DorobekInsider: More details on Pat Knapp, mother of Qwest’s Deirdre Murray

I mentioned earlier that Qwest’s Deirdre Murray’s mother passed away suddenly over the weekend. Knapp’s obituary was posted in the San Diego n...

I mentioned earlier that Qwest’s Deirdre Murray’s mother passed away suddenly over the weekend. Knapp’s obituary was posted in the San Diego newspaper yesterday:

KNAPP, RITA (Pat) RIEHLMANN Beloved wife, devoted mother of four, age 83, died peacefully on July 24, 2009, at her home in Solana Beach, CA. Born October 5, 1925, in New Orleans, she personified its joie de vivre. She is survived by her children, Greg (Tujunga, CA) and his wife, Cathleen; Sam (San Diego, CA); Deirdre (Arlington, VA); and Steve (San Francisco, CA); her brother, Bernard; and a host of nieces, nephews and cherished friends. She was married to Norbert G. Knapp for 45 years; he died in 1993. Avid beachgoers, they loved tennis, baseball, dancing, and world travel. An LSU English graduate, Pat was an avid reader and letter writer, raconteur, crossword puzzle enthusiast and bridge player par excellence. She will be remembered for her strong faith in the Good Lord, her devotion to her family, her wonderful acts of kindness, and extraordinary intellect. Visitation on Thursday, July 30th, 6 p.m.-9 p.m. at El Camino Memorial, 340 Melrose Ave., Encinitas, CA 92024, with Rosary at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 31st, Funeral Mass at 11 a.m. at St. James Catholic Church, 625 S. Nardo Ave., Solana Beach, CA 92075, followed by a private burial at El Camino Memorial Park. Reception at 2:30 p.m. at the Knapp’s, Del Mar Beach Club, 163 South Shore Drive, Solana Beach, CA 92075.

I spoke to Murray from London Tuesday… and, over all, I’d say she is doing as well as one might imagine. She was totally surprised — in fact, she barely was able to pack to get out to San Diego.

As I mentioned previously, she had just had a 10 day trip with her mother across Southern California that I had helped Murray plan… Deirdre was thankful that she had that time with her mother.

But reading the obituary, Knapp’s background in English reminded me of a story dating back to the now infamous Waxman-Doan hearings when then GSA Administrator Lurita Doan had, somewhat oddly, gone off on a rant about the hortatory subjunctive tense. (I blogged about it when I was over at Federal Computer Week… and you can hear Doan talk about the hortatory subjective from YouTube here.) Anyway, I remeber at the time that Murray and her mother had discussed this event — and the tense…

Anybody who knows Murray knows she is close to her family — close enough to discuss the hortatory subjunctive.

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