work and answer phone calls from around the country from other economists, and concerned Republicans. This routine went on for nearly 25 years until my mother was too weak to continue.

          A Google search on my mother yields a treasure-trove of information on her academic and scholarly work. She was a prolific writer and publisher of books on population and a principled critic of the new field of sustainable economics. She is not famous, and so sometimes I find that editors as esteemed as “The Wall Street Journal” lift her lines almost verbatim, without a blink of the eye. When I asked her about this she said that it was better to be plagiarized than never noticed.

          When she retired from Humboldt State University, she was a distinguished emeritus professor, entitled to office space and other office support amenities. The college saw fit to pack all of her stuff up and put it where she could not get to it. The message was loud and clear: they did not want her around anymore. And so my mother began her second career at home in her living room on a computer I had built for her with an internet connection that I helped install to the house.

          And at that desk the power of her ideas reached the span of the globe. From India to South Africa, from Ireland to Australia, and from Italy to Singapore, she was spreading the word of economic freedom, the efficiency of free markets, and the danger of liberalism and state control over population and resource use.

          At one point in time her inbox had over 4,000 messages, most if not all of them read and responded to. How do I know this? My mother had complained that her e-mail was slow and had asked me to come to the rescue. It was when I went to her inbox that I realized the power of the internet in the hands of a capable thinker and writer of my mother’s caliber.

          In some small way I had facilitated the global reach of her ideas and for that I am very grateful and proud.

          Now, my mother spends her time at home with her pet animals and her loving and dedicated husband. She goes for walks, she reads, she looks out the window at her flowers. She has accomplished more in one lifespan than most of us would get done in three. She now rests on her laurels.

          It is the power of ideas, widely disseminated, that will win the war against tyranny and oppression in this world. My mother made a lasting contribution to that end. I am proud to be her son.

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          Upon learning of the designation of the Humboldt Respect Life Jacqueline Kasun Oratory Contest in honor of her mother, Dr. Kasun's daughter, Audrey Moruza wrote:

          “It honors her spirit far beyond any past worldly distinctions, I think. To be held in such esteem for such a cause is a real lifetime achievement that very few receive. Yet if there weren't others in the cause (like YOU!), where would it all be? So I thank God for all of you working together over the years making Humboldt, of ALL places (!) a prolife stronghold.”

 For further information on anti-population issues, contact:

Population Research Institute
1190 Progress Drive, Suite 2D
P.O. Box 1559
Front Royal, VA  22630

Tel:                     540-622-5240         540-622-5240
Fax:      540-622-2728
Email:    pri@pop.org
Web:     www.pop.org

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 January 1, 2009 - If you would like to write a tribute for Jacqueline Kasun, please contact us and we will pass your message along to her family, and post your tribute on our website. 

~Obituary Notice~

~Funeral Service~

~1/6/2009 Local News Article~

~LifeSiteNews Article~

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TRIBUTES 

On behalf of our entire staff, we send our sincere prayers for Jackie's family and for the happy repose of her soul.  She will be sorely missed by all of us.

Judie Brown

American Life League, Inc.

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While living in Humboldt County, California, Stuart and I had the opportunity to proctor the first annual "Humboldt Respect Life Jacqueline Kasun Oratory Contest" as part of our obligation to Humboldt Pro-Life and the parish Respect Life Committee.  Today we found out about Jacqueline's passing on January 1st and are deeply saddened.  Jacqueline reminds us of a pioneer who dared to enter the upper echelons of the work force and as a courageous woman, inspired many others to do the same.  She was committed to the pro-life cause as clearly evident in her book, The War Against Population and she saw not only her own family, but each and every family around the world as an essential part of its social structure and population.  We will miss Jacqueline but will always remember what she gave to us, a unique understanding of life that all people deserve, especially those less fortunate than us.  Every person's birth counts and every child in the womb counts before she is born.  God Bless Jacqueline and her family.

Sheila Veith, Montana

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I knew Jackie as a compassionate woman, who was always seeking truth.  She kept herself informed on current issues and was not afraid to ask challenging questions.  To be a student in one of her classes must have been a real pleasure.  I never had that privilege, but became acquainted through the years with those who did.   She was respected deeply by those who care about the sanctity of life.  I am proud to say I was one of those who respected her deeply.   

Vee Sorenson,  Arcata, CA

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I am so saddened to hear of the passing of Jackie Kasun. She was and remains such a treasure to everyone in the pro life Movement.
Because of her intercession my oldest son gained entry to Humboldt when no one else wanted to give him entry.
I'm sure she is now talking directly to God on behalf of all the babies.

Camille Giglio

California Right to Life Committee, Inc.

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I only knew Jackie when I was a child. But I had always remembered her as a strong woman. You know how it is when you are a kid, you always think that the adults in your life will be there always. That is not the case. I do know that Jackie led a good life, and that she will always be remembered.

Grace Hoss, Virginia

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Thank you for letting me know about Jackie's death. I will pray for her happy repose. I have a copy of Henry Hyde's talk in which he said that when we pro-life people die, the souls of the little ones we tried to save will be calling out to God to be good to us because we loved them. I am sure Jackie heard their voices.

Betsy Hook, Utah

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Dr. Kasun became a hero of mine in the 70’s when her book was my bible for teaching about population.  After being assigned to teach a class to senior officers about “Nation Building” in which one of the principles was to introduce “population control” as soon as possible, Kasun’s book and research made it possible to convince the college that children are indeed the most important asset families and nations have and must protect.  The course was changed and hundreds of senior military officers were exposed to the truth.  Thank God for Dr. Kasun.

MEMORARI.

Ron Maxon, Napa, CA

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