Laura Chisolm

Laura Brown Chisolm died peacefully at home in Cleveland Heights on Saturday afternoon, May 21, surrounded by family and friends, after a brave and inspiring fight against metastatic breast cancer; she was 63. Her family, colleagues, and many friends of all ages will greatly miss her brilliance, beauty, generosity, and sense of humor. A gathering to honor Laura's life will be held on Thursday, May 26, at 4:30 p.m. at the Cleveland Botanical Garden in University Circle, 11030 East Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44106. Born Laura Lois Brown in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 1948, she grew up in Bethesda, Maryland with her father and mother, Joseph E. Brown and Elizabeth Hamlin Brown, and two sisters, Linnea and Kathleen. She attended Bethesda public schools and then began college at the University of Maryland. Laura met the love of her life, Guy Maxwell Chisolm III, and they married in June, 1969. When their daughter Adrienne was born in 1971, Laura put her own college on hold for a few years, later completing a B.A. at Case Western Reserve University, and in 1981 graduating from Case School of Law, first in her class. She won numerous academic awards, served on the Law Review, and graduated summa cum laude. After graduating, Laura spent three years at the Institute for Child Advocacy in Cleveland. She then became a member of the faculty at Case School of Law, where she taught courses in Property, Legislation, Nonprofit Organizations, and Wills and trusts. Professor Chisolm published articles on political involvement by tax-exempt organizations and studied other legal issues affecting them. She was actively involved in the University's Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, was appointed Reporter to the Uniform Law Commission Project on the Regulation of Charities, and chaired the Important Developments Subcommittee of the ABA Tax Sections Committee on Exempt Organizations. She served several terms as the chair of the Advisory Board of the National Center on Philanthropy and the Law, based at New York University, and was also a member of the Nonprofit Forum. Laura was thrilled and delighted when granddaughter Natalie Lauralise Stephens was born in August 2010. Laura appreciated the care she received from the doctors, nurses, and other caregivers at Cleveland Clinic, and her family wishes to thank them for their dedication. She is survived by her husband Guy Chisolm, Vice Chair of Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute; daughter Adrienne Chisolm Stephens, son-in-law James B. Stephens and granddaughter Natalie Stephens of Carrboro, NC; sister Linnea Dayton and brother-in-law Paul Dayton, and sister Kathleen Brown, all of San Diego, California. She was a devoted sister-in-law, aunt and great aunt. The family prefers that those who wish may make contributions, in lieu of flowers, in Laura's honor to the Breast Cancer Vaccine Fund of Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute, Mail Code NB21 9500 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44195, the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, 2600 S Park Blvd, Shaker Hts., OH 44120, Heifer International, 1 World Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72202, or Groundworks Dance Theater, P.O. Box 18191 Cleveland Heights 44118.


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