When housing developments and golf courses threatened the
natural beauty of her community, Professor Jill Anne Kowalik took
action by making educational films about Powder Canyon, the
517-acre park in danger of urbanization.
That was in 1992. Now developments threaten Kowalik’s La
Habra Heights community once again, and Kowalik, one of the
community’s leaders, will not be able to continue fighting
for her neighborhood, said Joe Geissinger, a resident in La Habra
Heights.
Kowalik, 54, a UCLA professor and preservationist, died Oct. 30
after a 14-year bout with cancer.
Kowalik’s strength in fighting cancer was exemplified by
her strength as a community leader.
“The entire community was more or less up in arms,”
said Geissinger, who also is a sound engineer for Pauley Pavilion.
“She fought very hard against that development.”
Kowalik received her doctorate from Stanford University. Prior
to coming to UCLA in 1989, Kowalik was a professor at Princeton
University.
Kowalik’s leadership in her community paralleled her
leadership at UCLA.
“I had hoped that she would continue in my field,”
said Ted Bahr, a retired professor in Kowalik’s department of
Germanic languages. “I thought with her, my field would be in
good hands.”
Bahr said one of Kowalik’s latest studies was on the
psychology of mourning. She was in the middle of writing a book on
the subject when she died.
“That would have been a great book,” Bahr said.
Kowalik taught through spring quarter 2003. Her students said
she was irreplaceable.
“From my first visit to UCLA as a prospective student to
my last encounter with her … she shepherded and soothed and
mothered,” said Yvonne Ivory, one of Kowalik’s former
graduate students.
Donations in Kowalik’s memory may be sent to the
environmental organization Hills For Everyone. Contact the group
via
www.hillsforeveryone.org for further details.