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Monday, March 18, 2019

Our Princess


Rachael de Vienne
November 24, 1977 – March 18, 2019

Rachael died this evening. She complained of dizziness and a headache after dinner. She wanted a box of family memorabilia she kept in an upstairs closet. On the third step she grasped the banister, said, “oh,” and collapsed. Her two youngest daughters were with her. She said, “I love you.” And died.

This is not unexpected, though the circumstances are a surprise. I will be away from the blog for a few days.

Rachael felt especially close to a few of our blog readers, though she had no hope of ever meeting them. Among these are Roberto, Bernard, Stéphane and “German Girl.”

28 comments:

jerome said...

Just to say I am SO sorry to hear this news. My thoughts are with her whole family at this very sad time.

Gary said...

So sad to hear the news regarding Rachael whose brilliant writing and scholarship will be deeply missed by all those that love this blog. Please express our love to her family, who are also much in our thoughts and prayers.

German Girl said...

John just mailed me. This is really very sad. I´m so very sorry. I just can´t believe it. She seemed to me so very much alive, despite her health problems ... I liked her work a lot, it is just extraordinary. I too liked her comments on twitter, always clear and so very bright. She was bound to go to hospital and I was hoping for the best ... So very sorry, I´m in tears, although I didn´t know her personnally, but her personality shone through her work and I appreciate it deeply. Such a loss. My heart is with her family. I´ll never forget her.
Love, German Girl

Stéphane said...

I am very upset and overwhelmed with sorrow since I received the news of the sudden death of our dear Rachael, and I would like to express to you, Dear Professor Schulz, and to the family, relatives and friends of Rachael, particularly to her husband and her daughters, my very deep sadness as well as my profound sympathy to your and their grief. What a tragedy to die so young - and in full swing on the eve of an important achievement of your common research work.

I wish you a great courage in these dark days of pain which await you, and I pray that the light of hope and the peace of our dear heavenly Father, that “ passeth all understanding ”, bring about relief, comfort and solace in your affliction.

Stéphane

roberto said...

I am devasted, I am crying like a child. In the past years, I have built a strong friendship with her, not only through the history blog, but also with her private blog, twitter, and private emails. We never argued, never never, she was always so sweet me. She wanted to send me a message of happy marriage at my wedding the 26th of April, the next month. Yes she often talked of her future death, but in my mind she would never die. So why she died, why? Why? I've lost a friend, a sister, a teacher, what a teacher. She died with her brain intact, she died at home vith the two youngest daughters near to her. She said "Ie love you". She died like a Princess, at her home, not in the hospital. I will write again on this blog for her, not in next days, but soon. Dear Rachael, Princess, I miss you. A day I'll meet you in a perfect world. May Jehovah comfort the family for the great loss. Bruce, I know I much you loved Rachael, how much you are suffering now, but try to say nice words of comfort to the husband and daughters. I think you can be the only one, I know it isn't easy, but try. My condolance also to you and Jerome.

Annie d'iles-Stewart said...

There are comments about mom on an Italian language web site that my sisters and I find offensive. Mom's dead. Why are people being mean to her? She can't defend herself. I want this to stop. -Annie

roberto said...

Annie.
I am going to defend your mom

Annie d'iles-Stewart said...

We'd rather you just take down the post, if that's possible.

roberto said...

For Annie.
Yes

Annie d'iles-Stewart said...

I got this from someone who does not post on this blog, and we thought I should share it. We agree with it: Your mother was insanely intelligent and completely unforgettable

Bernhard said...

Extreme sad, really sad. I had the hope to meet Rachael in her mothers hometown where I live. I wish her family all best!!

Unknown said...

I am very sorry to read this news. This is a big loss. My condolences to Rachael’s family and all who knew her.

JimSpace said...

So sorry to hear of your loss.

She is irreplaceable.

Annie d'iles-Stewart said...

These are all comments from another forum. They're about mom. My sisters and I appreciate them all.

She contributed to many discussions here and her regular input will be missed.

Your mom was a valuable contributor to the forum. Her knowledge of the history of the Watchtower was unmatched and she was generous in sharing her insights.

Your mother was insanely intelligent and completely unforgettable

Your mum’s work is appreciated and made an impact.

Your mom was amazing and I admired her greatly

She was an impeccable scholar and a fine lady.

She was an intelligent lady and I appreciated her contributions here, she will be missed.

Your mom was a wonderful person and researcher. She will be missed.

