Today, I will feature the talk that I gave at my mom's memorial. I gave a bio sketch and then my personal comments. Also the best picture of my mom as decided by myself and my siblings.
Claire Baumann was born June 6, 1924 to Regina and Irwin Baumann in New Haven Connecticut. She was the baby to her older sister Ruth. She didn’t have a middle name and when she went to first grade, the teachers insisted on her complete name. She didn’t know what to say “My name is Claire Bunny Baumann:” she declared and Bunny remained her nickname. Her parents were from affluent Jewish families; one grandfather was a Police Commissioner, another owned the Baumann Rubber Company which employed over 150 people. Her great grandfather Maier Zunder served on the Board of Education and had a school named after him..
Claire was an active scout enjoying all of the scouting programs. The Girl Scouts helped her through college and she was able to graduate from New Haven State Teacher’s College. She worked as a professional for the girl scouts serving as camp director.
She met Allen Ginsburgh, a young aeronautical engineer and they married in 1950 after he had completed his masters degree at Harvard. They followed the path of many other young bright engineers of the era, as he trained at the Reactor School in Oak Ridge Tennessee and Lawrence Labs in Livermore California while purchasing a small home in Glendora California. I was born in 1952 and Charlie in 1954 in Pasadena. Soon after, they moved to Sacramento and my father worked for Aerojet. My sister Pam was born in Sacramento in 1959. Many of their friends were also Aerojet families and they enjoyed an active social life with cocktail parties, dinner dances and bridge parties. My mother continued to be an active scout, always the troop leader and also active in Temple B’nai Israel. She was busy with three kids!
In 1970, due to a job transfer, they moved to Tustin in Orange County, California where they lived for 4 years.
In 1974, a job at Sundstrand took my father to Rockford Illinois and my sister and mom of course went with. Pam was in the 8th grade. Claire continued her interests, active in the League of Women Voters and the Girl Scouts as a Board Member. She also felt that she wanted to give back to the community especially concerning the aged. She could no longer care for her mother so she decided that she would take care of other people’s mothers. That led her to River Bluff where she worked as a volunteer serving as Auxiliary president for many years. Caring for those patients became a real passion for her.
She enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren as they came along, my four, Danny, Susanna, Ilana and Naomi and my sister’s daughter Teresa, all here today. Every time there was a new baby, she came to help just as her mother had done. She also remained very close to her niece Mary Ann who is also here today.
She also loved to knit and do other handwork. Her mother had made baby booties according to a particular excellent pattern. My mom made them too. Their position was that there should be no baby born that did not have a pair of these booties. I have always had a supply of these booties to give away. One of her last requests was for the bootie pattern to go to my daughter Naomi who loves to knit.
If something needed to be done, Claire always felt that she was willing to step up and get it done. And, if she had to go up the chain of command, she was up to that. She has remained an active member in Temple Beth El. Always interested in learning new things. Interested in travel, my parents attended many elder hostels including every single one in Washington State so she could visit us.
My father became ill in 2001 and she spent many years being a caretaker for him until his death in 2007. She never complained about that; he could be pretty difficult.
She loved Wesley Willows, she was very glad that they decided to move here. She loved her cottage and lived there until her fall in late December.
She made a difference and improved the world.
Everybody who sees me here in Rockford starts out with the same statement:
YOU LOOK JUST LIKE YOUR MOTHER
Or even "You don't even have to tell me who you are because I already know". Of course, I can’t see it though I can certainly see the resemblance in the pictures.
My mom was a hard worker and a good woman, I would have to strive to live as good a life. Dedicated to her family. Committed to her community, an accomplished craftsperson.
She never shirked her responsibility, she ALWAYS did her part and others also. You could count on Claire. She came through. If it was making 3 zillion corned beef sandwiches for food a rama for Temple Beth El, she did it. If the River Bluff auxiliary decided that each and every resident should have at least 5 wrapped gifts at xmas, she made sure it happened. If the kids at Kishwaukee School needed tutoring in reading, she was there every week. I left this story out of the obit because I didn’t have it verified even though I knew it was true. One day just a very few weeks ago, Jeff one of her therapists came into her room and asked what was on her mind “Well, today’s election day and I want to vote!” So they figured out how she could vote. And how the other patients in the Medicare Unit could vote. She was pleased that everybody who wanted to vote could.
She supported her parents in every way she could. She supported her children. She loved her grandchildren and her great granddaughter. She was very proud of her family heirlooms that had made it through the Depression and, if you have been to her home, you could see how beautifully she had displayed them. She lovingly framed her grandmother’s beautiful lace fan as well as an lorgnette and hankie along with some portraits to form her ‘Delia Wall”
She loved to knit, she made black and brown cape for me when I was in high school in the late 1960s and though she was rather appalled of the look, I loved it and quite a few other young people have worn it since. She knit a red white and blue sweater with the initials USA for Danny included for his naturalization. She knit some smart suits for herself in the 1960s and 1970s. She made booties (as I mentioned) by the hundreds, mittens for everybody and I do mean everybody. She made blankets and afghans. Earlier in my life I did do some handwork and like almost every woman my age, I had a big bag of crocheted granny squares in my closet. When my mom came to visit, she would pull out the bag and start weaving in the ends. Finally she just took the whole thing home in her suitcase and sewed it all together.
There were some special things she held near to her heart..besides her family of course And the Bears. And the Cubs. And the San Francisco Giants. She loved to have baseball on the radio
The Olympics and I’m pleased to say that she got a chance to watch a lot of the Winter Olympics last week
The Space Program. Whenever a rocket blasted off, it was our duty get up and watch it. It would not blast off unless we watched this historic occasion. Keep in mind we were in the Pacific time zone
And, of course, Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philhamonic
She and my father were always on time. They always did what they promised. You could depend on them. That’s how my mom lived her life. She wasn’t afraid to go to new places. She wasn’t afraid to try new things. She was a great friend and a good scout.
I take it as an honor to be mistaken for her.
I will close with the Girl Scout law
The Girl Scout Law
I will do my best to be
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout.
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