![](/1130/Ultra/McAFH_white_300.png)
![](/1139/Full/McAdamsBanner.jpg)
![Elizabeth Mancke](/tribute-images/2682/Ultra/Elizabeth-Mancke.jpg)
Tribute Wall
Saturday
14
October
Celebration of Life
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Saturday, October 14, 2023
McAdam's Funeral Home
160 York Street
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
5064589170
Memorial Tributes at 3 pm
Saturday
14
October
Memorial Tributes
3:00 pm
Saturday, October 14, 2023
McAdam's Funeral Home
160 York Street
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
5064589170
Held during Celebration of Life
Livestream
https://vimeo.com/event/3745473
Hyperlink is embedded in the obituary.
Or highlight entire address, copy and paste into address line and hit "enter"
![](/tribute-images/side-image/252/Ultra/McALogo_w_emb.png)
![](/tribute-images/side-image/251/Ultra/Placeholder_white.png)
Loading...
E
Emily Burton posted a condolence
Monday, October 16, 2023
My sincere condolences to Elizabeth's family, friends, and colleagues. I first met Elizabeth about 15 years ago, when I worked on the British Asia-British Atlantic project. Her intelligence and breadth of knowledge were impressive. I also remember her being down to earth and generous. On a trip to Fredericton relating to the same project, I stayed at her house, and it was lovely and relaxed in the midst of the busy conference.
H
Hannah Lane posted a condolence
Saturday, October 14, 2023
I posted the following on Facebook a while ago, but while celebrating Elizabeth's life today, I decided to add it here also so more could hear even more about her impact: I first met Elizabeth Mancke at conferences in or sessions about Atlantic Canada when I was a graduate student and in connection with mutual friends in Fredericton. She was always interested and supportive of graduate students anywhere, but I really got to know her better after I moved to Sackville. I reconnected with her in Boston at either the AHA or the OAH as she was about to leave Akron for UNB, and her support as well as our shared interests, sometimes specialized such as Washington County, Maine have been invaluable to me. Special memories are sharing drives to or accommodation in Orono, Maine, and her surprise visit to me when I was in hospital in Moncton, which she had somehow heard about and typically stopped while driving back from a busy work trip to Halifax to give me cheer and digestible food. We had a good visit at her home last week (sweet Bailey who met Elizabeth last year wanted to get into bed with her) and started a great conversation about intersections between themes in the David George paper and our shared interest in the history of religion in late 18th and early 19th century BNA and Maine. I did not want to tire her out ,so we planned to continue it on my next trip to Fredericton. I had planned to bring her a tagine because she had shared delicious lamb tagines with me and my mother during times of adversity in past years. I am sure I am only one of many who are so grateful that Elizabeth's sister was able to be with her, sending sympathy to Elizabeth's family and other friends, and for the outstanding work of Stephanie Pettigrew in keeping us informed this week.
Sharon Weaver and I always wanted to take Elizabeth to hike in Fundy National Park (though we had a friendly unresolved debate as to whether Coastal Path or Moosehorn Laverty). Being an incredibly hardworking and dedicated historian, Elizabeth wanted us instead to join her in her time efficient evening water fitness classes, but Sharon and I never got past the absence of dogs and natural light. Then Elizabeth and I were going to to do a memorial hike or long walk in honour of Sharon, even if only the longer trail at Mactaquac which I had been literally about to do with Sharon before her rapid decline. But we were both too busy and it never happened. Now I really regret not joining Elizabeth for at least one evening in her water movement classes. And I still have not been back to Mactaquac!
I am sure I am not the only one who is also experiencing this grief as a reminder that some of us may be spending far too much time spinning our wheels in ruts or in academe teaching, research, or service busywork. And not enough time communicating our research, being with individual students in meaningful ways the way Elizabeth could (it would help if more students actually returned from the ethernet to the office or library coffee shop). But most of all sharing more times together that were not always about work, whether a fun warm water exercise class or a walk in the woods.
