Yvette Marie Fallandy

Yvette Marie Fallandy
Bennett Ridge resident and pioneer champion of higher education in Sonoma County, Yvette Marie Fallandy died in Santa Rosa on January 15th, 2021, at the age of 94. She was the first child of Arthur and Elise Fallandy, and spent her childhood in Santa Monica, CA. After earning a doctorate in French Studies at UCLA, her first teaching appointment brought her to Swarthmore College, an elite school in Pennsylvania. Returning to California, she joined the faculty at Mills College, where she established a lifelong friendship with the Catholic chaplain, John Cummins, the future second bishop of Oakland. In 1964 Yvette was invited to the future Sonoma State University and was tasked with developing a magnet program in French Studies. Her enthusiasm convinced many students to pursue this discipline and considered Yvette as a mentor who shaped their future as teachers and linguists. Her success as a professor and dean led to her appointment as Vice President in charge of Academic Affairs, the first woman to reach that level at the university. In this position, she espoused academic independence and integrity. As chairperson of the selection committee for a new president, she blocked the appointment of a comrade of S. I. Hayakawa, and later helped to crush Peter Diamandopoulous for cashiering several faculty members, even those who were tenured, and replacing them with his toadies. Retirement in 1997 did not slow her activities in the broader community. She continued to patronize the opera, symphony and ballet in San Francisco along with the Public Broadcasting Service, and as a devoted parishioner of St. Eugene's Cathedral, she advocated greater lay participation in the governance of the Catholic Church. Interest in her heritage was refreshed by frequent trips to France, at first with her mother and later as director of tours that she customized. Chronic asthma did not handicap her from being the consummate animal lover, adopting rescue pets and feral creatures and feeding dozens of deer, wild turkeys, and raccoons who crept daily onto her domain. Whenever she was absent from her home, she never abandoned them but made elaborate arrangements for their daily sustenance. Her first priority at home centered on her aging mother who under Yvette's scrupulous care passed the centenary milestone. Ironically Yvette's description of a colleague is a remarkable self-portrait -- "Brilliant as was her mind, it was the least of her: her courageous honesty, her absolute refusal to compromise what she deemed right, her tickling ready wit, her perceptive compassion, her active generosity to all, and her unflagging loyalty to her friends made her a woman among women." She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother Martin, and she leaves behind three nephews and a niece, grandnephews and –nieces, numerous friends and neighbors, her devoted helper Anna Rogina, and an assortment of well-behaved pets ready for adoption. No plans for a service have been finalized, but a more detailed sketch of Yvette's life is available at allmea94@aol.com