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Eulogy for Alice (Gates) Hannah
(August 4, 1925 - December 8, 2010)
One
of the early Michael study group members
When we were little, whatever we said, mom would sing
back to us as if she knew every song in English � it was so irritating. One day in a directed meditation, the suggestion was
made: "Bring your mother into your circle now." Mom entered my dream as a zipping, bouncing, sun comet
ball of fire energy glee ... my little daughter, sitting with me, had the same
vision. Mom was perennially cheerful. Sometimes she
snorted when she laughed, which made her laugh � and snort � more and
more. She laughed at us, we laughed at her. She loved to dance in syncopated rhythms with great
gusto. Although we six naughty children frayed her attention
and affection to shreds, she adored her grandchildren with perfect love and
generosity. When my daughter, Jen, was sick with chickenpox, mom took care
of her. When I was exhausted from lack of sleep, mom took care of Jen. Mom and Dad bestowed love, attention and presents to
all the grandchildren equally. A natural blond, mom was innately silly, bawdy, goofy.
In honor of her disposition, we�re serving ham [at the memorial reception]. It seemed like eighteen of us sat at her dining room
table sometimes, playing �spoons� at Thanksgiving or Christmas, which sent
her into hilarity so delightful she would nearly fall off her chair. She was
easily amused and perpetually positive. Mom endured my father�s stubbornness and stood up for
herself, always trying to win an argument. Even though Dad assumed he was smarter, he would have
to acquiesce. Over the years mom and dad investigated numerous �schools
of thought,� like the Course in Miracles, Esalen, encounter groups, EST,
Fellowship of Friends and their own baby: Messages from Michael. Mom transcribed the Ouija board sessions; the meetings
were often held at their house; and dad asked the majority of questions. Mom did yoga every week, got a facial every week, got
her house cleaned every week. Mom was a great cook, a gourmand who loved to eat and
share life�s deliciousness. She hosted parties, concerts, receptions and
entertained friends and family regularly. She didn�t drink to excess, even though she loved
port and gin � she was naturally tipsy. But she was also athletic, she loved golfing, tennis,
skiing, hiking, fishing � she was the most excellent fisherman. Fish
jumped onto her hook no matter what the bait. She had no problem handling
worms or big bugs or cleaning fish. She graduated from college and always told me she was
"on the dean�s list."...it turned out she was on the dean�s
probation list. But she later did very well in all her classes at DVC in
music theory and performance. She loved giving gag gifts, like a "thumb"
bottle opener or a meowing back-scratcher. She drew clever faces on fruit
and hard-boiled eggs. For years, a rock in the guest bathroom read "turn me
over" and on the back "aaahhh, that feels sooo good." She was easily flustered and occasionally defensive
because she wanted things her way � but her way was generous and playful. Once while hosting a birthday party, she presented a
cake with 80-or-so burning candles and said to the birthday boy, "Time for
a blow job." Music was mom and dad�s religion and they worshiped
every day. In fact, mom practiced and performed with several piano groups
until she fainted one day last June. In the hospital afterwards, multiple
myeloma was discovered � a painful bone cancer � but at her age, therapy was
not recommended. Mom wanted to "check out" before the onset of
unmanageable pain. She took to her bed, slept more and more, ate less and
less and very gently left us. Though her appetite dwindled, her humor and all her
marbles remained intact to the very end. At Thanksgiving, I served her a
tiny dollop of dessert and she quipped, "What a huge piece of cake!" We love you mom. Safe journey to other realms.
Thanks for making our hearts light.
Credits: This piece was written by Kathryn Hannah and read by Victoria (Vicky) Hannah at the memorial service for Alice Hannah on January 28, 2011 in Walnut Creek, CA. Used with permission of the family.
Alice was born in Indiana, married her husband in Ohio and eventually moved to Northern California where she lived until she died. Alice Hannah and Sarah Chambers were very good friends. They along with their husbands, Dr. Richard Hannah and Richard Chambers, formed part of the core of a study group that brought forth the information we now know as "The Michael Teachings." Alice was the "secretary" for the Friendship of Souls as they called themselves then. Alice transcribed much of the information that came from Sarah's use of the Ouija board sessions, typed up the meeting notes and distributed copies to interested students. Michael students today owe a huge debt of gratitude to Alice for documenting what happened in those early study group meetings and for preserving the foundation of our current information.
Many of the meetings were held at the Chambers home or the Hannah home nearby in Oakland, CA.
On August 17, 1973 � in response to a question about karma � Michael said about Alice Hannah and Sarah Chambers, "Sarah would have found Alice again if she had to search the world." Alice and Sarah were later described as being fragments of the same entity. Alice died 12 years to the day after Sarah.
In the late 1970s, Sarah met Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and agreed to let Chelsea use some of the material from the study group in her book, Messages from Michael.
In Michael language, Alice Hannah was a 2nd level Old Artisan, Stoic, Submission, Caution, Intellectual Center with Emotional trap, Self-Deprecation, Lunar/Jupiter body type in Cadre 1, Entity 1. Her husband Richard was a 4th level old Artisan, Realist, Growth, Reserve Intellectual Center with Emotional trap, Impatience/Martyrdom. Richard Hannah was born March 2, 1923 and died June 5, 2008.
Books
- Messages from Michael. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Berkley Publishing Group; (October 1980) ASIN: 0425065332
- More Messages from Michael. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Berkley Publishing; (March 1986) ASIN: 0425086623
- Complete list of books about the Michael Teachings listed here: http://www.itstime.com/mbooks.htm.
Articles- Memorial to Sarah Chambers (November 30, 1937 - December 8, 1998) http://www.itstime.com/sarah.htm
- Articles by Sarah Chambers here: New Models of Education and Community and Communion. Also, several articles at the Flight of the Hawk website.
- More articles about the Michael Teachings can be found here: http://itstime.com/michael.htm
This page is http://www.itstime.com/alice.htm
Page updated: May 11, 2023
