‘A light that continues to shine’: Friends and colleagues remember Flossie Segal, a colorful figure at VCU’s School of Social Work

For anyone who encountered Florence Z. "Flossie" Segal in her 99 years - and there were many - Gayle Harris might have said it best in what is an affirmation, as much as a remembrance, of the legendary Virginia Commonwealth University faculty member who passed away in April.

"I love Flossie so much, and I say it in the present tense," said Harris, daughter of former School of Social Work Dean Grace E. Harris and a close friend of Segal. "For me she's still here. She's a light that continues to shine."

Segal, a fixture at the school from 1968 to 1990, brought color and light everywhere she went - often in her bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle convertible. She loved jazz and fresh flowers from her garden. She and her husband, Jake, hosted pool parties, holiday celebrations and even wedding receptions at their Near West End home in Richmond. She had a sharp sense of humor.

Segal was a former associate professor of social work and director of continuing education at the school, and she was the sister of former Dean Elaine Z. Rothenberg. Segal helped establish VCU's Faculty Senate in 1970 and served as its second president, and her impact spread into the larger community as well.

Segal co-founded Gateway Homes in Richmond in 1983 to provide residential mental health treatment for adults, and she remained on the board the rest of her life - even attending a clinical meeting about a month before her passing. She was known as the "Mother of Gateway."

"It was a relationship that first revolved around Gateway and then exceeded that in a lot of ways," said Gateway CEO Lynda Hyatt, who credits Segal with securing a federal Housing and Urban Development grant that allowed Gateway to build its first residential building. "I have the original paperwork where she signed for that loan."

Hyatt noted that Segal's deep commitment to a care facility like Gateway was "based on the fact that her daughter, Carol, was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia, when she was actually having early symptoms of multiple sclerosis, which sometimes mimics the symptoms. That experience spurred Flossie, because she did not want any other family to go through what she went through as far as how she was treated when people found out her daughter had been diagnosed with a mental illness."

Segal was a fixture at the school from 1968 to 1990 and could often be seen around campus in her bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle convertible. (Photo contributed by Gateway Homes)

A colorful life

Harris' relationship with Segal started as a child.

"She came to our family reunions. Flossie would be at our house Christmas morning. We went on a family cruise together, and she and I were roommates," Harris said. "My first impression of Flossie was that she and Jake were the coolest people on Earth. She was like my aunt.

"When I was a child, I loved orange, and she would always have something orange around to give me or something orange to wear," Harris added. "For her memorial service, I wore a really bright dress; Flossie wouldn't want me to wear black."

Marcia Harrigan cherishes a baby quilt of boldly colorful numbers and letters that Segal gave to her when her first child was born in 1977.

"It has wrapped my two adult 'kids' and both of my grandchildren," said Harrigan, who earned her master's in social work at VCU and served on the school faculty and administration for 31 years. "They all know the special person who gave it to us. I am grateful for having known Flossie, with her wild stories, red lipstick and high heels - as well as her commitment to our profession."

Harrigan noted that this past spring, shortly before Segal's passing, she found graded papers she wrote as a student in her classes. "I regret forgetting to take them to our lunch to show Flossie, who had obviously read every word, made minor corrections, highlighted what she found important and raised questions about alternative ways to understand or question a situation."

Enduring relationships

Segal was director of continuing education during a growth period for the School of Social Work, helping establish four off-campus sites for students to study and earn their M.S.W. degrees - a precursor to the school's successful online program format. She managed workshops for continuing education credits and training for public social service and child welfare workers, said Bev Koerin, who earned two degrees at VCU and was a 28-year faculty member at the school.

During a growth period for the School of Social Work, Segal served as director of continuing education and helped establish four off-campus sites for students to study and earn their M.S.W. degrees. (Photo contributed by VCU's School of Social Work)

Koerin recalls meeting Segal in the early 1960s, when Koerin was about 15. Segal hosted her when a group of Jewish teenagers traveled from Norfolk to Richmond for an event.

"I remember being impressed with Flossie - her short haircut and stylish New York manner. I had never met a woman with a professional career in my youth, and I thought Flossie was super cool. She was one of a kind," Koerin said.

She and Harrigan were part of a group of former women faculty, the Ladies Aid Society, who met regularly and counted Segal among their ranks. Long before VCU's Academic Learning Commons opened, they called the Raleigh Building, at the corner of North Harrison and Franklin streets, their academic home.

"I can still see her coming into the Raleigh Building with flowers fresh cut from her home garden," Harrigan said of Segal. "She always had them in her office during the summer and would share them with other colleagues she encountered."

Koerin celebrated Segal's 95th birthday with a poem, "Too Cool for School," that she wrote and read when the ladies gathered:
From New York Babe to Southern Belle,
Having fun and living well.
We all met in the halls of Raleigh,
Shared in triumphs and some folly.
All along you've been so cool,
So say the Ladies from our School.
We wish you all good things today.
We're glad to celebrate this way,
With food and wine and stories to share,
With hugs and kisses of love and care.

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