The Last Days of Josephine MacLeod

JOSEPHINE MACLEOD, known to all as "Tantine', was a dear friend to Swami Vivekananda and the Vedanta movement worldwide. She passed away peacefully at the age of ninety on October 14, 1949 at the Vedanta Society of Southern California.

- Karl Whitmarsh

For nearly thirty years I have had in my possession correspondence of my great-aunt, Katharine Whitmarsh (Prasanna), regarding Tantine's last days. Recently I sorted through these papers in an effort to bring to light any new information about Tantine that might be of interest.

As is well known, Tantine had a formidable personality and consequently tended to inspire strong feelings of devotion or antipathy. At the end of her life, her closest blood relatives were the two living children of her sister Betty Leggett: Alberta Sturges Montagu and Frances (France) Leggett. But Alberta, though full of affection for her eccentric aunt, lived far away in England. And France, though geographically close, was emotionally distant from Tantine.

And so it was that Prasanna came to be the principal caregiver and protector of Tantine in the last few months of the elderly woman's life. Though they were but distant relations, their mutual devotion to Vivekananda and the Vedanta movement had brought them close together.

Prasanna told me that on one occasion most likely in 1947-she and France were discussing Tantine, who in her advanced years had become delusional and erratic. At that time,

France was thinking of putting Tantine in a rest home. France said: 'I can't deal with Tantine any longer-you get along with her, why don't you look after her.' To which Prasanna simply replied: 'Yes, I would do just that.

Knowing that Tantine was very fond of Swami Prabhavananda, Prasanna got in touch with him. The Swami offered to let Tantine come and live at the Vedanta Society of Southern California, an offer which she readily accepted. Tantine had visited the Hollywood center many times before.