B
Bonnie Huskins posted a condolence
Saturday, October 14, 2023
We send our sincere condolences to Elizabeth’s loved ones: family, friends, colleagues and students. Elizabeth was always been generous with her time and expertise. Her breadth of knowledge was immense and she helped many of us articulate our research agendas. She was passionate and a lot of fun. We first met her back in British Columbia through our mutual friend Moira Kloster-Gutteridge but only got to know her better when she came to UNB. We will miss her! But her spirit lives on…
Bonnie and Michael
C
Carey Watt posted a condolence
Saturday, October 14, 2023
I will miss Elizabeth and enjoyed working with her. I always appreciated her enthusiasm for history, and her care for her students. I will miss her comments and insights at colloquia (including the TCC).
J
Jennifer Andrews posted a condolence
Saturday, October 14, 2023
I worked with Elizabeth for a decade, and had the privilege of getting to know her as both a stellar academic and a close friend. What most stands out to me about her was her tireless search for justice, her deep commitment to students, her immense generosity of spirit and her incredible intellect. Elizabeth was a wonderful sounding board but also a caring and compassionate person; she was fearless of authority in the very best way and never hesitated to speak her mind. She made me a better person and while we did not always agree on things, her willingness to engage in debate and simultaneously to have your back was a unique and amazing part of her personality. I will miss her--and cannot imagine the world without her.
N
Nicole uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, October 12, 2023
/public-file/532/Ultra/7162a44a-9e6a-4d77-86dc-736e38137383.jpg
![](/public-file/532/Ultra/7162a44a-9e6a-4d77-86dc-736e38137383.jpg)
N
Nicole posted a condolence
Thursday, October 12, 2023
Elizabeth loved teaching. This is a photo of her giving a guest lecture about the possibility of Truth and Reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people at the Faculty of Law at the University of New Brunswick. A giant intellect, an inspirational voice, and an indefatigable mentor....we will continue to implement her vision for meaningful and inclusive change.
G
Gary Waite posted a condolence
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
I was privileged to be department chair when we offered the Canada Research Chair to Elizabeth. She proved herself to be an extraordinary leader in the Atlantic Canada Studies field, and a profoundly caring and devoted mentor to her many graduate students. Her office was next to mine, and we shared many conversations on an incredible range of topics, from frustrations with university administration to the practice of history to modern politics, and beyond. The breadth of her knowledge was breathtaking. I know she is missed deeply by those she mentored and by colleagues and friends. My deepest condolences to her family. I'm afraid I will be missing the memorial service, as I will be out of town. But my thoughts will be with you all.
S
Shelley Francis posted a condolence
Sunday, October 8, 2023
I got to know Dr. Mancke while I was working for a short time at UNB, and was in awe of her brilliance and decolonizing approach- and for her trying to make UNB a culturally safe place to study for Indigenous students. She was a regular at our TRC meetings and proposed excellent suggestions on how to decolonize academia. Even though I left my job at UNB I stayed in touch with her- a true Indigenous Ally. May Creator honour your significant contributions in Spirit World dear Elizabeth. We are all better people for having learned from you.
F
Former Student posted a condolence
Thursday, October 5, 2023
I took Dr. Mancke's course "Indigenous and Settler Canada" in the second year of my undergraduate degree, and four years later it has stuck with me as a standout among all of the courses I have ever taken at the university level. Dr. Mancke revolutionized the way I see colonialism and Canadian history, and cemented by desire to pursue a major in history. But aside from being a great intellectual who cared deeply about her field she was also a very kind and approachable person. A few years ago while I was volunteering at a university event she recognized me and took the time to speak to me, and it was a somewhat transformative moment for me as a young and shy undergrad to have an academic I respected speak to me like a peer. She had an immeasurably profound impact on many students and will be deeply missed.
R
Richard Nelson posted a condolence
Saturday, September 30, 2023
My wife, Jane and I, last emailed our Libby, who many of you know as Beth or Dr. Mancke, on the day she died. We told her of our love and urged her not to reply to save her energy for her students. Today, concerned we had had no word, we discovered that she had left us on that very day.
