Elnora Beth Livezey

1942 - 2018

Elnora Beth Livezey

Inwood, CA

Elnora Beth Livezey, attorney, judge and social justice activist, passed on at age 75 on July 9, 2018 at her home in Inwood, California. Beth was born on August 11, 1942 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Martha Taylor Livezey and William Edmund Livezey. She graduated from Norman (Oklahoma) High School in 1960 and received a B.A. in American Civilization, Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University in 1964 and her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1969.

After college she worked for two years with the civil rights movement in the south as a field worker with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, where among other things she initiated a Head Start program, opened a food co-op in Gadsden, Alabama and participated in the historic 54-mile 5-day march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.

To increase her effectiveness as a social justice advocate she earned a law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in l969, where she was selected to serve as Assistant Editor on the Law Review. Post-law school Beth worked for a year for the nonprofit Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City, which represented people and groups who experienced violations of their constitutional rights. During that year she participated in the defense of the "Chicago Seven", a nationally known conspiracy case against people accused of disrupting the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago in protest against the Vietnam War.

Following her year in New York, Beth joined a pioneering law collective in Los Angeles, a group of lawyers and legal workers dedicated to using their legal skills to advance the movement for peace and justice while at the same time trying to practice law within a more egalitarian structure. As part of the collective, she litigated some of the very first Title VII cases to go to trial following the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. She challenged the rampant sex discrimination in the airline industry and race discrimination in the Los Angeles ports. She also represented members of the Black Panther Party who were charged with serious crimes, in one case proving that they had been tortured by members of the New Orleans Police Department. She won an acquittal for Harold "Atiba" Taylor and they remained close friends for the rest of her life.

When Beth moved from Los Angeles to Shasta County in 1979 Redding attorney Dugan Barr hired her to work at his law firm, handling civil lawsuits. In 1985 she became a partner in the firm of Barr, Newlan and Sinclair. She resigned from the firm in 1988 to open a solo practice.

A year later Beth was selected as Commissioner by the Judges of the Shasta County Municipal Court on July 1, 1989. Those who knew Beth would expect a declaration that Beth was the first female Commissioner in Shasta County. Not so. Beth was the first Commissioner in Shasta County, period. As a court Commissioner Beth was an employee of the court, presiding, in her robes, over a variety of court hearings and trials. Over time she gravitated to calendars in which the litigants were ordinary people rather than attorneys, such as small claims, traffic and landlord/tenant. Not surprisingly, Beth's innate ability to communicate and relate to all people made her uniquely qualified for these calendars. For the same reasons, Beth was a big favorite of court staff.

In 1998 the passage of Proposition 220 authorized the conversion of all Municipal Courts across the state into Superior Courts. On the day after the election, the Shasta County bench voted unanimously to make the conversion and as a result Beth became a Commissioner of the Shasta County Superior Court. On August 10, 2004 she retired from the court.

After leaving her professional life in the court system, Beth turned her energy and interests to serving her neighbors and the community of Shingletown. She was committed to projects that would help protect wildlife, nature, water and the rural way of life in Shingletown and the Inwood Valley. She gave her time and legal expertise serving on the Inwood Valley taskforce to stop development of Inwood Valley farm and ranchland. She volunteered as a well monitor for the Bearcreek watershed group. When the Shingletown water aquifer was threatened by a large water bottling company, Beth was instrumental in helping the Local Water Stays Local group defeat and halt further progress of the development.

Beth loved and embraced people of diverse backgrounds. She performed many unique wedding ceremonies over the years. She was a long-time member of the local Shingletown "Stitch Club" and became involved in a local dance group where she discovered her innate love for movement and music. Living a spiritual, compassionate and transparent life was very important to Beth. She became involved with the practices and techniques of German modern mystic and spiritual teacher Thomas Hubl. After taking his online courses, she enrolled in the 2 year TWT (Timeless Wisdom Training) intensive immersion training this past year. She was able to attend the first two in-person trainings here in California before she passed on. Her ability to put into practice her learnings from Thomas Hubl allowed her to gracefully embrace and accept her decline in health with dignity and love.

Beth is survived by many friends who were like family to her and by her beloved sisters, Kathleen Livezey Leonard, Wilberta Livezey Donovan, and Lorinda Livezey (Will Orvedal), by three nieces: Elizabeth Leonard Schmidt (Paul), Joanna Donovan (Al Quattrucci) and Dawn Donovan Dulski (Jim) and a nephew, W. David Leonard as well as by three great-nieces: Isabella Donovan Quattrucci, Eva Grace Leonard and Lucienne Elizabeth Leonard and two great-nephews: Jonathan Zugmund Quattrucci and James Edward Dulski IV. Beth was predeceased by her parents and her grandparents: Stella Mae Bramlett Taylor and Osa Lee Taylor and Elizabeth Smith Livezey and Charles Livezey. She also leaves behind her adored dogs, Bailey and Azoby.

Friends and family are invited to attend the celebration of life gathering for Beth on Sunday, October 7 from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the Brovan Ranch, 31281 Withrow Rd., Shingletown, California, 96088.The celebration will be moved to nearby Black Butte Junior high school if inclement weather occurs.

People, animals and nature mattered to Beth. Gifts in Beth Livezey's memory may be made to the following organizations of your choice:

1. Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City at www.ccrjustice.org);

2. The Pocket Project at www.pocketproject.org, an international nonprofit organization founded by Thomas Hubl to contribute to the healing of collective and inter-generational trauma and to relieve its disruptive effects on our global culture;

3. www.LocalWaterStaysLocal.org send checks to Local Water Stays Local c/o President Dick Rullman 8232 Eckert Ln Shingletown CA 96088

4. Bella Vista Farms Animal Sanctuary at www.bellavistafarm.org founded and run by a retired nurse who rescues unadoptable animals and provides care and love for the rest of their life (currently has 350+ animals) – send checks to Bella Vista Animal Sanctuary 4301 Lower Gaspoint Rd Cottonwood, CA 96022 (or can donate online)

5. Sierra Nevada Alliance whose mission is to protect and restore the natural resources of the Sierra Nevada for future generations while promoting sustainable communities. Send via mail to P.O. Box 7989 South Lake Tahoe, CA 96158 Attn Abby Ouimet or donate online at: www.Sierranevadaalliance.com