Lisette Kautzmann made exemplary contributions to Occupational Therapy in Mental Health as the Book Review Editor and as a longtime member of the Editorial Board. She is and will continue to be greatly missed.
She was highly committed to the world of occupational therapy. A brief reprise of her life cannot begin to give appropriate credit to this life and her work. On October 11, 2013, Lisette Kautzmann, aged 81, died, at home in Wisconsin. Her life began in Chicago, Illinois, on December 24, 1931.
With her siblings, she grew up in Wilmette, Illinois. She studied occupational therapy at Milwaukee Downer College and graduated in 1953. After college, Lisette moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where she worked as an occupational therapist at the Winnebago State Hospital and Theda Clark Hospital.
She continued her education in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, earning a master's degree and then a doctorate in education. Her career as an academic began at Eastern Kentucky University. She accepted a full-time faculty position there and taught there for 19 years. In 1986 she became a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association, and in 2000 she received a Leadership Service Commendation. Over the course of her career, Lisette made many good friends as well as close and far flung occupational therapy connections. Her academic career included research and publication with a special interest in Community Mental Health.
After her retirement in 2004, Lisette moved back to Wisconsin where her special interests were literary. Hence we applaud her incomparable value to this journal.
Lisette's daughter, Susan Antkowiak, shared her final years and days. Other family members were also an important part of her life. Our thoughts are with all of Lisette's family and friends.