I met Libby in 1989, after her mother, had died, when she was a temporary instructor at the Univ. of Maine-Machias. She had been expected, her grief notwithstanding, to serve as secretary for the dept. faculty meeting. Libby told those uncaring men that they could figure out for themselves what to do with the pencil. They decided she should not have her academic contract renewed. I was subsequently offered the position from out of state. When I arrived, those men decided Libby had no reason to meet the new prospective hire. She, however, took it upon herself to march down and introduce herself. We immediately became fast, and lifelong friends: but not just me, my wife, my children, my mother (in Pennsylvania) and my Mother-in-law in Minnesota, all of us lived as close and constant companions, together, and across distance for over thirty years,
Eventually, a federal court would acknowledge, and sanction, the University of Maine system for permitting and actually facilitating the sexual abuse of students and staff. By then, Libby had found a position at the University of Washington-Bellingham. There, she found herself ostracized in her department, first as a woman, who successfully challenged her harassment in court, and then as a junior faculty member, who faced additional reprisals for broaching institutional protocol in reporting concerns about a colleague's health to a Dean. That colleague, it was later learned, would certainly have died from the disorienting effects of anemia, had Libby not intervened.
At her next academic stop, Akron, she was expected to sacrifice her scholarship to serve dept. interests; even being denied acceptance of a Princeton fellowship in Canadian Studies, at one point, while being asked to mentor and teach larger numbers of students than others, to organize dept programs that were in disarray through no fault of her own, and serve the interests of faculty colleagues that often seemed, to her, bent on using her talents of student support and organizational acumen against her own interests as a teacher and scholar.
The integrity of her scholarship, and her dedication to students through those years, was acknowledged in the Atlantic Canada Research Professorship that brought her to the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. But. as in every University, the tension between showing generosity to students, and dedication to their support as scholars, was not always equally embraced by all. In her last days, Libby was exasperated to recognize not just the danger of venial faculty politics, but the way nationalist political expediency could overshadow academic responsibility. She called on her colleagues and students to remember a higher ethic of defending the mission of a community of scholars against becoming coopted by those who wish to use that community trust in their will to power.
Libby was deeply Lutheran in her unwavering commitment to vocation. She embraced institutional integrity. She rejected every antinomian assault of individual hubris. She stood up against the effort of any venial politician-inside or outside of the university- to use academic degrees to further corrupt agendas. She bristled at faculty arrogance, while she worked tirelessly to build the confidence of students who often doubted their worth because of it. She refused to be subservient to power, or to conventional claims to scholarly knowledge; but, without a moment's hesitation, Libby would stoop to wipe the floor for an incontinent old woman, or nearly miss her flight to look after a disabled passenger she happened to pass in the terminal.
Libby fiercely embraced what she knew in her soul mattered. She remained always true, to her last moments, to her compass of compassion and idealism. And she suffered through the indignities of opposition to those principles all her life. We hope her students will take heart, in their grief at the loss of their true advocate, in the power of that vision of vocation she humbly witnessed to in the light of her faith. Life is fragile, and too short, but Libby has left a profoundly high and compassionate model of what being a teacher and scholar and friend can mean.
Richard and Jane Nelson
G
Graham Nickerson Posted Oct 4, 2023 at 9:31 AM
Wow!
I am one of those people that Elizabeth broke convention to help, and I hope only to repay that honour by telling the stories of those who far too often don't get their stories told accurately, or their stories become the stepping stones in somebody's career.
Thanks Elizabeth for dispelling my colonized mind.
L
Leigh Posted Oct 5, 2023 at 7:37 PM
What a beautiful post. Yes, the University of Akron denied her acceptance of two prestigious fellowships she was awarded at Princeton and Brown (?) in 2009, a very competitive year to secure funding, let alone two offers. She had defended an African American male student being institutionally accused of a serious crime. Elizabeth contended there was no evidence. She also was an advocate for students exposing a sexual predator in dorms. Admin were irate. She never backed down. Never.
T
Teri Cruzan Posted Oct 10, 2023 at 8:56 PM
Dear Richard and Janet- Thank you so much for sharing this beautifully moving witness and tribute to Dr. Mancke. I am moved to tears. I send my condolences to you and all who knew and loved Libby. Warmly,
Teri Cruzan
D
Dianne Kelly posted a condolence
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Dr. Mancke was more than a professor. She was an encourager, who inspired her students as many others have said more eloquently than I could. I am only grateful that she came to New Brunswick and that I had the opportunity to learn from her and work with her.
