Eve St. Martin Wallenstein

Eve St. Martin Wallenstein, born November 19, 1925 passed away September 9, 2007, after a lengthy illness. Her father, Kansas City Star reporter Marcel Wallenstein and his family had been targeted by the Nazis, thus Eve came to Kansas City from London, England, in 1940. She attended Notre Dame de Sion where the shy English girl was welcomed by her classmates and developed friendships that were to last throughout her life. At that time, she was taken under the wing of Mrs. Henry Haskell, wife of the then editor of the Kansas City Star, who helped Eve adjust to her new home. It was during her stay in Kansas City that Eve learned to love America, later becoming a citizen and pursuing a career teaching American government and politics. After graduating from Notre Dame de Sion High School, Eve moved to Los Angles to study at UCLA, where she was the first female Teaching Assistant in Political Science, in 1944. Her life was dedicated to students. Eve initially taught Civics and Social Studies at the high school level in Burbank, then Los Angeles, and finally in San Francisco. After completing her Masters Degree at UC Berkeley, Eve went on to teach at Merritt College in 1960, where she was a dynamic instructor of American Government, Comparative Government, and French for 46 years. After her retirement from full-time teaching at Merritt, Eve continued to teach one class per semester, perform committee work, including leading the In-Service Training for Faculty Hires, and help students at the Learning/Tutorial Center. Truly dedicated to her vocation as a teacher, Eve Wallenstein was an inspiration, mentor, and friend to her students and colleagues in academe. A memorial mass and celebration of her life will be held at Holy Names University in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 5:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Eve St. Martin Wallenstein Scholarship in care of the Merritt College Faculty Senate, Merritt College, 12500 Campus Drive, Oakland, CA 94619.