Obituary of Llewellyn Lew'' Baer

Baer, Llewellyn ?Lew?, of St. Petersburg and Brookline, Massachusetts, died peacefully at home on March 5, 2002, ending a long and valiant fight against Parkinson?s Disease. Born in High Spire, Pennsylvania, he grew up in Scranton. He graduated from Bucknell University in 1938, later doing graduate work both at Bucknell and Penn State. He taught school in Pennsylvania for several years. At the outset of World War II, he joined the American Red Cross, and served in their Service to Military Families Program in Ft. Eustis, Langley Field, and Ft. Belvoir, all in Virginia. After the war ended, he served as a Field Representative on Red Cross National Staff, primarily in New York and Connecticut. From 1959 until his retirement, he served as a Blood Program Administrator in Boston, Worchester and Springfield, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine. Throughout the fifties, he participated in many disaster relief operations and around the country, including sites in California, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. In June of 1976, he was awarded a Distinguished Service Certificate from the Northeast Red Cross Blood Program. For many years, he was a member of the Association of Retirees of the American Red Cross. Following this retirement in 1976, he was involved in various volunteer activities, including serving a term as president of a condo association in Massachusetts, as well as working on local and national political campaigns. He was fascinated by computers and took numerous Adult Education courses. An avid competitive swimmer in his youth, he continued to enjoy swimming until just a few years ago. An ardent sports fan, he cheered the Patriots on just last month, wearing a sweatshirt some northern neighbors had sent to him. His loss is mourned by his wife, Ann Donnelly; his brother-in-law, James F. Leary of Norfolk, Massachusetts; sisters-in-law, Mary F. Leary of Norfolk, and Katherine Donnelly, MFIC, of Newton, Massachusetts; nephews, Frank Wierman of Middleton, Pennsylvania and Ted Harvey of Cocoa, Florida; nieces, Heather Leary and Jennifer Leary of Norfolk; grand-nieces, Margaret Gross of St. Petersburg, Christine Manning of Bernardville, New Jersey and Kim Gianetti of Bedminster, New Jersey; caregiver, Betty Jackson and her family; friends, Stephen and Juliana Salamone, Nancy Sanborn and Robert Harris of St. Petersburg, as well as many other grand-nieces, grand-nephews, cousins and friends. Donations in his memory may be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association, Inc., 1250 Hylan Boulevard, Suite 4B, Staten Island, NY 10305. In the words of one of the Welsh songs he loved, ?Sleep my love, and peace attend thee, all through the night.?