I was always left speechless with the level of detail that she had about the WT. She had even the most intricate details of the WT in the late 1800s and I communicated with her over many of these details. Will miss her contribution here very much.
She seemed like a great lady and certainly brought value here.


roberto said...

For Annie

In the four hours the announce of Rachael's death appeared in an Italian Forum, three people made condolence to the family

The first condolence is from a school teacher and historic writer from Genoa, Italy. He sent the message directly in this blog in a private message to the administrators

The second condolence is from a regular reader of this historic blog. He recently visited Wien and several castles, perhaps his message was misunderstood, but he sent sincere condolance to the family, and he is deeply sorry.

The third message is from another regular reader of this blog. He now has discovered that Rachael published a fantasy book for children, and he wants to read it as soon as possible.

P.s. A new reader doubted of Rachael identity, I scolded him privately.

Annie d'iles-Stewart said...

Roberto,

Do you have a copy of mom's fantasy book? It is okay if you want to pass it on to the man who wanted to read it.

Annie d'iles-Stewart said...

Jerome,

We're keeping mom's personal blog up for now if you still want to write things for it.

Annie d'iles-Stewart said...

add:

You will have to send what you write to me at DaugtherFive at aol.com. Yes I know that's a spelling error. It's on purpose.

roberto said...

Yes Annie I have it, you mom made this gift for me (she was always so kind with me). If I have your permission I'll pass it to that man, I will say, that it's from you.

Annie, I'd like to copy most of the articles from the personal blog of your mom, to read them again in the future. And finally I'd like to write something of your mom in the blog.

And again: I always said to your mom that in my mind you are a picture of her. Who knows if you keep her personal blog alive and write?

jerome said...

Annie, it would be a lovely idea to keep your mom's personal blog active for now. I did have an idea that I was putting together when your mom passed. I will look out my notes - nothing gets thrown away in this house - and try and write it. It will not be about your mom - at least this time - but you can decide if it is suitable when it eventually arrives in your misspelled email address box.

Annie d'iles-Stewart said...

Yes, Roberto, we would welcome something from you about Mom.

roberto said...

I will write after the burial, tomorrow is a sad day of silence.

Semer said...

When I visited the blog yesterday I was in shock and didn't know what to say.
Reading her was almost a physical pleasure. She was so intelligent and learned.
The books she has written along with Bruce are an old dream of mine come true.
It's a loss for all of us.

Leroy said...

I just can't believe it. I've been away from reading the blog for a few days and didn't find out about this until now. I am very sorry and I agree with all the other comments, Rachael was a one of a kind person, and this is an irreplaceable loss. My deepest condolences to Bruce, and all of her family and friends.

ZionsHerald said...

I must say that I am in shock. Jerome emailed me a couple of days ago about this and I wasn't quite sure what to say.

I've learned a lot from her and Bruce. She was always willing to help me with my own research and we've shared a few emails and several documents back and forth over the past few years. She was always professional, friendly, and willing to help a fellow researcher. I was hoping to ask her some questions, but was hesitant as I knew she was ill. While I didn't know her well, I appreciated her sincerity, honesty, and interest in this very narrow scope of research.

My prayers in the past couple of days have been for your family. There are many of us who read this blog and have helped behind the scenes for a long time. Hopefully we can continue to encourage Bruce and the family at this very difficult time. Let us all be willing to step up and help Bruce in any way that we can to complete the second volume which was in process and any other project that had been planned for the future.

Miquel Angel Plaza-Navas said...

To read this sad news was shocking. I can only say that Rachael was a good researcher and a nice person, always answered all my emails kindly. Thanks, Rachael, for your work and your help. It was a pleasure to find this blog several years ago and to know Bruce and Rachael's research. Despite I haven't sent too many messages to this blog it has been of great help to my own research. I am very sorry and I agree with all the other comments. Thanks for your work, Rachael.
Miquel

Janet Reid said...

Devastated to hear this news.
I never met Rachael in person, but our online friendship
was a great source of joy to me.

She is deeply missed.

Jan said...

Jerome just informed me of Rachael's death. I am so sorry to hear it. She was a relentless researcher, finding the details she needed to write a great piece of historical analysis. I enjoyed working with her on a few projects and have already missed hearing from her. She would come to me when she needed info from the Age to come movement spearheaded by Joseph Marsh, which coalesced with Benj Wilson's One Faith movement into the 20th c formation of the Church of God Abrahamic Faith. Kudos to Bruce for carrying on the mission.
Jan Stilson, COGAF historian, author, archivist.