Greet Kershaw
Anthropologist, professor   

On January 30, 2008, Gretha “Greet” Kershaw died unexpectedly at the Mt. San Antonio Gardens Health Center after a brief hospitalization. She was 85.

Born in Amsterdam and raised in the Netherlands, Ms. Kershaw was the middle of 3 children born to Hendrik Sluiter and Aukje Voetberg. She graduated from the Lyceum, Europe’s educational system, and spent her early adult years as a social worker.

In the late 50s and early 60s, Ms. Kershaw spent several years in a very tumultuous East Africa during the Mau Mau uprising. While there, she conducted anthropological fieldwork that led to numerous publications and the pursuit of higher education in the field. Eventually, she became one of only a handful of ethnologists with detailed, painstakingly collected data about the lives of the Kikuyu people who were at the center of the Mau Mau movement.

From approximately 1962 to 1965, Ms. Kershaw and her husband, John, lived in England, immigrating to southern California with their two small sons in 1965.  Family members shared that she “found the deepest happiness” with her husband. With Mr. Kershaw, who died in 1974, “she shared a once in a lifetime partnership of learning and loving,” the family wrote in a remembrance.

In the US, Ms. Kershaw earned a PhD in anthropology from the University of Chicago and served as professor of anthropology at California State University, Long Beach from 1966 until her retirement in the late 1980s.

Ms. Kershaw will be remembered as a deeply spiritual person who was active in both the Claremont Quaker Meeting and Temple Beth Israel. 

“She always put others before herself and many benefited from her quiet strength and resiliency,” wrote her family.  “She dedicated much of her life to raising her sons and to understanding and working toward a world where all people can live in peace and safety. Her varied interests and strong convictions allowed her to develop a wide network of friends and colleagues who also honor her life.”   

Ms. Kershaw is survived by her twin sons and their wives, William and Sherrie Kershaw of Rancho Santa Margarita and David and Mary Ann Kershaw of Tampa, Florida; and by her two grandchildren, Keira and Austin.

A memorial service will take place at 1:30 p.m. today, Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at Temple Beth Israel, 3033 N. Towne Ave., Pomona. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Amnesty International at www.amenesty.org.