In memoriam: Elizabeth June Yerxa, 94
January 21, 2025

By Professor Emeritus Florence Clark

Dr. Elizabeth June Yerxa ’52, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California (USC) Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, died on Dec. 18, 2024. She was 94.

Dr. Yerxa was a remarkable woman: an internationally renowned scholar, an accomplished researcher, a revered teacher and a wise, caring and supportive friend.

Education, indoors and outdoors

“Betty,” as she was affectionally known by many, was born Aug. 18, 1930, in Pasadena, California, to Thomas Frederick Yerxa II and Elizabeth Yerxa (Wood). As Betty wrote in her journal, “these were the times of the greatest economic depression the U.S. had had, followed by WWII, the war to end all wars.” Although her family struggled during her childhood, she recalled “it contained much love.”

She was the third of three children, following her brother Tom and sister Jean. Tom died serving in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theater during World War II. Betty recalled that, as a child, her mother “seemed like a god” in her eyes — powerful, wise, accomplished and worthy of reverence. Betty attended several public schools in the Los Angeles basin and at each, she strived to meet her mother’s and other’s expectations, and consistently performed at the top of her class.

Throughout elementary, middle and high school, she assiduously focused on developing writing and oratory skills with the help and encouragement of several teachers whom she deeply admired. These encounters inspired her to become a lifelong teacher, one who would alter the lives of her own future students in positive ways, foster confidence in their abilities and kindle their excitement for subjects she taught.

Importantly, Betty cultivated another set of skills and passions completely unrelated to academics. For several months every summer, the Yerxa family camped in Reds Meadow, a valley in the Inyo National Forest in the eastern Sierra Nevada. During these summers, she developed a passion for fishing and hiking, fell in love with the austere life of the High Sierra and honed competencies she would eventually use decades later during her retirement.

Betty discovered occupational therapy in a Seventeen magazine article describing the profession, having what she called “an immediate ‘aha!’ experience” compelling her to pursue a career that would “click with my eclectic interests.” Betty enrolled at USC and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy in 1952. To fulfill graduation requirements, she took many liberal arts courses in which she refined her writing skills, developed a penetrating interest in philosophy and came to fully appreciate both the sciences and humanities.

Immediately following graduation, Betty was employed as a staff occupational therapist at Orthopaedic Hospital in Los Angeles. She was next hired by the California Elks Association as a mobile pediatric occupational therapist providing in-home services for children with cerebral palsy living in the Lancaster–Palmdale region. In this role, she drove from house to house, carrying loads of therapy equipment piled into the trunk of her car.

A calling to teach

In 1955, she was appointed to her first teaching position as a faculty member in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the College of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. Following one year of teaching, she returned to clinical practice at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey, California, where she worked from 1956–67.

Consistent with her belief that her true calling was in the realm of teaching, in 1967 she began graduate studies at Boston University (BU). By 1971, she had earned both a Master of Education degree and a Doctor of Education degree in Educational Psychology from BU, while also serving as an instructor in the Master of Occupational Therapy program at the BU Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences.

Betty’s academic career can be considered to have “officially” begun in 1971, when she returned to Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center as research coordinator in occupational therapy with a faculty appointment as associate professor in the USC School of Medicine’s Department of Community Medicine and Public Health. In 1976, she was selected chairperson of the USC Department of Occupational Therapy, a position in which she served for 11 years, and during which she was promoted to professor in 1982. Upon her retirement in 1987 at the age of 57, she was named professor emeritus. In 1991, USC recognized her eminent career contributions to the university, the profession and the community by naming her distinguished professor emeritus.

At the time of her retirement, Betty was widely regarded as one of occupational therapy’s foremost scholars. Consequently, she was invited to spend stretches of time as a visiting professor or fellow at universities throughout the world including in England, Australia, Finland, Canada and Sweden. Betty’s publication record was exceptional; her papers are today considered classics in the field, and will continue to be read and re-read for generations to come.

Her boundless impact

Dr. Yerxa earned numerous professional awards and recognitions for her contributions to the profession, including several from the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and the American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF). She served as president of AOTF from 1966–68, vice-president of AOTA from 1972–75 and chair of the AOTF Research Development Committee from 1982–85. She was awarded AOTA’s Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship Award, the association’s highest academic recognition, in 1966. She was inducted into the AOTA Roster of Fellows in 1973, and was named a charter member of the AOTF Academy of Research in 1983. In 1987, she received the AOTA Award of Merit, the association’s highest award. She was granted honorary doctoral degrees from Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia) in 1988 and the University of Exeter (Exeter, England) in 1995.

Dr. Yerxa left a legacy to occupational therapy virtually boundless in its impact. Most notably, while serving as chair of the USC Department of Occupational Therapy, she founded a new academic discipline, occupational science, which focuses on studying the impact of participation in everyday activities upon health and well-being. Today, occupational science programs are flourishing at universities throughout the world, and more than 100 academicians who hold occupational science doctoral degrees serve as faculty members in these programs. Not surprisingly, Dr. Yerxa’s publications in occupational science are treasured for their deep insights on the central role of daily activities in health maintenance and promotion, and on how to best nurture the human spirit to stay active, no matter the circumstances.

Betty’s “retirement phase” of life spanned 37 years, during which she not only traveled widely, but also realized her lifelong dream of living alone in a small mountain community in the Eastern Sierra. In 1988, she moved to the hamlet she called “beautiful Aspendell,” approximately 45 miles south of Reds Meadow where she and her family had spent those joyous vacations. Her life had come full circle — immersed in the natural beauty of the Sierras, frequently hiking and fishing while exercising the many skills she had honed during childhood summers.

Aspendell was also the perfect backdrop against which she continued her writing projects, studied Buddhism and other philosophical traditions and read voraciously across a wide range of disciplines — occupations she routinely engaged in well into her nineties. Betty also cultivated a circle of friends residing in the nearby town of Bishop, California, and the surrounding area. These friends cherished her generosity of spirit, wisdom, support and wise counsel. It is not surprising that throughout her retirement, Betty still received letters of gratitude written by former students for whom she was their life-changing teacher and mentor.

There is no question that she indeed fulfilled her calling as a dedicated, effective and inspiring teacher.

Elizabeth June Yerxa was preceded in death by her parents Thomas F. Yerxa II and Elizabeth Yerxa (Wood); her brother Thomas F. Yerxa III; and her sister Marjorie Jean Weeks. She is survived by her nephew Edward William Weeks and niece Marjorie Elizabeth Miller.

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