Lon Fendall and Shalomic Civility

Lon Fendall (November 23, 1941 - October 15, 2023)

The George Fox community, including the Civility Project, lost a good Friend Sunday when Lon Fendall died suddenly in his home, just a few days after his beloved wife Rae also passed due to a sudden illness. 

Lon was the founding director of George Fox's Center for Peace Learning in 1984. Building on his academic study of international diplomatic history, and his practical experience in politics working for Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-Oregon),  Lon was a lifelong advocate and practitioner of nonviolent responses to conflict.  

United as Neighbors didn't have Lon specifically in mind when it wrote the Civility Pledge (see above), but they might as well have. He lived by the Pledge for many decades before it existed. 

Lon was one of the first people I came to know as a new student at George Fox in the fall of 1973. He was my advisor, and immediately made me feel welcome.  After my sophomore year, when Lon moved to Washington, D.C., to work for Senator Hatfield, he and Rae invited me to live in their home while I worked as a summer intern in Haftield's office. I was the first of several students -- from George Fox and other colleges -- to have that privilege, some of whom have gone on to have successful political careers.

I joined Lon in the Center for Peace Learning in the fall of 1985, and became the director when Lon returned to politics in 1990 to help run Senator Hatfield's last re-election campaign (which he won). Lon was a crucial connection between George Fox and Senator Hatfield, which led to Hatfield teaching at George Fox for several years after he retired from the Senate in 1997. 

Lon's approach to peacemaking was inspired by his evangelical Quaker faith, and his clear vision of shalom as not only nonviolence, but also justice and right relationships.  Lon put these values in action in his daily life.  Ever gracious and thoughtful, he worked at listening to those with whom he disagreed, and brought a powerful mix of steadfast hope, faith, and practical wisdom to challenges he faced -- political as well as personal. 

Lon embodied the robust shalomic civility we talk about in the Civility Project.  He was kind in the way most people think about when they consider basic civility.  I never saw or heard of any occasion when he was unkind, mean-spirited, or rude to anyone.  He had a great sense of humor, and used it to erase barriers between himself and those with whom he disagreed.

He embraced disagreement.  I had the privilege of serving for several years as the Northwest Yearly Meeting recording clerk while Lon was presiding clerk, so I saw first hand how he was slow to judge others, eager to listen well and respectfully, trying to see issues from everyone's perspective.  

But most of all he was an untiring defender of the political culture. He did not dabble in dirty politics, and did not tolerate it, no matter which party engaged in it. I never heard of him doing anything to deceive, distort, or demean -- or even to cut corners on the notoriously ponderous pace of Quaker decision-making.  Lon always tried to leave a political campsite cleaner than it was when he got there. 

One could describe the entire Civility Project as "helping people be more like Lon Fendall."  Now we'll have to do it without his help. 

--- Ron Mock, GF Civility Project Director, October 17, 2023