J
Joe posted a condolence
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
In my last years as a graduate student at the University of Maine, Beth invited me to stay with her to conduct research. As a young father with a growing family that support was significant, however our conversations were far more significant. She primarily described to me the pitfalls and problems of the overly competitive academic world. When I got a chance to work a more stable federal history job, I jumped on it and never looked back, and our talks set me on the path that was best for my family. Our family has prioritized working to live over living to work and Beth played such an embryonic and essential place on my life today. With such little time we spent together, she helped shape the cornerstone of my approach to family and work. Thanks Beth, for being brilliant but also for your empathy.
Joe
D
Deborah Bednar posted a condolence
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
I was an older student at the university of Akron working on a masters in history. Although I was not the intellectual she was Elizabeth always took time to have dinner with me at her house or mine and led lively discussions we could both express our thoughts freely. RIP Elizabeth although their was always a quietness to your nature you left your mark in this world.
M
Moira Kloster uploaded photo(s)
Sunday, September 24, 2023
/public-file/516/Ultra/c34bba39-526f-4817-be7a-c7829f7ce908.jpg
![](/public-file/516/Ultra/c34bba39-526f-4817-be7a-c7829f7ce908.jpg)
I knew Elizabeth as a friend for 42 years, starting just before she first saw herself as a scholar. I am so proud to have been one of her friends, because her friends were unquestionably the joy of her life. She always kept in touch with cards, letters, emails, and "thinking of you" gifts from craft fairs. And she went to the most extraordinary lengths to visit. I have happy memories of Vancouver, Salem, Edmonton, Akron, Tucson, Fredericton, and England. But my favourite memory of the her willingness to go to any lengths to meet up was when I was visiting Toronto, and she was living in Akron. With only a single day free, neither of us could reach the other. But Elizabeth looked at the map, pinpointed Erie, Pennsylvania as exactly halfway between us, and suggested we meet there. She drove three hours each way from Akron, and I drove three hours each way from Toronto, to have a wonderful afternoon's chat in a lakefront park in Erie. More than anything, I shall miss those wide-ranging and intense conversations.
A
A Former Student posted a condolence
Sunday, September 24, 2023
When I met Elizabeth at the University of Akron (Ohio, USA) in the early 2000s, I believed that American Thanksgiving was a happy celebration of friendship between pilgrims and Amerindians and that George Washington accidentally chopped down a cherry tree and refused to lie about it. Over the next years, I learned about colonisation, settler expansion, imperialism, sovereignty, empire, "discourses of erasure" and perhaps most importantly, 1) where the homelands of Amerindians were/are and 2) what the names of their nations were/are. Elizabeth and her courses shattered my distorted images of American and European history, and in hindsight I can see that she and they liberated my mind.
This historian always told students, “My job is to teach you how to think for yourselves.” She did not apologize when one could no longer see from the same perspective George Washington with his large axe and fallen cherries, the United States or the British Empire, pointing out that at least we learned something. She was also a powerfully strong advocate and fought hard in solidarity with vulnerable peoples when most authorities were unmoved or too afraid of administration and retaliation to stand in their/our corners. She served as undergraduate history advisor and soon more students came to her than to the average full-time academic advisor at the Center for Academic Advising in Simmon's Hall, which had a team of about twelve. Her busiest weeks, as I recall, she was seeing ~50 students while teaching and researching. For her integrity, competence and fearlessness, she was deeply trusted and appreciated by students from disciplines across university.
Elizabeth was reputed for her brilliance and courage, and sometimes people got disoriented over it. Every semester, many students could not sort out what this highly accomplished scholar with a world-class education was doing at the University of Akron or even the mid-Atlantic region. After all, they pointed out, we were learning lessons that she had learned at John's Hopkins University in the courses of Jack Greene, and our university was not in the Ivys or top tiers. One day Elizabeth said to me, "You know what? [Disclosure: the correct answer is, “No.” No, I do not know what.] You know what? That is the question of a consumer. I am a Producer." After that, I and others began calling ourselves producers, not only as an affectionate joke but also because we were producing scholarship thanks to her training and confidence in our work.
