Maureen A. Casamayou

Turin- Dr. Maureen A. Casamayou, 67, of Swackhammer Road, widow of Louis J., passed away at her home on Monday, October 6, 2014, while under the loving care of her family and Lewis County Hospice. Maureen was born in Bury, Lancashire, United Kingdom, on April 1, 1947, a daughter of Thomas P. and Kathleen Stephens Hogan. Following primary and secondary education in England, Maureen in 1968 completed a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics at London University in the United Kingdom. She then moved to Wichita, Kansas, where at Wichita State University she completed a Master of Arts Degree in political science in 1970. In 1989 she completed a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in political science at Boston College. Her major fields of study were American political institutions, American political behavior, and American comparative government. Maureen taught political science in a number of universities and colleges, beginning with the State University of New York at Oswego; then Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica; Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts; Auburn University at Montgomery, Alabama; and the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. She served as visiting professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.; assistant professor and associate professor at Mount Vernon College in Washington, D.C.; and visiting assistant professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. The courses she taught at Mount Vernon College and George Mason University were in public administration, American government, congressional politics, political parties, interest groups, public policymaking, criminal justice, cultural pluralism and the law (Freshman honors), women's health and public policy (Sophomore honors), media and politics, the presidency (Senior honors), urban politics, women in the American political process, democratic theory and practice, and on the graduate level, organizational theory, public policy process, and public administration. She was a research fellow and guest scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Although she retired from teaching in 2004, she resumed in the spring of 2011 when she began teaching courses in American national government and sociology for Mohawk Valley Community College, both in the parish hall of Trinity Episcopal Church in Boonville and on the MVCC Utica campus. Maureen's academic publications included Bureaucracy in Crisis: Three Mile Island, the Shuttle Challenger, and Risk Assessment, Westview Press, 1993; The Politics of Breast Cancer, Georgetown University Press, 2001; "Collective Entrepreneurialism and Breast Cancer Advocacy" in Interests Group Politics, Congressional Quarterly Press, 2002; "The Columbia Accident," in Public Administration: Concepts and Cases, Houghton Mifflin Co., 2005; and Organizational Learning at NASA: The Challenger and Columbia Accidents, co-authored with Julianne G. Mahler, Georgetown University Press, 2009. Maureen was a member of the American Political Science Association, a council member of the National Capitol Area Political Science Association, secretary-treasurer of The Governance Institute of Washington, D.C., and a member of the Harold Lasswell Public Policy Awards Committee. She served as panelist or chair at conferences of the American Political Science Association and its Midwest and Southern regional divisions. She made academic presentations at meetings of the Public Leadership Education Network, Winthrop University, Armstrong State College, and California State University at Sacramento. She also served as consultant to the Washington Center in evaluating academic programs. From 2006 through 2010, Maureen completed studies in formation for ordination within the Episcopal Church. The conclusion of the discernment process, however, was that her calling was that of a professor, not a priest. Her service at Trinity Episcopal Church, Boonville, continued unabated as senior warden of the vestry, Eucharistic minister, lector, member of the Rector's Forum, member of the altar guild, co-leader of the Trinity Youth Group, gardener, and designer and organizer of the now annual Fun Dog Show each summer. While on the teaching staff at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, NY, she met Louis J. Casamayou in Rome, New York. Following a bike ride around Delta Lake, and a whirlwind courtship, the couple was united in marriage on August 12, 1975 at the Griffis Air Force Base Chapel. While her husband was stationed in Alaska, Maureen learned to ski. After perfecting her skills, she realized her passion for the sport and was a member of the U.K. Cross Country Olympic Reserve Ski Team. The couple also completed a bicycle trip across the United States. This trip lasting 80 days and covering 5, 482 miles began on the Oregon Coast and ended at their front door step in Yorktown, Virginia. Following their retirement the couple built their home on the edge of the Tug Hill Plateau in Northern New York State. This is where the couple built their relationship, and spent the rest of their days together. Here they enjoyed their love for the outdoors; bicycling in the summer months and skiing in the winter. Many hours where spent each summer tending her English Garden, on the hillside by their home. Mr. Casamayou, a retired Colonel with the US Air Force, passed away on February 19, 2013. Maureen also had a passion for music. She was a member of the Adirondack Community Chorus, where she sang Soprano; her talents also included the Djembe African drums and guitar. Traveling to visit her family was something Maureen was also grateful for. She made many trips to the United Kingdom as well as Egypt and France. She enjoyed her many visits to her brother's home in France, where she was known to offer a hand in the renovations of their farmhouse and the estate grounds. Maureen is survived by her siblings, Bernard Hogan, Lowville, New York, Peter Hogan, Bad Soden, Germany, Patricia Sandefur, Washington, D.C., her sister-in-law Eileen Hogan, West Sussex, UK, several nieces and nephews who all adored her, and her beloved pets, her dogs, Gemma and Loki, and cats Joshua, Zachary, Zoe and Rachel Daisy. Besides her husband Louis, she was predeceased by her siblings Lawrence and Tony Hogan and Kathleen Hargreaves. A Requiem Eucharist will be offered on Tuesday, October 14, 2014 at 11:00 am at the Trinity Episcopal Church, Boonville, where Rev. Linda Logan will officiate. A reception will follow in the parish hall, which all are encouraged to attend to continue to share memories, and celebrate Maureen's life. Interment will be held privately in Boonville Cemetery. Calling hours will be held on Sunday, October 12, from 2:00 - 4:00 pm at the Trainor Funeral Home, Inc. 143 Schuyler Street, Boonville. Memorial contributions may be made to Lewis County Hospice, P.O. Box #266 Lowville, NY 13367 or to the Lewis County Humane Society, P.O. Box #682, Lowville, NY 13367.