My earliest memory of my big sister Beverlee  Bruce is that of total trust, admiration and constantly being cheated out of my Chocoletto candies.

But with the telephone call last Sunday from NYPD precinct No. 32 that delivered that message that no one wants to get, the funny Chocoletto story, along with the trust and admiration, took on new meaning.

Beverlee Bruce - Pudge, as I called her - has passed away. Transitioned, as some refer to it. But no matter the phrasing, she isn't with us anymore.

What happened? People from places all over the world, where she has traveled, are asking that question. We only know that she was found on the floor of her Harlem apartment.

Bruce, as I also called her, was in Pasadena last year and attended a Michelle Obama event.

Politics and academics were her lifelong forte. She began by being a favorite of her teachers in elementary school because she always worked hard and did well. Later, at Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles, she always held a student body office.

I tried to be the copycat little sister. Well, not when it came to working hard and doing well in school, and because of this teachers were extremely disappointed in what they must have thought should be a family tradition.

But when it came to school politics, I was a winning candidate on any ballot, simply, I confess, because the name Pickett (and it didn't matter which one) was already established.

She got married. I got married. She had one kid, I had a houseful, and that's when I became Shirlee and not Beverlee's little sister. She went the academic route and I took the parenting path.

She's gone too soon, many of her friends have said. Well, she did claim she would live to be 100, but it seems she missed her mark by 26 years. And as my mother would say, "Oh, not in charge, eh?"

Too soon? Not by Beverlee's long list of accomplishments. The following is an excerpt from the tribute the International Rescue Committee she served on will place in The New York Times:

"Beverlee Bruce was a social anthropologist, development specialist and educator with significant experience in Africa and the Caribbean, where she designed, implemented and evaluated rural community development projects. She served in Liberia as U.S. Peace Corps director and as chief technical advisor for the United Nations Self-Help Village Development Project. She taught at the City University of New York, Temple, Harvard - where she earned her Ph.D. - Northeastern and Howard universities as well as at the University of Massachusetts, UCLA, the University of Liberia, Marymount Manhattan College and Wellesley College. She had also served as a program director at the Social Science Research Council. At the time of her death she was on leave from the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University.

"Beverlee joined the Women's Commission Board in 1991. On becoming its chair in 1995, she joined the IRC board, serving until 2007, when she became an Overseer. She was for a number of years chair of the Program Committee, and in that role provided invaluable advice to members of the IRC's program staff and frequently visited IRC programs around the world."

Now, about the famous Chocoletto story that is known word by word by every member of our family, looks like I'll have to save it for my tribute at Bruce's memorial service, to be held in early October.

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