Incontestably, Elizabeth did what she could, where she was, with what she had and a good sense of humour, notwithstanding any obstacles, acts of God, terribly vicious adversaries or extremely powerful illnesses. What she had been calling flu only months ago, we learned was almost certainly not flu. Yet her name for it testifies to her enormous fortitude and perseverance. When I called her at hospital, where she was battling life-threatening conditions, she said that she "had to go" because she was a "working woman," engaged in many scholarly pursuits and supervising lots of students. Before I could ask what about taking medical leave while receiving intensive treatment, she said that she assessed that she could work part time, at the very least, and did not require full time leave.
I was reminded that Elizabeth always put her vocation, research and the needs of others before her own, even in her final days. She often spoke about the greater good and what was best for the community, and I began to recognise the importance of selflessness and collectivism through observing how she lived. The amount of work and service to the profession that she performed was, without exaggeration, likely more than that of six to seven highly competent professionals. But I suspect what she might have considered more important—or at least equally important— is that her students learned how to be producers and collectivist thinkers, too.
Before meeting this scholar, I was racing to finish my formal studies and never look back. I did not see any place in history for women, minorities and/or indigenous peoples, because it was as if we were just caricatures or footnotes in the narratives of important men and nation states. Elizabeth opened spaces for me in her classrooms even at maximum capacity. She created new professional opportunities in my life when they ended; and she mentored me without ceasing no matter the unrelenting demands on her time. In all of these ways, she brought me and others into scholarly conversations and public spaces that we likely would have been closed out of, thus changing history and society by changing who was in rooms.
Elizabeth was an exemplary Canada Research Chair, scholar, humanitarian leader, advocate and citizen of the world. Addressing global challenges through cutting-edge research and scholarly collaboration, she made a phenomenal difference to this earth, its creatures (human and non-human) and its structures of knowledge. Her scholarship and legacy will be passed down through generations and thus continue living on and creating new life.
She will be forever missed, forever remembered and forever honored, now having become herself an historical figure.
D
Drew Rendall posted a condolence
Saturday, September 23, 2023
So sad to learn of Elizabeth’s passing. She was a force. Quick with a smile and a hearty chuckle but also sharp in her observations and judgment. She was the quintessential academic. Steadfast in her focus and support for students. And principle oriented and uncompromising in scholarly pursuit. She regularly reminded us of our core commitments and responsibilities as individual academics, and as broader institutions and societies, when she felt we might be straying from those. I feel most fortunate to have known her and, in particular, to have witnessed the magic she worked with the graduate students in her charge, helping shape many into the finest students to graduate from UNB. Her efforts and influence live on and will be felt and valued for a long time to come.
R
REV. JOSEPH J LIEBERTH posted a condolence
Saturday, September 23, 2023
I was very saddened to learn of Elizabeth's death. I came to personally know her during her time at the University of Akron and was able to sit in for one of her courses. We enjoyed many happy times at her table and have continued to keep in touch since her move to Canada. May God bless her with His loving peace.
Fr. Joe Lieberth
J
Jacqueline Seely posted a condolence
Saturday, September 23, 2023
I am so sad to hear of Elizabeth's passing. I worked at the School of Graduate Studies at UNB for 23 years. I assisted many of her graduate students and she also served on our SGS Committees. She will always be remembered as being a compassionate faculty member, researcher and a great leader.
M
Michael Meagher posted a condolence
Saturday, September 23, 2023
I served on UNB's Senate with Elizabeth. She was a wonderful advocate for programs that she felt would make the university an even better place for students and faculty. And a fearless supporter of doing the right thing. I will greatly miss her voice and thoughtful leadership and feel fortunate to have served with her. My sincerest condolences to her family and friends.
M
The family of Elizabeth Mancke uploaded a photo
Saturday, September 23, 2023
/tribute-images/2682/Ultra/Elizabeth-Mancke.jpg
![](/tribute-images/2682/Ultra/Elizabeth-Mancke.jpg)
Please wait
![](/tribute-images/side-image/252/Ultra/McALogo_w_emb.png)
![](/tribute-images/side-image/251/Ultra/Placeholder_white.png)
Share Your Memory of
Elizabeth
Be the first to upload a memory!
Mcadam's funeral home & Crematorium
160 York St.
Fredericton, NB
E3B 3N7
Ph: 506-458-9170
E-mail: McAdams@McAdamsFH.com