As many in the APhA family know, we lost a lifelong friend in Mary Louise Andersen. Her obituary is online, and includes some information specific to her years of leadership in APhA, women in pharmacy, and pharmacy in general.

Yesterday, Lucinda Maine and I met John and Eileen Gans to attend the visitation in Wilmington, DE. Also attending were Dr. and Mrs. Joe Fink, Dr. and Mrs. Dan Hussar, Lisa Scholz, Kevin Musto, and others in the pharmacy community. We were able to meet many of her siblings and extended family, who have participated in many APhA meetings over the years. 

A famous quote from Andersen is: “We are not called to be popular, we are not called to be safe, and we are not called to follow. We are the ones called to change attitudes and to risk displeasure. We are the ones called to gamble our lives for a better world.”

I vividly recall her Remington address in New Orleans in 2003 where she famously described our profession as being in that place between the “No Longer” and the “Not Yet.” So many in our pharmacy family have great memories of their experiences with Mary Louise. What do you remember most?