Mrs. Demerec "Keeping Up"

[Margery Guerra Trautmann]

The lab was very concerned with keeping costs down, and broken furniture was an issue. I think I know what happened to some of the broken furniture. Every so often, Mrs. Demerec had a weekend of restoring furniture. She scraped tops, sanded, and refinished, and I can imagine that she was capable of repairing a chair or two. I remember her telling me it was the only way "to keep up."

While teaching, I was invited to dinner several times with other young people seated here and there at the table with scientists that may have arrived from around the world. I didn't give a thought to how important they might have been. Mrs. Demerec liked to have young people about and I was fortunate to be included.

In fact, I was fortunate in every way to have known her.