Maria “Helena” Bauchwitz

Condolences

Karl Kramer lit a candle and writes,
Thanks for welcoming me into your family and sharing your joy and wisdom. Rest in peace Helena.
08/17/2022 11:02 am
Shameem Hasan lit a candle and writes,
My wife Dr. Fawzia Hasán is a friend Dr. Bauchwitz. She is out of the country to help her ailing father. She will be very sorry and sad to hear the news. She is very fond of her. Always, talked about her with me. Every time we passed by ‘Angelsay’ she used to point to her residence direction and said aloud that she got to go and see Dr. Bauchwitz. She guided my wife on many occasions and became a friend. Alas, she cannot take part in her last rites. She will be heart broken. We both wish, hope and pray that her soul be blessed. She will be in our thoughts and prayers all the times. Amen!
08/19/2022 01:02 am
Agnes Galvin lit a candle and writes,
I was Helena's friend and was happy to take her out for lunch until last year when her health deteriorated. I enjoyed her gracious good-humored company. I have missed her this year, but I'm glad she is now at peace. She was a wonderful lady who will be greatly missed.
08/19/2022 11:25 pm
Lelia K. Booker writes,
Dr."B" was a Lady who always shared real estate in my heart and knew it. In 1995, when my mother died, she jokingly adopted me as her only "black daughter". She was an industrious and caring professional who always put her family first. I will always keep her in my heart.
08/22/2022 11:55 am
Maureen Zubrzycki lit a candle and writes,
Helene and Peter were my next door neighbors when we moved into our home on Athens Road and I never forgot how kind they were to my young daughters ages 5 yrs and 2 yrs. Helene said, “We remember when our children were this little. They’re adults and we miss them.” I felt sad her family didn’t live in the area, however my girls enjoyed talking outside to them when they came home from work. Peter and Helene also made a point to include my girls in our conversations, when we occasionally got together. What a thoughtful couple! My daughter, Cindy remembered Helene and Informed me of this sad news. Helene’s accomplishments amazed me and I believe she left this world on the Wings of Angels. I was sorry to see when Peter died. Peter and Helene’s personality complimented each other and I believe they are happier, together. How blessed were Helene and Peter’s children having them as parents!! I remember Helene speaking with pride about her children, while Peter stood smiling and we loved hearing those stories. I was unable to participate in Helene’s Service and I would like to donate to an organization of Helene’s choice. Please email me one of her preferences. My prayers are with Helene’s family during this sad time.
08/23/2022 02:27 pm
Robert Bauchwitz lit a candle and writes,
Eulogy excerpts : We are gathered here today to pay our respects to Maria Helena Palmeira Bauchwitz, or just “Helena” as she was known to her friends. She was my beloved mother, as she was to my siblings, Fred, Karen. and Monica, who are all in attendance today.  In addition to her family, including several grandchildren, we are joined by numerous colleagues from her long career in psychiatric medicine, as well as her neighbors, friends, and others who knew her. I want to thank all of you for attending, some of whom traveled substantial distances to get here.   I also want to thank my mother herself, wherever her spirit may be, for putting up with yet another vicissitude of life, in this case one that delayed this service. As some of you are aware, the first ever PGA golf tournament was played for almost a week through this past Sunday, just minutes from here. It was so large an event that this cemetery was closed for a week. Nevertheless, we’ve made it, and she made it. She, by having lived a long, successful, productive, and happy life, and we, for having had the pleasure of knowing her, and finally having ourselves arrived here to celebrate her.   I won't here go into too many of the details of my mother's life. I tried to provide some of that in her obituary, which you can find online. But I do want to take a moment, in particular to thank a great friend and colleague of my mother’s, Dr. Phyllis Smoyer, not only for helping me with my mother’s care in the past few years, but also for providing quite a bit of the detail about my mother’s medical career for use in her obituary. I hope my mother's story sets a good example for other young women who might be considering medical careers, and especially among her descendants.   My mother was the youngest child in a large Brazilian family from a state towards the north of the country, although she would end up moving to the more southern city of Rio de Janeiro, when she began medical school. Her older brother, Sinval, lived on Copacabana Beach in Rio, and my mother would return many times over the years to visit him and her other relatives there. Eventually, she even bought her own condominium on the same beach in Copacabana. I recall with so much happiness the many times that I traveled to Brazil with my mother, the first time at the age of 6. It was always such a wonderful time, not only because the people were so friendly, but also because in the early years of my life, it seemed so exotic and different a lifestyle compared to that we had in the U.S. My mother’s family was well off, and well educated, but probably just as importantly, they were a very supportive bunch. In particular, it was not as common in the era when my mother was growing up in the 1920’s through 1940’s for a woman to become a physician. She told me that the support and encouragement of her parents and siblings, and in particular her father and brothers, really helped her enter the medical field.   As many of us know, my mother grew up to become a very supportive person herself. She was a strong believer in teamwork, especially in the field of medicine, and she was a natural leader who could get others to work well together to deliver service to their patients. I repeatedly heard throughout my life that people really loved working with my mother. She probably had what we would call today a high EQ, or emotional quotient. I, too, loved my mother for her positive and supportive nature. She was so kind and encouraging to me as I was growing up. Yet she also tried to instill her principles of how to live a good and productive life as a decent person. She believed in civility, and that to achieve it people needed to act with reciprocity. She told me that reciprocating was a very important concept in Brazil, and that the alternative was excessive self-centeredness. In her world, we invested in one another. She really believed that supporting others would lead to support in return, and thereby a better, more civil society. Nevertheless, as she also knew all too well, not all people are tuned to behave in ways that my mother felt were ideal. In other words, there are people who are at their baseline much more focused on taking for themselves, and much less on giving back and reciprocating with others. It is our reality, and it is not confined to the field of psychiatry. She believed that it is a reason we have conflict in this world, even when in reality, there was no scarcity of resources.   I also remember how kind my mother was to my friends, and I always admired her for being liked by them. For example, Rick Polleck, who is here today with his wife, Patti, has been one of my best friends since childhood. His recollection of my mother, which he asked that I deliver today, was that “She was always a very gracious woman, generous in her warmth of spirit, welcoming in her demeanor, openly displaying her love for her children.  [Also, he noted that], “Her accent was to me very exotic … “. I think that last point goes back to the “Flying to Rio” feeling I had about all things Brazilian during my childhood. In any case, thanks very much for those kind words, Rick. Obviously, I saw it the same way! Another aspect of my mother that struck me during my childhood was her work ethic. She was a person who loved to work by her nature. She told me throughout her life that it made her happy to be active and working, as well as socializing. There was not a lazy bone in her body. I’ve heard from others already that some of that came through from her obituary. My mother had the additional valuable traits of sincere kindness, respect, and an ability to listen to others, especially her patients. They really felt she cared for them, and that, probably, was a strong medicine in its own right. There was seemingly unending stream of patients contacting her for years after she had treated them to express their gratitude. On more than one occasion, I was present when former  patients came up to her in stores to thank her and ask how she was doing.   In the end, she was a happy and productive person who made the most of her opportunities in life. She left the place better for her having been here, and that's the most we can ask.
08/26/2022 11:35 am
Bruce Schlegel lit a candle and writes,
My condolences to your family. I wish you the best in your time of loss.
01/13/2023 10:05 pm