Our classmate, and my wife, Ruth Pergericht Marks, died January 9 after a year-long battle against mesothelioma. Ruth was diagnosed in December 2016 as she worked on completing her Master’s thesis in religious studies at Florida International University. She had taken a leave from her employment with the Miami Dade School System when she was offered full tuition support and a stipend to pursue a Master’s degree to complement her BA and JD. 

Ruth’s fundamental identities were as an attorney who spent most of her career as an appellate criminal defense lawyer; and as the mother of our daughter, Sarah. Sarah, while working full time on a remote basis, was with her mother continuously through the last year, relocating to join us in Atlanta, where Ruth spent the last eight months of her life after surgery in Baltimore. 

Those of you who knew Ruth will be well aware of her intelligence, curiosity, liveliness and her dedication to making the world a better place, either by defending those who could not defend themselves or by teaching children in underserved communities in Miami. Her death removes one small light from a world that sorely needs those who burn with a passion for helping others, and leaves a dark absence for those of us who loved her.