Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Rita Van Tassel, former Chapter President Dies

Today we received word that Rita Van Tassel, President of the Massachusetts Chapter of NASW from 2001 to 2003, passed away on July 12, 2009. In addition to being the Chapter President, Rita championned the social work profession with the Managed Care Organizations when they first showed up on the mental health insurance landscape in the 1980's. She was an advocate, a mentor to many, (including myself) and a 'real' lady as some of my senior advisors have pointed out.

This spring, she charmingly shared with me that a former high school or college sweetheart had connected with her through Facebook. They fell in love, married, did some globe trotting and settled in Colorado. She truly lived her life 'in possibility.'

The obituary appears in the Boston Globe, July 14.

1 comment:

  1. Carol, thank you for including this note about Rita Van Tassel on your blog. I was not aware of her death and was very sad to hear this. I worked closely with Rita in the 1970's when we were both involved in a project to coordinate funds and agencies to open a short term shelter for adolescents in the Harbor area. She was a very classy lady, lovely to look at and a very nice person.

    ReplyDelete